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Serious Obstacles Hindering Middle School Students’ Understanding of Integer Exponents       
Yazarlar
Doç. Dr. Fadime ULUSOY Doç. Dr. Fadime ULUSOY
Kastamonu Üniversitesi, Türkiye
Özet
This study aims to investigate the obstacles in eighth-grade students’ understanding of integer exponents using a mixed method research design. A total of 165 eighth-grade students were given a paper-pencil task and clinical interviews were conducted with 12 students. The findings indicated that achievement of the participants was low, especially in the zero and negative exponents. Students made errors that generally originated from the definition of exponentiation as repeated multiplication with natural numbers and underdeveloped conceptions of additive and multiplicative structures. As a result, the students overgeneralized the rules that are true for positive integer exponents to the other exponent expressions. Another crucial result was that most of the students did not know the meaning of zero exponents due to various obstacles due to the identity element of addition or the absorbing element of multiplication. Furthermore, students made various errors when undertaking operations with exponent expressions due to the confusion with additive and multiplicative structures in the operations of exponential expressions.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Cognitive obstacles | Exponential expressions | Middle school students | Negative exponent | Zero exponent
Makale Türü Özgün Makale
Makale Alt Türü SCOPUS dergilerinde yayımlanan tam makale
Dergi Adı International Journal of Research in Education and Science
Dergi ISSN 2148-9955
Dergi Tarandığı Indeksler Journals Indexed in Eric
Makale Dili İngilizce
Basım Tarihi 01-2019
Cilt No 5
Sayı 1
Sayfalar 52 / 69
Makale Linki https://www.ijres.net/index.php/ijres/article/view/328/pdf
BM Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma Amaçları
Atıf Sayıları
SCOPUS 8
Google Scholar 30
Google Scholar 28

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