Conceptual Metaphor for Teaching and Learning of Prime and Composite Numbers at Primary Grades

Year 2019, Volume: 14 , 78 - 88, 20.09.2019

Jaya Bishnu Pradhan

Abstract

Metaphor
is a conceptual mapping from one domain to another. It helps student to
understand abstract and unfamiliar mathematical content knowledge through their
everyday experiences, familiar and concrete objects. The subject of prime and
composite number is a very important part of school mathematics curriculum at
basic level. Different teachers use several metaphors to assist students’
learning and encourage them to understand abstract ideas and concepts of
numbers. The main objective of this paper is to provide a glimpse of teaching
abstract mathematical content of prime and composite numbers through different
conceptual metaphor based on constructivist approaches for teaching and
learning. Action research was adopted with three level of interventions, followed
and corrected depending on observations and reflections. Different
interventions regarding the student experiences and everyday activities were
used to communicate the concepts of prime and composite numbers. The color
metaphor was applied as the first intervention. Then the area metaphor was
applied as the second intervention and finally the teacher used colorful
rainbow factore metaphor to analyze the change and improvement in classroom
practice of teachers. The pre-class and post class interview with teachers and
students were taken. From the classroom observation and interview, it was found
that conceptual metaphors used by the teachers in the classroom contributed for
the improvement of students’ understanding of the concepts.

Keywords

Action research, Composite numbers, Conceptual metaphor, Prime numbers, ZPD

References

• Barton, B. (2005). Mathematics and language: Divergence or convergence? In C. Bergsten & B. Grevholm (Eds.), Conceptions of mathematics. Proceedings of NORMA 01. The 3rd Nordic Conference on Mathematics Education, (pp. 96–104). Linköping: SMDF. Bonotto, C. (2007). How to replace word problems with activities of realistic mathematical modelling. In W. Blum, P. L. Galbraith, H. Henn & M. Niss (Eds.), Modeling and Applications in Mathematics Education: The 14th ICMI Study (185-192). New York, NY: Springer. Chaiklin, S. (2003). The zone of proximal development in Vygotsky’s analysis of learning and instruction. In A. Kozulin, B. Gindis, V. S. Ageyev and S. M. Miller (Eds), Vygotsky’s Educational Theory in Cultural Context. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. Chiu, M. M. (2000). Metaphorical reasoning: Origins, uses, development and interactions in mathematics. Educational Journal, 28 (1), 13-46. Denzin, N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). Introduction: The discipline and practice of qualitative research. In N.K. Denzin & Y.S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research, (pp. 1-32). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. English, L. D. (1997). Children's reasoning processes in classifying and solving computational word problems. In L. D. English (Ed.), Mathematical reasoning: Analogies, metaphors, and images (pp. 117-147). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Erickson, F. (1986). Qualitative methods in research on teaching. In M.C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research teaching (pp. 119-161). New York: Macmillan. Fyhn, A. B. (2007). Sami culture as basis for mathematics teaching. In C. Bergsten, B. Grevholm, H. S. Masøval, & F. Rønning (Eds.), Relating Practice and Research in Mathematics Education. Proceedings of NORMA 05, Fourth Nordic Conference on Mathematics Education (pp. 245–256). Trondheim: Tapir Academic Press. Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Lakoff, G. & Nunez, R. E. (2000). Where mathematics comes from: How the embodied mind brings mathematics into being. New York, NY: Basic Books. Orey, D. C. & Rosa, M. (2006). Ethnomathematics: Cultural assertions and challenges towards pedagogical actions. The Journal of Mathematics and Culture, VI (1), 57-78. Ortony, A. (1993). Metaphor and thought (2 nd ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Parzysz, B., Pesci, A. & Bergsten, C. (2005). The role of metaphors and images in the learning and understanding of mathematics. CERME, 4, 67-71. Pradhan, J. B. (2018). Conceptual metaphor for teaching and learning of integers: A collaborative action research. Education and Development. Tribhuvan University, Research Center for Educational Innovation and Development (CERID), Kathmandu, Nepal, 28, 1-22. Pritchard, A. & Woollard, J. (2010). Psychology for the classroom: Constructivism and social learning. New York, NY: Routledge. Stringer, Ernest T., Christensen, Lois McFadyen & Baldwin, Shelia C. (2010). Integrating teaching, learning, and action research: Enhancing instruction in the K-12 classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Somekh, B. (2006). Action research: A methodology for change and development. New York, NY: Open University Press. van Harmelen, M. (2008). Design trajectories: Four experiments in PLE implementation. Interactive Learning Environments, 16 (1), 35-46. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.