Abstract
In a research about symbol sense (ARCAVI, 1994ARCAVI, A. Symbol Sense: Informal Sense-making in Formal Mathematics. For the Learning of Mathematics, Vancouver, v. 14, n. 3, p. 24-35. Noviembre. 1994., 2007ARCAVI, A. El desarrollo y el uso del sentido de los símbolos. Conferencia realizada como Profesor visitante, CRICED, Tsukuba University-Japan. 2007. Disponible en: <http://ebookbrowse.com/arcavi05-el-desarrollo-y-el-uso-del-sentido-de-los-simbolos-docd37871752>. Acceso en: 1 junio 2011.
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) in Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers that were studying the last year to become Mathematics Teachers, we detected the presence of ritual procedures (VINNER, 2000VINNER, S. Mathematics Education-Procedures, Rituals and Man's Search for Meaning. Conferencia dictada en el ICME 9, Japón. 2000. Disponible en: <http://www.fisme.science.u u.nl/nwd/nwd2003/handouts/vinner.pdf>. Acceso en: 27 nov. 2014.
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) while solving algebraic tasks. During the analysis of the answers to the applied questionnaire, we observed that some of the students solved the same exercise using two different procedures. After obtaining the same answer by the second method as the one obtained by the first method, they were ready to give an answer. We will show some examples of this phenomenon and notice that by using a ritual procedure the student feels confident that his/her resolution is right. Moreover, we will see this phenomenon is linked to classroom practices and does not reveal meaningful learning of algebra.
Keywords:
Algebra; Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers; Ritual Procedure; Symbol Sense
