Cálculo nos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental: dúvidas e expectativa

Abstract

The teaching of mathematics has become the subject of constant discussion among students and researchers. Most of the researches and studies on the subject has revealed that the major difficulty is related to what is taught to students in the school and what is needed to confront the difficulties in their daily routine. The parameters for a national mathematics curriculum (BRAZIL, 1997) approach the issue by presenting a new perspective on teaching based on the significant knowledge, suggesting procedures that were done in the early years of elementary school that promote understanding of mathematical concepts and particularly the mental calculus and estimate. In this study, it aims to investigate the procedures adopted by the professor for teaching mental calculus in the early years of elementary school. The study was developed in the early years of elementary school in a public school in Presidente Prudente. The research was developed within a qualitative approach in the ethnographic case study, involving literature, documentary and field researches. Data collection was conducted through interviews with teachers looking for information on how is the teaching and learning of mental calculus, and analysis of official documents, diaries and records written in the student s notebook by the students. The qualitative data were collected in the content analysis proposed by Bardin (2008) which involves the interpretation of the messages having as parameter the theoretical reference on the subject.