Children's Pattern Interpretations at the Process and Content Level in the Exploration of Structural Properties of Operations

Tilke, Franziska; Höveler, Karina

Abstract

Mathematical structures are crucial for learning mathematics. Patterns can provide access to these. But studies show that recognizing patterns is not enough to understand the underlying mathematical structures. This paper presents a design research study with 42 elementary school learners who explore the mathematical structures of constancy properties of operations (e.g., 16 + 29 = 15 + 30). Based on reconstructed interpretations, the results provide a more detailed differentiation of the connection between recognizing the pattern at the process level and knowledge of structures at the content level.

Keywords

Mathematical structuresrecognizing patternsStructural properties of operationstopic-specific design research studypattern interpretation

Recommended citation

Tilke, F., & Höveler, K. (2026). Children's Pattern Interpretations at the Process and Content Level in the Exploration of Structural Properties of Operations. In Krzywacki H., Hähkiöniemi M., Haataja E., Hannula M.S., Hästö P. (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Volume 1 (pp. 1459–1466). Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME). ISSN 2790-3648.

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