Presentamos los resultados obtenidos en una prueba sobre razonamiento inductivo numérico finito y unas entrevistas clínicas posteriores realizadas a escolares de educación primaria. La primera fue respondida por 400 escolares. Con base en los resultados obtenidos, se seleccionaron 28 alumnos para realizarles entrevistas clínicas individualizadas con el fin de determinar la evolución de las relaciones lógicas que estos escolares pueden establecer en el campo de los números naturales finitos. El origen de este estudio está en problemas históricos sobre los fundamentos lógicos de la aritmética. Buscamos determinar de forma empírica hasta qué punto la lógica juega un papel determinante en el origen de la aritmética o, por el contrario, si los orígenes de la lógica están predeterminados por la aritmética y otros conocimientos.

We present the results of two tests performed by primary school students. The first one was on finite numeric inductive reasoning and was performed by 400 students. According to its results, we selected 28 students to whom we clinically interviewed aiming to determine the evolution of the logic relations that they can establish in the field of finite natural numbers. This study originates on historic problems of the logical foundation of arithmetic. We aim to empirically determine the extent to which logic plays a key role in the origin of arithmetic or, on the contrary, if the origins of logic are predetermined by arithmetic and other fields.

This paper contributes to the research strand concerning early algebra and focuses on the distributive law. It reports on a study involving pupils aged 8 to 10, engaging in the solution of purposefully designed problem situations. These situations are organized to favor specifying the students’ solutions and to motivate a collective comparison of the arithmetic expressions that codify the solution processes. The study focuses on ways in which perception leads to different mental images that influence the choice of either the  (a + b) x c or  (a x c) + (b x c)  the representation. It highlights that understanding these dynamics is a fundamental step for a meaningful learning of the property. 

Este artículo contribuye a la rama de investigación relativa al early algebra y se centra en la propiedad distributiva. Describimos un estudio que involucra estudiantes de 8 a 10 años, implicados en la resolución de problemas. Estos problemas se han organizado para favorecer un enunciado explícito de las soluciones propuestas por los alumnos y motivar una comparación colectiva de expresiones aritméticas que codifican los procesos de resolución. El estudio se centra en las formas en las que la percepción da lugar a diferentes imágenes mentales que llevan a elegir la representación (a + b) x c o (a x c) + (b x c). La comprensión de esta dinámica es un paso fundamental para un aprendizaje significativo de la propiedad.

We present a research methodology used in a classroom study in which two different learning methods of additive problems with negative numbers are compared. With the “writing method” students write the problems, learn their structures and solve problems that have been written by their partners. With the “solving method” students practice additive problems in a given sequence, according to the problems level of difficulty. The knowledge acquired was compared with the one obtained by other students who solved additive problems from the textbook, as application of operational rules. We have used a mixed methodology: A statistical treatment to contrast the effectiveness of the methods for solving problems and a qualitative study of certain aspects of the “writing method”.