Students’ Challenges with Symbols and Diagrams when Using a Programming Environment in Mathematics

• Published in: Digital experiences in mathematics education Vol. 5; no. 1; pp. 36 - 58
• Main Author: DeJarnette, Anna F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 15.04.2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Communication; Computer programming; Education; Educational Technology; Environment; Learning and Instruction; Mathematical analysis; Mathematics; Mathematics Education; Programming; Programming environments; Representations; Students; Symbols; Discourse; Mathematics; Technology; Visual programming environment
• ISSN: 2199-3246; 2199-3254
• DOI: 10.1007/s40751-018-0044-5

Learning mathematics requires students to become fluent in some of the discipline-specific ways of communicating through words, symbols and diagrams, creating difficulties for many learners to engage with the subject. Computer programming environments have inspired efforts to support students’ communication, by making abstract ideas more tangible and concrete within such environments. In this article, I examine students’ challenges in interpreting symbols and diagrams when using a visual programming environment to create representations of distance and speed. The environment presented difficulties related to understanding the meanings of symbols and how they fit together, as well as using symbols to create visual representations. In overcoming these challenges students created representations that, although they contained less information than traditional mathematical ones, were nonetheless meaningful to the students who created them. These findings add complexity to existing research on the potential of programming environments for learning mathematics, and suggest a potential to re-envision what technical mathematical discourse might look like in interdisciplinary settings.