Logaritm, från koncept till klassrum - En studie om hur lärare introducerar logaritmer i svenska klassrum

Abstract

Logarithms may be one of the most confusing and hard to grasp subjects for students in their upper secondary mathematics education. There have been relatively few studies reviewing how teachers introduce this subject to their students, especially in Sweden. Therefore, this study aims to highlight how a few Swedish upper secondary school teachers introduce logarithms to their students, pros and cons of their methods and potential student difficulties that come up along the way. This is done in a qualitative manner, by interviewing four different teachers about their methods and thoughts. Their answers are then analysed and discussed with different literature and theoretical frameworks in mind, for example the constructivist view of assimilation and accommodation. The results show that teachers who introduce logarithms with an algebraic and pragmatic method focusing on solving exponential equations find less student difficulties. But focusing on the understanding of logarithms and their connection to other subjects seem to raise more confusion about the subject among the students. This may be because of the teacher’s different views of what logarithms are to be used for. If they are solely for equation solving, then the procedure can be learned with relative ease through solving a lot of similar problems. But understanding deeper meaning and using logarithms dynamically in mathematics seem to require more than just solving a lot of problems.