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THEODORE EISENBERG
Negev Beer
Sheva, Israel
Intuition
For the purpose of this study, Fischbein will be followed in
so far as the term intuitions is taken to refer to mental
representations of facts that appear self-evident. For
example, to most junior high school students, the following
statements appear self-evident:
1.
2.
points. (The points (-1,6), (3, -2), (1,1), (0,4), and (2,0) satisfy both 2x2- y2 xy - 4x + 4y = 0 and 6x2 - y2 + xy - 16x + 2y + 8 =0 [Charosh, 1965].)
3.An object can have infinite surface area but finite volume.
The notion of intuition above cannot be defined in a way allowing for a
final decision on whether a given statement is intuitive or not because
intuitions are the result of personal experience (Fischbein, Tirosh &
Melamed, 1981). But through appropriate activities, intuitions can be
trained. As Feller (1957) has stated, Certainly intuition can be trained . . .
mathematical intuition grows with experience, and it is possible to develop
a mathematical feeling for concepts such as four dimensional space (p. 2).
Intuitions therefore stand in twofold relation to the teaching process. On
the one hand, enlarging the base for our intuitions is a primary goal of
education. Indeed, the famous Socratic dialogue between Meno and the
slave boy exemplifies how teaching can be built on intuitive support (Jones,
1967). But on the other hand, the teaching process should be based on the
intuitive knowledge of the learner, especially at the stage when a new topic
is approached. This study aimed to assess the intuitive background of
junior high school pupils as they developed the concept of function.
The Function Concept
The function concept is one of the most central topics in mathematics
today. Historians have shown that its introduction in the 17th century had
an exceedingly beneficial effect on the development of mathematics (Boyer,
1946). The reason for this may be found in its unifying nature. For
example, in many school curricula the function concept ties algebra,
trigonometry, and geometry together. More than that, it appears and
reappears like a thread throughout school mathematics from grade 1 (e.g.,
addition as a function from IR x IR to IR) to grade 12 (e.g., calculus).
The function concept is a complex one. There are several reasons for this:
1.
2.
3.
November 1982
361
These aspects are major contributors to difficulties pupils encounter
sufficiently close for transfer to occur between them. We, as teachers, want
students to see interrelationships and parallel forms of the concepts we
teach; to date, the best we have been able to do to encourage such transfer
is to worry about the sequencing of the material leading up to the task we
want to teach (Gagne, 1970). It may be hoped that material built with a
consideration of intuitive support will encourage such transfer of learning.
Functions. Buck (1970) has given a rather complete review of the
function concept as it applies to school curricula and of many of its
subconcepts, settings, and levels. Although he makes a number of
suggestions about where and how the function concept should be used in
the curriculum, he does not point to any research on how to teach functions
nor suggest in what setting the abstract concept of a function should be
introduced (except for a warning not to introduce it as a set of ordered
pairs). Also, he states that the intuitive understanding which is acquired
by working with numerous examples provides an ample and satisfying
basis, upon which to build. . . However, this is a specific matter that should
be studied on its own (p. 256).
There is no consensus among textbook authors on how to introduce the
subject. For example, Dolciani, Berman and Freilich (1962) introduce the
definition of a function in a graphical setting; Kline, Oesterle, and Willson
(1959) do it as sets of ordered pairs of real numbers, and Freund (1975)
uses an arrow diagram approach.
Learner difficulties with specific aspects of the concept of function have
been analysed by Nicholas (1966), Hight (1968), Dreyfus and Eisenberg
(1980)
, and Wagner (1981). Students often do not understand the
concept of variable and the fix) notation (e.g., they may not
understand the distinction between fia) and finding the values of x
for which fix) = a). At a higher level, they may not understand how
the graph of a discontinuous function can appear as though it were
continuous or how restricting the domain can turn a nonperiodic
function into a periodic one. Thomas (1969, 1975) and Smith (1972)
have shown that relatively young children of high ability can
master many aspects of the function concept. Both, using SSMCIS
materials (Fehr & Fey, 1969), concluded that many 11-to-14- yearold children can understand the concept at the formal operations
stage. They were very careful in stating generalizations, however,
because of the high-ability level of their subjects. Orton (1970; see
also Lovell, 1971) examined the growth of the function concept
among 12-to-17-year-old students of medium to high ability. With a
few exceptions (mainly concerning the composition of two
functions) his findings agreed with the stages of acquisition
suggested by Thomas.
