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Perceptions of Algebra Across Generations

Shuji Miller

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

EDCI 7353: Teaching and Learning Algebraic Concepts

Dr. Victor Vizcaino

October 28, 2020

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Perceptions of Algebra Across Generations

The word “algebra” is often a word that strikes thoughts of complicated word problems,

memorizing formulas, and procedural equation solving for a so called “x” (Usiskin, 1999a). Some adults

may have unfond memories of such routine calculations and numerical or symbolic manipulations nor

may understand the concept of their learning experiences. In this series of interviews, five participants

were asked to share their thoughts regarding their ideas, views, and memories of algebra. Each

participant was chosen on a volunteer basis, though an aim towards a diverse age range and experiences

were sought out. Questions were asked verbatim to the interview prompt (see Appendix A) and responses

were transcribed and proofread for accuracy by each participant. For future reference and discussion, the

respective participants were given the pseudonyms David, Brandon, Emma, Bonnie, and Jenny.

Individual Interviews

Interview 1: David

David is a 30-year-old male whose occupation is dentistry. He graduated high school in 2007

from a school in Pennsylvania. David’s highest level mathematics course was calculus II at the university

level, and his highest level of education is a Doctoral degree in Dental Medicine. David simply defined

algebra as “solving equation for variables” (personal communication, October 22, 2020). When asked

about his views of the teaching and learning of algebra in the United States, he expressed that though he

thinks the content is important, there’s not enough emphasis on other “more applicable” branches of

mathematics such as statistics. Due to the nature of his work, David explained that in his career, the

ability to read and interpret data, graphs, and charts were far more useful than solving equations and

memorizing formulas.

During his mathematical learning experience in K-12, David described himself as someone who

was behind his peers in mathematics until upper high school level classes such as pre-calculus (personal

communication, October 22, 2020). He attributed his major difficulties in algebra with the switch from

numerical arithmetic to the introduction of unknown variables that could change throughout a problem

scenario. However, he clarified that though he had difficulty with this transition, he believes that
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algebraic thinking and concepts were introduced as early as 6th grade in topics such as proportions,

missing values, and graphing. David stressed the importance of learning and understanding algebra,

especially in the science field because algebraic thought processes required problem-solving, creativity,

and connection making. Though he uses algebra and algebraic concepts often in his work field in relation

to graphing and proportions, David posed that algebra is an important concept for anyone to learn. When

reflecting on a memory of learning algebra, he exasperated that all he could remember was “constantly

solving problems over and over on the chalk board, and the goal was to solve it correctly as fast as [he]

could, and almost everyone hated it.”

Interview 2: Brandon

Brandon is a 27-year-old male, who works in the international business and marketing sector of

an international sales company. After graduating high school in 2011 from a school in Alabama, he

earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing, with calculus I being the highest level of mathematics.

Brandon was unsure of his description of algebra but surmised that it was “one of the basics of math

because everything else goes off of it. It deals with different equations with numbers and letters like

a + b = x” (personal communication, October 23, 2020). When asked about his own mathematical

learning experience, Branon expressed that he does not recall learning “real math”, which he defined as

something other than arithmetic, until middle and high school. Though he felt that he had an adequate

understanding of mathematics, he expressed concerns that many of his teachers did not know how to

teach mathematics to various learning styles and abilities.

Brandon explained that he first received exposure to what he believed as algebra around 6th or 7th

grade when introduced to letters within equations for the first time (personal communication, October 23,

2020). He further expressed that he viewed algebra as an important concept in every day life, and though

we may not perceive our thought processes as actual algebra, he explained that “every time we think

about ‘how much gas we can go without filling up’, or ‘how much money I will be able to spend this

month based on my budget’, it is a form of algebraic thinking.” His most impactful memory of algebra
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occurred when his algebra teacher took a day away from teaching the curriculum to demonstrate algebraic

thought processes involved in chess, and he realized that algebra can be used in a variety of ways.

