Algoritmen som kulturellt redskap : Fyra elevers förståelse av additionsalgoritmen

Sammanfattning: The aim of this investigation has been to examine four students, in a second grade class in Stockholm, understanding of the addition algorithm. A small field study has been carried out including both interviews and classroom studies. Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory and more specifically the concepts of mediation and cultural tools have been applied. Vygotsky asserts that our contact with the world is mediated by cultural tools. The addition algorithm is in this thesis seen as a cultural tool that the students are to appropriate. The results show a variation of the student’s understanding of the addition algorithm. Most importantly it shows that it is possible for students to “say more than they know” with the use of the algorithm. It is difficult to see how much a student really understand of a mathematical concept and easier to see if they do not understand it or are using it in an inappropriate way. Therefore it is necessary for teachers to form a dialogue with the students and ask them why they do as they do while using different mathematical concepts, such as addition algorithms, to acquire a perception of their mathematical understanding.