Although Thomas and Orton used Piagets developmental theory as a
basis for the description of the growth of the function concept, Suarez
November 1982
363
(1977) used the development of the function concept to illustrate the inade-
quacy of Piagets theory for describing the complex process of the development of thinking patterns. Suarez traced the development of the function
concept from the first notions of proportionality in elementary school children over inverse proportionality and quadratic functions to the use of
functional thinking in problem solving by university students. He
concluded that learners have to acquire many cognitive structures before
they can grasp functionality and that these structures are most likely to be
acquired when they appear in functional relationships occurring in physical
experiments.
Karplus (Note 1) came to similar conclusions when studying functional
reasoning patterns in secondary school pupils. He found that most pupils
answer in a mechanical or algorithmic way and that functional reasoning is
an independent reasoning pattern whose relation to formal thought is not
obvious.
The Function Block
The study of functions can be arranged in a three-dimensional block type
of structure in which the x-dimension carries the various settings (arrow
diagrams, tables, graphs, etc.), the y-dimension the function concepts (image, zeros, equality, etc.), and the z-dimension a taxonomic scale of levels of
abstraction and generalization (one, two, or several variables, discrete domain, etc.). The z-axis in itself is multidimensional. These dimensions have
been grouped onto a single axis because of their minor importance for the
present study. The function block is represented in Figure 1, together with a
list of terms for the respective dimensions. The block is open ended in all
three dimensions because there is, in principle, no limit to the number of
settings, concepts, and levels of generalization and abstraction associated
with the function concept.
Horizontal transfer of learning (transfer of a concept learned in one
setting to another setting) now appears as movement parallel to the jc-axis
of the function block, whereas vertical transfer of learning (transfer to
levels of greater generality) appears as movement parallel to the z-axis.
Progress parallel to the y-axis of the block corresponds to the learning of
new concepts and therefore cannot in general be expected to occur without
an external stimulus.
The function block provides a framework to guide asking questions concerning the ordering, arrangement, and presentation of function curricula.
To begin with a simple example, one would like to find the most ideal cell to
enter into the function block for an initial teaching of the function concept.
One would also like to know whether transfers of learning are more enhanced by progressing along the y-direction in a particular setting or by
soliciting the transfers by teaching each concept in several settings, which
then facilitates transfer to other settings.
364 Journal for Research in Mathematics Education
Image of an element
Settings
x-axis
Concepts
y-axis
Levels
z-axis
Domain (D) range (R) finite D R
bounded intervals of R D countable,
R finite
Image of a set
Preimage of an element
Preimage of a set
Zero
Domain
Extremum
Explicit function
Implicit function
Recursive function
Questionnaire Booklets
Three questionnaire booklets were constructed in which questions were
asked on the concepts of image, preimage, growth, extrema, and slope. The
three booklets contained the same functional relationships and were identical except for the settings in which the functional relationships were
presentedeither in a diagram, a graph, or a table setting. Two functions
were presented in each booklet, one concrete, giving a pedestrian meaning
to the relationship, and the other abstract, removing this pedestrian meaning. An example of a concrete functional relationship from a discrete
domain into a discrete range might be temperature readings taken at
specific times during a given day. This example was used in a previous
study (Dreyfus & Eisenberg, Note 2). But it has the drawback that both
367
Graph
Graph
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13
and each class was assigned as being of high or of low Absolv. High Absolv
was defined as A ability level in schools with less than 80 % socially
disadvantaged, B ability level in schools with less than 50% socially
disadvantaged, or C ability level in schools with less than 20% socially
disadvantaged. See Figure 3 for a graphical representation of this definition.
the final analysis, a 90 % completion rate was arbitrarily set. Thus, 443
pupils constituted the sample. Their distribution according to Grade,
Absolv, Setting, and Sex is presented in Table 1.
Table 1 Population Distribution
DFG/
TM
Absolv
Grade 6
Total
1 29
28
82
128
1
/
25
/
90
/
27
23
10 19
84
128
01
31
22
36
13
18
26
62
93
14
17
Low
26
/
/
/
/
60
/
40
13
12
19
13 22
65
94
28
12
83
14
52
83
37
46
55
221
28
32
154
Total
59
/
/
/
/
/
59
87
52
39
42
3 41
140
222
1 and Absolv who have1answered the diagram
9 (D), graph
Note. Each entry in the table gives the number of pupils of a particular Grade
High
30
33
31
47
/
47
23
20
20
9
9
8
32
29
28
24
/
39
14
(G), or table (T) version of the questionnaire and those who are female (F) or male (M) in this format: D F
G/
TM
Analysis
This study had the character of an assessment being made at a given time
and was not related directly to any teaching or learning process nor to any
other interaction between teacher and class. Consequently, the unit of
analysis for the study had to be the single pupil and not the class. The
intuitions of the pupils on functional concepts as measured by their achievement on the questionnaire were analyzed as to how they depend on the four
independent variables discussed above: Grade, Absolv, Setting, and Sex.
