Modelos mentales y modelos numéricos: un estudio descriptivo en la enseñanza media

OTERO, M. R.; BANKS LEITE, L

Revista Latinoamericana de Investigación en Matemática Educativa.

CLAME

Lugar: Mexico, DF.; Año: 2006 vol. 9 p. 151 - 178

1665-2436

In this paper a cross-sectional exploratory study (N=25) with students of average education is made (12-18 years of age) to analyze the used strategies and the underlying mental models when they face a problematic mathematical situation - in the measurement in which they do not have efficient schemes - The Johnson-Laird? s  Mental Model Theory (1983, 1990, 1996) is assumed and the idea of mental model numerical proposal by Schwartz & Moore (1998). The data show that when these students conceive the situation as a problem and/or cannot use efficiently algebraic tools to express the situation, they develop strategies related to mental models based on numerical manipulations to reduce the complexity. Also the mental models study that underlies to the algebraic resolutions and possible relations with the numerical models are discussed. One analyses how the mental models - constructed in the work memory they serve as bridge to extract knowledge of higher order allowing to construct representations more stable than they could affect the schemes of the subject (Schwartz & Moore, 1998; Moreira 2002; Greca and Moreira, 2002). Some implications for Education and the investigation in Mathematical Education are discussed.