Interview 3: Emma

Emma is a 17-year-old female high school student, attending an overseas Department of Defense

school in Japan. She is currently a senior and will graduate in 2021 and is also currently enrolled in a pre-

calculus class at school. Emma defined algebra as a “class taken in the freshmen year that forms the

building blocks to higher level mathematics” (personal communication, October 23, 2020). She also

expressed that her knowledge of algebra, and what it actually was, may be skewed due to the fact that she

had rotating long-term substitutes for her algebra I class throughout her freshmen year and never really

acquired a firm foundation. She was aware that algebra was a content that involved variables and

equation solving, but due to her mathematical difficulties, she expressed that she only “survived” algebra

by getting constant tutors and assistance.

Emma noted that she uses algebra in every other mathematical courses she’s taken and

understands that it is a useful tool to engage in higher-level mathematics (personal communication,

October 23, 2020). However, her first introduction of algebra, and algebraic concepts, occurred in the 8th

grade and was a very poor learning experience. Emma discussed that she believes algebraic thinking

revolves around knowing the steps of equation solving and the memorization or application of formulas.

Though she asserted that algebra is a foundation to other mathematics, it would only be of use to people

going into the science, technology, engineering, and mathematic (STEM) fields. Her only recollection of

algebra was struggling with solving equations in pop-up quizzes that she dreaded, and the constant need

for a tutor to show her the “how” and “why” behind her procedures.

Interview 4: Bonnie

Bonnie is a 63-year-old female who works as a psychology, government, and economics teacher.

She attended her K-12 education in the Panama Canal Zone, and has since earned a Master of Education

degree in Educational Psychology, where college algebra and statistics were her highest level of

mathematics required. When reflecting about her understanding of algebra, Bonnie simply stated that
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“algebra is math with lots of x’s and y’s” (personal communication, October 23, 2020). She exclaimed

that she feels mathematics education has “let her down”, and though she never really disliked math, she

also never enjoyed it because she felt she was not good at it. Though she views herself as a capable math

student with the right teacher, she never had such a teacher until her college algebra course. When asked

about her learning experiences in grades K-12, she exclaimed she really could not recall any contents of it

aside from having to perform a lot of calculations and being required to memorize a formulas and

procedures.

Though she could not particularly express what she understood as algebraic content, Bonnie

believes that algebraic concepts were probably taught to her before the actual algebra course she took in

high school (personal communication, October 23, 2020). Whether it was word problems, fractions, or

other unknowns, she viewed much of this as possible algebraic content. Bonnie stated that she never uses

algebra in her life and has intentionally avoided all forms of mathematics in her lifetime. Though she

views algebraic thinking as “seeing the bigger picture to understand the direction in problem-solving”,

she does not view algebra or mathematics as a content area that is needed in her life or the lives of others

outside of the STEM field, but has the potential to be useful to anyone who understands it.

Interview 5: Jenny

Jenny is a 43-year-old female band and chorus director for the Pacific Air Force. She attended

her K-12 school years in North Carolina and graduated college with a Master of Arts degree in Music

where calculus was the highest math course she completed. Jenny described algebra as “solving math

problems that contain variables such as x and y” but she does not know much about algebra beyond that

concept (personal communication, October 22, 2020). When asked about her mathematical learning

experience, Jenny replied that she always enjoyed mathematics and viewed it as essential for all people,

but she struggled with math and algebra herself throughout her later years of math courses in high school

and college. She stated that her understanding of algebra was probably first exposed to her in 5th or 6th

grade when she was asked to solve fractions, proportions, and unknown items within word problems.
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Though she had not seen x or y at that time, she understood missing values as unknowns and that the

letters were simply tools to express that idea.