This was done by means of a four-way analysis of variance, the dependent
variable being the mean score for the performance on the total test. This
mean score was measured in percent and called AV (average). Table 2 shows
that the characteristic variables collectively accounted for more than 51 %
of the variance in the total test scores. With the exception of the Sex
variable, each of the characteristic variables was a statistically significant
contributor ( a = .05) to the total test variance. The significant interactions
were Grade x Absolv, Absolv x Sex, and Grade x Absolv x Sex.
To examine whether the variance explained by the model could be attributed to particular parts of the questionnaire, similar analyses were performed on the concrete and abstract parts of the test booklet, as well as on
each of the five concepts separately. The parts of the variance accounted for
in the subtests by the four main effects and their interactions ranged from
34% on the extrema subtest to 50% on the concrete subtest.
370 Journal for Research in Mathematics Education
Before proceeding with the analysis of the findings, one must bear in
mind that the questionnaire measured only selected topics exhibited by
means of a single function. Reliability of the findings is strengthened
because the function in the abstract setting was constructed from the
function in the concrete setting. The extent to which the findings can be
generalized to other types of functions is itself a subject for further study.
Table 2
Source Table for Four-Way ANOVA: Average by Grade x Absolv x Setting x Sex
Dependent variable: AV
Source DF Model 47 Error
395 Corr. total 442
Source
Grade
Absolv
Grade x Absolv
Setting
Grade x Setting
Absolv x Setting
Grade x Absolv x Setting
Sex
Grade x Sex
Absolv x Sex
Grade x Absolv x Sex
Setting x Sex
Grade x Setting x Sex
Absolv x Setting x Sex
Grade x Absolv x Setting x Sex
SS
10.
6
10.
1
20.
F
8.
8
3
Pr > F
0.0001
AV-
D
F
3
1
3
SS (Type 1)
2
6
2
6
1
3
1
3
2
6
2
6
0.26
0.03
3.48
4.43
1.17
0.03
0.07
0.00
0.15
0.22
0.23
0.08
0.20
0.14
0.15
45.26
172.82
15.26
5.04
0.21
0.64
0.48
0.00
1.92
8.69
2.94
1.48
1.33
2.81
0.95
R2
M
ea
n
S
D
= 0.51 =
0.59 =
0.16
Pr > F
0.0001
0.0001
0.0001
0.0069
0.9733
0.5257
0.8205
0.9923
0.1247
0.0034
0.0327
0.2297
0.2438
0.0613
0.4566
Results
low Absolv) to Grade 8. The main progress comes earlier (in Grade 6) for
pupils with high Absolv and later (in Grade 8) for pupils with low Absolv.
Figure 5 shows that the pupils in schools with low Absolv were two and a
half years behind those in schools with high Absolv. This is important to
note. With respect to general cognitive performance, Lewy and Chen (1977)
claimed that (a) the difference in achievement between students in schools
with a high versus low percentage of socially disadvantages pupils is relatively constant across grades, and (b) socially disadvantaged pupils can
learn the material, although it takes them longer to do so. Even though the
variable Absolv is not identical with the percentage of socially disadvantaged, Figure 5 appears to support the conjecture that Lewy and Chens
second observation holds not only for general cognitive performance but
also for intuitions. However, Lewy and Chens first observation cannot be
substantiated here, which may be due either to the difference between
cognitive performance and intuition or to the difference between the independent variables being used.
372 Journal for Research in Mathematics Education
November 1982
373
Comparing the performance on the Graph and Table questionnaire booklets with respect to Grade (Figure 6), one finds that there is no preference
for one of the two settings over the other. When comparing the two settings
with respect to Absolv, however (Figure 7), one observes a tendency for
students with high Absolv to prefer a graph setting over a table setting but
for students with low Absolv to perform better on the table setting than on
the graph setting. The same tendency was also noted in the previous study.
