Processes of mobilization of algebraic thinking by students with intellectual disabilities intellectual

Abstract

We discuss the processes of mobilization and transformation of algebraic thought by students with intellectual disabilities and the contributions to the development of their higher psychological functions. The study is based on the question: How do students with intellectual disabilities mobilize algebraic thinking? Three students diagnosed with intellectual disability (ID) enrolled in the final years of elementary school and attending the Specialized Educational Assistance - AEE participated in the research. The research is characterized as a case study. The empirical data were produced by developing algebraic study tasks called Sequence 1, Sequence 2 and Combinations with bars. The performance of the tasks was videotaped and later transcribed and analyzed. As a result, it is indicated that the mobilization and transformation of algebraic thinking occur as study tasks are proposed that address sequences, regularities, combinations, numbers, and unknowns that also potentiate abstractions, generalizations, and meanings, that is, types of higher psychological functions.