Middle-School Students' Understanding of the Equal Sign: The Books They Read Can't Help

Abstract

This study examined how 4 middle school textbook series (2 skills-based, 2 Standards-based) present equal signs. Equal signs were often presented in standard operations equals answer contexts (e.g., 3 + 4 = 7) and were rarely presented in nonstandard operations on both sides contexts (e.g., 3 + 4 = 5 + 2). They were, however, presented in other nonstandard contexts (e.g., 7 = 7). Two follow-up experiments showed that students' interpretations of the equal sign depend on the context. The other nonstandard contexts were better than the operations equals answer context at eliciting a relational understanding of the equal sign, but the operations on both sides context was best. Results suggest that textbooks rarely present equal signs in contexts most likely to elicit a relational interpretation—an interpretation critical to success in algebra.