An Exploratory Study Of Sixth And Seventh Grade Students’ Use Of Line Graphs To Solve Number And Algebra Problems

Line graphs are a very important representational tool in elementary school mathematics materials and play an important role in students’ problem solving and mathematical learning.Especially because of the immature development of primary school students’ abstract thinking,using line graphs to represent quantities or quantitative relationships can facilitate students’ understanding of topics,deepen their knowledge,and help them find ideas to solve problems.With the reform of mathematics education in recent years,teaching materials and curricula pay more attention to the cultivation of students’ ideas of combining numbers and shapes and geometric intuition,so the study of students’ problem solving using line graphs should not be neglected.Based on this,this study investigated the effect of line graphs on students’ solving of number and algebraic problems through a test paper survey method based on the existing literature.The current status of the five types of number and algebraic problems,namely comparison-type problems,multiplication problems,fraction problems,itinerary problems,and proportional distribution problems,was investigated by using line graphs for sixth and seventh grade students.The results of the study show that:(1)the overall ability of students in grades 6 and 7 to solve number and algebra problems is average,the problem solving ability of students in grade 7 is significantly higher than that of students in grade 6,and there is a significant positive correlation between students’ ability to solve number and algebra problems and their final grades in the last semester;(2)students do not have a strong awareness of applying diagrams to solve problems and have not mastered the method of drawing diagrams to solve problems;(3)The impact of line graphs on students’ problem solving was related to the difficulty of the problems.For most of the more difficult problems,the use of line graphs had a significant effect on the score;(4)The level of students’ ability to draw graphs varied according to the type of problem,with students’ average level of solving "comparison-type problems" being higher than that of multiplication and.division-type problems using line graphs;(5)The types of errors commonly found in students’ use of line graphs to solve problems were:intellectual errors,negligent errors and irregularities in graphing.Based on the above conclusions,teachers should encourage.students to use different strategies to solve problems for different types of problems;infiltrate the idea of combining numbers and shapes in teaching and strengthen the awareness of graphical representation;strengthen the training of drawing diagrams to improve students’ standardization of drawing diagrams to solve problems;and pay attention to cultivating students’ awareness of checking and good problem solving habits.