INVESTIGATING ALGEBRA CONCEPTIONS AND LEVELS OF DEVELOPMENT OF ALGEBRAIC THINKING OF TEACHERS FROM THE EARLY YEARS OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Abstract

This article presents the results of a study carried out with five teachers from the early years of elementary school in a municipal public school in the city of Afogados da Ingazeira PE, whose main objective was to verify the relationship between the manifested conceptions of algebra and the level of development of the algebraic thinking presented by these teachers. It was developed in two stages: the first, through a questionnaire with the objective of identifying the conceptions about algebra and the teaching of algebra in the early years of elementary school; and the second, through the resolution of an activity containing three algebra problems, whose objective was to identify the level of development of algebraic thinking mobilized by these teachers in the development of the activity. The results presented in the answers point to conceptions of algebra linked mainly to generalized arithmetic and to incipient levels of development of algebraic thinking presented by teachers in the early years of elementary school (level 1, above all), showing some coherence between the conceptions and the levels of development of algebraic thought manifested by them, for the proposed problems.

Keywords: Algebra conceptions. Levels of development of algebraic thinking. Teacher training. Early years of elementary school.