RUME 27
2025
Alexandria, Virginia
Undergraduate Student Conceptions of Mathematical Syntax Meanings
Page: 363
This research investigates students' structure sense in algebra, focusing on how they conceptualize and interpret mathematical syntax. Here we focus on how students parse symbolic representations in algebra, in particular, how and why students recognize certain substrings to be unified subexpressions. We use prescriptive conceptions (desired mental images) to guide our noticing of students’ descriptive conceptions (actual mental images) as they engage with conceptual algebra tasks from the Algebra Concept Inventory. The findings offer implications for instruction and curriculum, suggesting approaches that may better support students in developing a deeper understanding of algebraic structures and symbolic reasoning.