0000000000061011
AUTHOR
Clara Benedicto
Visualizing Mathematics
The research presented in this chapter is part of the R+D+I projects EDU2015-69731-R (Spanish Government/MinEco and ERDF) and GVPROMETEO2016-143 (Valencian Government).
The Cognitive Demand of a Gifted Student’s Answers to Geometric Pattern Problems
Mathematically gifted students require specific teaching methodologies to foster their interest in mathematics and their engagement in solving problems. Geometric pattern problems are an interesting context in which to introduce algebra to those students. We present the case of a nine-year-old student engaged in a teaching unit based on geometric pattern problems that was aimed at helping him start learning algebra, equations, and algebra word problems. To analyze and assess the cognitive effort the student made to solve the problems, we used a particularization to this context of the cognitive demand model. We analyzed answers typical of the different kinds of problems posed throughout the…