Though she had a positive outlook on mathematics and her education of algebra and math, Jenny

exclaimed that she did not receive a very good understanding of it because everything was procedural in

nature. She described her most impactful memory of asking her algebra teacher why a particular graph or

equation worked in a particular manner but was told “because that’s just how the numbers work”

(personal communication, October 22, 2020). She described algebra and algebraic thinking as a critical

tool in solving real-world scenarios that could be used by anyone regardless of their field or career, but

perhaps not directly such as using the quadratic formula. Jenny stated that she was interested in much

more than solving routine problems repetitively like in her K-12 years, and wanted to know the

connections, meanings, and applications behind the mathematics she was learning.

Analysis

Across the interviews about the topic of algebra, it was clear that nearly every participant had the

overarching view of algebra as equation solving, the use of variables, and solving for unknown values.

Though algebra is a tool for such matters, most of the participants did not view algebra as a concept that

involved relationships, placeholders, or generalizations as described by Usiskin (1999a). Though algebra

originates as “the study of general methods for solving equations”, the Principles and Standards for

School Mathematics emphasizes algebra as a relationship among quantities and expressing functional

concepts and ideas by using symbolic notation (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM],

2000, p. 37). The participants did not once describe algebra or algebraic thinking as the ability to view

mathematical structures and patterns, or the generalization of mathematical properties in areas like

arithmetic (Usiskin, 1999b).

Among the participants, a common theme of procedural practice and problem-solving pervaded

their mathematical experiences with algebra. Though they nearly all acknowledged the usefulness of

algebra, views on the usefulness of algebraic thinking differed across the age groups. Several

interviewees stated that algebraic thinking was only useful if your career required it, while others
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expressed that the thinking process of problem-solving and calculations could be used by anyone, though

they may not view it directly as “algebra”. Though respondents were quick to point out that variables

representing unknowns were a focal point of the subject, very few acknowledge others uses of variables

such as the representation of objects (angles, sides, algebraic structures, etc.), an argument that changes

such as within functions, or generalizers to express mathematical patterns and structures (Usiskin, 1999b).

It was of concern that though the ages, backgrounds, and experiences of each participant were

varied and diverse across multiple generations, the primary view of algebra was that of a procedural

nature. Symbol manipulation, equations solving, and procedurally focused mathematical tasks

highlighted their K-12 learning experience and lacked understanding of algebra as a connected network of

mathematical relationships that dictate the structure and principles behind such manipulations (NCTM,

2000). Algebraic thinking and concepts exist even in primary school years prior to grade 6 and the

introduction of letters (Usiskin, 1999a), as many interviewees believed. Therefore, emphasizing algebra

as a critical tool in the language of expressing mathematics and problem-solving should become a focal

point of algebraic instruction.

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References

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). (2000). Principles and standards for school

mathematics. Reston, VA: NCTM.

Usiskin, Z. (1999a). Doing algebra in grades K–4. In B. Moses, (Ed.), Algebraic thinking,

grades K–12: Readings from NCTM’s school-based journals and other publications (pp.

5-6). Reston, Va.: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1999.

Usiskin, Z. (1999b). Conceptions of school algebra and uses of variables. In B. Moses

(Ed.), Algebraic thinking, grades K–12: Readings from NCTM’s school-based journals

and other publications (pp. 7-13). Reston, Va.: National Council of Teachers of

Mathematics.
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APPENDIX A

What is Algebra?
Interview Questions
Name: Age:

Occupation:

High School State (Attending/Attended):

High school graduation year: Grade Level (If in K-12):

Highest degree/education: Highest Math Class:

1) From your current knowledge and experiences, how would you define the subject of “Algebra”? How
would you describe or explain the subject to someone who’s unfamiliar with it?

2) What is your view of teaching and learning of algebra in America?

3) Describe your mathematical experience in elementary, middle, and high school grades.

4) Knowing what you know about the subject, when do you think was the first time you experienced
mathematics that modeled “Algebra”.

5) Do you think Algebra is important?

6) What kind of thinking and cognitive processes do you think are involved in Algebra?

7) What kind of benefit do you think a person might gain from learning Algebraic concepts?

8) What was the most impactful memory (concepts, teaching/learning experience, etc), either positive or
negative, you had in your learning of algebraic concepts?