Resumo

VEGA-CASTRO, Danellys; MOLINA, Marta  e  CASTRO, Encarnación. High school students' structural sense in the context of simplification of algebraic fractions that involve notable equations. Relime [online]. 2012, vol.15, n.2, pp.233-258. ISSN 2007-6819.

This article analyzes the structural sense that high school students (16 to 18 years old) demonstrate when working with simple and complex algebraic expressions, in the context of simplification of algebraic fractions that involve notable equations: square of the sum, square of the difference, difference of squares and distributive property or common factor. A written test prepared for this purpose detects a wide spectrum of levels of structural sense. These levels reveal the relevance of students' knowledge of notable equations. The analysis carried out allows us to make progress in understanding the construct structural sense by identifying some of its component skills and its role in the proposed tasks.

Palavras-chave : Notable equations; Algebraic expressions; Structural sense; Strategies Simplification.