Running Head: REVIEW OF DOLLARS & SENSE: STUDENTS INTEGER PERSPECTIVES

Review of Dollars & Sense: Students Integer Perspectives

Melissa Robinson-Agles

29 September 2017

MAT 690 National University

REVIEW OF DOLLARS & SENSE: STUDENTS INTEGER PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

This paper reviews the 2014 article Dollars & Sense: Students Integer Perspectives. from

Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School. In it, the authors summarized a 2011

experiment in which teachers gave 40 seventh graders a story and asked them to write an

equation to describe it. It introduced a discussion about how integers are used to describe

gain, loss, and debt and how the notation can vary depending on your perspective.

Honestly, I think this is a bit simplistic because these student responses seem common

and the authors could have easily added another portion to the experiment to make it more

interesting. Still, the authors do provide good reminders on ways to have students interact

with the integer concept and reinforce student discussion/input in the classroom.
REVIEW OF DOLLARS & SENSE: STUDENTS INTEGER PERSPECTIVES

Review of Dollars & Sense: Students Integer Perspectives

I read the 2014 article Dollars & Sense: Students Integer Perspectives from

Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School because it directly relates to my curriculum and

discusses how to make an abstract concept more concrete. This article summarized a 2011

experiment in which teachers gave 40 seventh graders a story and asked them to write an

equation to describe it. It introduced a discussion about how integers are used to describe

gain, loss, and debt and how the notation can vary depending on your perspective.

The initial story included borrowing money, which a typical math textbook would

expect to be written as negative values. However, most of the students wrote the equation

with positive amounts, although they were able to explain the values as money lost or

owed. They were adding the debt or the loss and didnt find the negative sign necessary.

We were surprised to find that students often did not use negative numbers to describe

this situation and that they had different ways of relating equations to the story (Whitacre,

Pierson Bishop, Philipp, Lamb, & Schappelle, 2014, p. 85).

Still, most students understood the loss or debt of the story. When given the various

equations used to describe the situation, most students were able to justify why they

worked. They just didnt notate the direction of the loss/debt in their original equation;

they only focused on the amount being transferred.

The authors take-away from this experiment was that teachers should value the

different perspectives that students have in math, just as we do in the humanities. It is

important for students to have opportunities to explain how they are making sense of their

reasoning, especially when they are grappling with a challenging topic (Whitacre, Pierson
REVIEW OF DOLLARS & SENSE: STUDENTS INTEGER PERSPECTIVES

Bishop, Philipp, Lamb, & Schappelle, 2014, p. 89). The authors provided a few suggestions

on how to have students share their ideas within the same type of problem.

Honestly, I think this is a bit simplistic. Anyone who has taught seventh graders has

seen these interpretations in play. Although, Im now teaching in the Common Core age,

and this experiment (in 2011) was likely before the content shift. (Pre-Common Core,

students seem to have been introduced to integers earlier.) The fact that it took the authors

three years to publish the findings makes their work a little dated.

Also, I thought they could have added another portion to the experiment to make it

more interesting. They could have asked students to also write an equation for a story that

included both gain and debt. That way, the students would be more likely to use negative

numbers to differentiate between earning and owing. In the initial scenario, theres no

reason for students to use negatives unless explicitly told to.

Still, the authors do provide good reminders on ways to have students interact with

the integer concept and reinforce student discussion/input in the classroom.

REVIEW OF DOLLARS & SENSE: STUDENTS INTEGER PERSPECTIVES

References

California State Board of Education. (2013). The mathematics framework. Appendix D:

Mathematical modeling. Retrieved from

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/ma/cf/documents/mathfwoverview.pdf

Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC). (2013). California teaching performance

expectations. Retrieved from https://www.ctc.ca.gov/docs/default-

source/educator-prep/tpa-files/tpes-full-version.pdf

Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI). (2017). Standards for mathematical

practice. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Practice/

Costantino, P. M., & De Lorenzo, M. N. (2009). Developing a professional teaching portfolio: A

guide for educators (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Whitacre, I., Pierson Bishop, J., Philipp, R. A., Lamb, L. L., & Schappelle, B. P. (2014,

September). Dollars & sense: students integer perspectives. Mathematics Teaching

in the Middle School, 20(2), 84-89.