Study On The Difficulties For Grade 7 Students' Transition From Arithmetic Thinking To Algebraic Thinking

Algebra plays an important part of compulsory education in mathematics curricula. It contributes to the furtherance of understanding the real world for students; of forming the algebra thinking; of solving problems and developing the attitudes in various aspects.In many countries, algebra is of great importance in the studying mathematics due to its basal and instrumental functions. On the one hand, it means we should bring in letter symbols from arithmetic to algebraic, one the other hand, students have to deal with the abstract condition.The article is based on document analyses, questionnaires and interviews. We focus on the transitional stage from arithmetic to algebra, and then we intend to discuss some performance and features of 7th-grade students in this transitional stage. The results show that the students have significant difference in the understanding of the algebraic concepts, and with the increase of the problems'difficulty come an increase of the students of using algebraic method. The results of the analysis summed up the major difficulties of the transition from arithmetic thinking to algebraic thinking in Grade 7. It also shows the obstacles that students have to overcome.Some relevant recommendations are drawn in the article through the questionnaires and interviews : (1)develop the consciousness of algebraic structure through multi-representation; (2) middle school teachers should assist students to overcome the fixed pattern of thinking of primary school arithmetic methods ,and to set up a new schema;(3) teachers should provide students with opportunities for algebraic thinking as much as possible;(4) cultivate the awareness of symbols embarked on the development of algebraic thinking. In the end of the article, the author here makes some suggestions for math educators, teachers and students.