In that study high-level pupils tended to choose the graph setting over the
other two settings, and low Absolv pupils tended not to choose a graph
setting.
November 1982
375
teraction (see Figure 10). The split according to Absolv allows for the
elaboration of the switching between the sexes as seen in Figure 8. This
switching occurs only with the high Absolv, and this effect was so strong
that it influenced the overall performance when students of both levels were
considered collectively. For low Absolv, the girls maintained their dominance over the boys throughout the grades.
Grade
well be that the intuitive advantage that girls appear to have may be
exploited in teaching and that an approach based more systematically on
intuitions could lead to a mathematics education taking both sexes
inclinations into account more equally. The results reported in this
subsection could be used as the springboard for a more detailed inquiry on
this subject.
Dependence on Concepts and Levels
We now focus on the different functional concepts as well as the two
levels of abstraction in the questionnaire. The childrens scores on the
concrete and abstract subtests separately paralleled their performances on
the test as a whole. It was found, using ANOVA (a = .05), that all factors
contributing to the significant differences on the test as a whole carried
over to the concrete part of the booklet. All factors except Setting and the
three-way interaction (Grade x Absolv x Sex) also carried over to the
abstract part. No additional factors appeared in the source tables. Grade,
Absolv, Setting, and Sex as well as the interactions of these independent
variables as discussed above accounted for 44% of the variance on the
abstract part of the booklet and 50 % on the concrete part. The trends
observed above (e.g., that low Absolv pupils lagged behind high Absolv
ones, that a wider gap in performance existed between males of high and
low Absolv than between females, that high Absolv pupils preferred a
graph setting and low Absolv did not, etc.) carried over to both the abstract
and concrete parts of the test.
When the mean scores achieved for the various functional concepts in the
questionnaire were compared, it was observed that questions about the
concept of image were answered best, whereas questions on the concept of
slope were answered worst. It is, however, more interesting to compare
differences between the three versions of the booklet for each concept. In
Figure 7 the three versions have been compared on the entire test. In Table
3 such comparisons are presented concept by concept for several
subpopulations. Looking at the concept of growth, one sees in Table 3 that
the overall difference in achievement slightly favored the graph setting; low
Absolv pupils did better in the table setting, whereas high Absolv pupils did
better in the graph setting. That pupils with high Absolv preferred the
graph setting for all concepts, whereas low Absolv pupils preferred the
table setting, was
Table 3
Preferred Settings for Functional Concepts: G = graph, T = table, for Three
Populations
Full Population
High Absolv
Low Absolv
Image
T
G
T*
Preimage
G
G*
T
Growth
G
G
T*
Extrema
T
G
T*
Slope
G*
G*
G
* Mean score for this setting higher than mean score for other two settings by at least 3 percentage points.
November 1982
377
observed throughout, suggesting that the subconcepts should be introduced
in a graph setting for high Absolv students and in a table setting for low
Absolv students.
It is also interesting to note that the previous instruction that 7th graders
received in the Cartesian coordinate system seemed not to improve their
performance on the booklets regardless of setting, sex, or level. Indeed,
there was a drop in performance from 7th to 8th grade in all partitions of
the independent variables.
Conclusion
1.
2.
3.
4.
November 1982
379
Kline, M. The ancients versus the modems. In D. B. Aichelle & R. E. Reys (Eds.), Readings in
secondary school mathematics. Boston: Prindle, Weber & Schmidt, 1971.
Kline, W. E., Oesterle, R. A., & Willson, L. M. Foundations of advanced mathematics. New York:
American Book, 1959.
Krutetski, V. A. The psychology of mathematical abilities in school children. In J. Kilpatrick & I.
Wirszup (Eds.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976.
Lewy, A., & Chen, M. Differences in achievement: A comparison over time of ethnic group
achievement in the Israeli elementary school. Evaluation in Education: International Progress,
1977, 1, 1-72.
Lovell, K. Some aspects of the growth of the concept of a function. In M. F. Rosskopf, L. P. Steffe, &
S. Taback, (Eds.), Piagetian cognitive development research and mathematical education.
Washington, D.C.: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1971.
Nicholas, C. P. A dilemma in definition. American Mathematical Monthly, 1966, 73, 762-768.
REFERENCE
Orton, A. A cross sectional study of the development
of the mathematical concept of function in
secondary school children of average and Sabove average ability. Unpublished masters thesis,
University of Leeds, 1970.
Polya, G. How to solve it (2nd ed.). Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1957.