Abstract

GALLARDO CABELLO, Aurora; MEJIA RODRIGUEZ, José Luis  and  SAAVEDRA MERCADO, Gil Arturo. Intertextuality about Negative Numbers in Elementary School's Children: An Historical Approach. Educ. mat. [online]. 2017, vol.29, n.2, pp.69-98.  Epub Feb 14, 2022. ISSN 2448-8089.  https://doi.org/10.24844/em2902.03.

We analyze the cognitive processes of an elementary school student in relation to informal ideas with integers. The study is grounded on two fundamental theorical concepts: intertextuality and the senses of use of negatives. The intuitive ideas about negative numbers from this student suggest a possible teaching trajectory for the learning of integers, pointing to an earlier introduction of this concept. In addition, we used semiotic analysis to observe the student’s perspective in solving problems. We discuss historical conflicts of the mathematicians in the acceptance of negative numbers. This work has historical character and allows the deep understanding of a student with low academic performance, in his adherence to natural numbers, with respect to integers. We discuss how the student exhibits only the sense of the subtractive, that is to say the first level of acceptance of the negative number.

Keywords : Integers; intertextuality; history of negative numbers; elementary school; semiotics.