A mathematical perspective on units in arithmetic teaching and learning: a comparison of French, Swiss and, Japanese contexts

Abstract

Several theoretical perspectives have pointed out the importance of units in teaching and learning elementary arithmetic. Adopting an institutional perspective, the workshop will focus on some features of arithmetic in three educational systems that consider units differently, and that provide different experiences for multiplicative reasoning. This will be preceded by analyses of excerpts of an 18th century arithmetic textbook that shaped decades of teaching, at least in France.