Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies: Home

Abstract:
The concept of solution of systems of equations is one of the most important subjects of linear algebra and plays a central and fundamental role in most topics of linear algebra. The concept of solution of systems of equations is necessary to understand and learn about advanced mathematical tasks in a university curriculum. The paper was carried out a study with 116 non-traditional students who were studying for a Bachelor of Science Education Honours degree in mathematics whilst they were working. The paper sought to unpack some demands of working with system of equations in the three worlds. In this paper, the focus was on Zimbabwean mathematics in-service teachers who were studying the concepts at university while also teaching some of the concepts to their high school pupils. The data was collected through written and interview responses. The written responses were from one activity sheet which tested participants on how they solve systems of equationstasks and individual interviews that were conducted with the selected 13 participants. The interpretivist paradigm underpinned the lens used for this paper. In this paper Tall�s framework of the three worlds was used to explore in-service mathematics teachers� engagement with the concept. The findings revealed that most of the participants struggled with geometric representation of an inconsistent and a consistent system of equations working in the embodied world using planes and also working in the axiomatic world. The participants seemed to work better when solving systems of equations with inconsistent and a consistent solution in the symbolic world.

Keywords: Unpacking, Demands, Solving Systems, Three Worlds, Interpretivist

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