The Use of a Digital Environment to Improve First Year Science Students' Symbol Sense

摘要

Dutch universities complain that freshmen in studies such as chemistry, physics, economics and mathematics do not master the required algebraic skills. In the worldwide discussions on mathematics education, mastery of algebra is also a prevalent issue. Often a distinction is made between basis procedures and algebraic reasoning, so-called symbol sense. One means of improving algebra education on both aspects is the use of technology. How technology can be used for the development of algebraic reasoning skills, however, is still unclear and therefore subject of this study.