Author Archives: Bert Speelpenning

Mathematical Notation and Schools – 8

Posted on 2011/06/17

Subtraction: The Dot For “Borrowing” Can Also Denote Negative Numbers In this series, I’m looking at the impact of mathematical notation on student understanding and student learning.  In the previous installment, I looked at a notation for “long subtraction” different … Continue reading →

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Mathematical Notations and Schools – 7

Posted on 2011/06/15

Subtraction: The Dot For “Borrowing” In this series, I’ve been exploring notational issues and their impact on student learning.  So far, I’ve been hesitating dealing with the standard subtraction algorithm as taught in the USA for two reasons: 1. I’m … Continue reading →

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Mathematical Notations and Schools – 6

Posted on 2011/06/14

The Overloaded Equals Sign: Solving Equations and Checking Solutions In this series about mathematical notation and its impact on the learning of mathematics, the previous post looked at the use of the “=” sign to indicate equivalence or identity, and … Continue reading →

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Mathematical Notation and Schools – 5

Posted on 2011/06/12

The Overloaded Equals Sign: Equivalence In this series about mathematical notation and its impact on the learning of mathematics, the previous post started to look at the overloading of the equals sign – so many different meanings and uses cramped … Continue reading →

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Mathematical Notation and Schools – 4

Posted on 2011/06/10

The Overloaded Equals Sign: “Do This Now” In this series about mathematical notation and its impact on the learning of mathematics, we’ve looked so far at the raised minus sign for negative numbers, the various ways of denoting multiplication, and … Continue reading →

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Mathematical Notation and Schools – 3

Posted on 2011/06/04

Notations for Sequencing and Nesting (Parentheses) In  this series, I’m exploring mathematical notation as it is used in schools, and how these notations help or hinder students’ understanding of mathematics.  In the first installment of this series, I spoke positively … Continue reading →

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Mathematical Notation and Schools – 2

Posted on 2011/05/28

Notations For Multiplication In the first part of this series, I looked at the practice in American schools to use a raised minus sign for negative numbers: e.g. ⁻7 for negative seven, in contrast to the “-” in 10 – … Continue reading →

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