GENERALIZING REPEATING PATTERNS: A STUDY WITH CHILDREN AGED FOUR

Year 2015, Volume: 2 , 81 - 95, 01.09.2015

Margarida Rodrıgues Paula Serra

Abstract

This paper presents part of a study that aimed to
understand how the emergence of algebraic thinking takes place in a group of
four-year-old children, as well as its relationship to the exploration of
children’s literature. To further deepen and guide this study the following
research questions were formulated: (1) How can children's literature help
preschoolers identify patterns?; (2) What strategies and thinking processes do
children use to create, analyze and generalize repeating and growing patterns?;
(3) What strategies do children use to identify the unit of repeat of a
pattern? and (4) What factors influence the identification of patterns? The paper
focuses only on the strategies and thinking processes that children use to
create, analyze and generalize repeating patterns. The present study was
developed with a group of 14 preschoolers in a private school in Lisbon, and it
was carried out with all children. In order to develop the research, a
qualitative research methodology under the interpretive paradigm was chosen,
emphasizing meanings and processes. The researcher took the dual role of
teacher-researcher, conducting the study with her own group and in her own
natural environment. Participant observation and document analysis (audio and
video recordings, photos and children productions) were used as data collection
methods. Data collection took place from October 2013 to April 2014. The
results of the study indicate that children master the concept of repeating
patterns, and they are able to identify the unit of repeat,
create and analyze various repeating patterns, evolving from simpler to more
complex forms.

Keywords

children’s literature, repeating patterns, algebraic thinking in four-year-old children

References

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