Abstract:
The present work aims to analyze the learning of mental addition by the students of a primary school in Zambézia through the identification of the memorization and recovery strategies of numerals during the calculations. This analysis arises from the need to understand the causes that lead many of the 2nd class to not be able to mentally calculate sums of the 50 limit and, consequently, from the need to suggest alternative calculation proposals leading to their success in this topic. In order to achieve the objectives proposed in this investigation, a qualitative approach combined with a case study methodology was followed. Twenty students participated in the investigation randomly chosen by the simple random sampling method. The data were obtained from a questionnaire applied to students, from interviews and from the observation of six classes. The analysis of the collected data showed that the learning of mental addition by the students is fundamentally based on counting methods for the majority of the students. A variety of methods of memorizing and recovering numerals involved in the calculations were found, namely the use of imagined written numerals, the use of imagined mental objects and the use of the auditory image of numerals obtained from their verbalization. Theoretical support was based on the literature on mental addition, the relationship of mental addition to memory and age and the relationship between the teaching of mathematics, language and culture. From this literature it is concluded that the learning of mental addition is related to the chronological age of the students and the strategies related to the chronological age of the students evolve from the counts and the strategies related to the derivation of arithmetic facts evolve from the counts. Regarding the role of memory in the learning of mental addition, it is concluded that it is determinant in the success of students in that topic since the mental determination of unknown sums requires the use of previously stored knowledge. The relationship between the students' mental age and learning by mental addition, showed that the strategies used by those who denote cognitive deficits to solve simple and complex additions are about two classes below those of their colleagues and the capacity of their memory of work and about a class below that of normal children. Finally, the relationship between the teaching of mathematics, language and culture, showed that the cultural aspect interferes in the teaching of mathematics fundamentally in counting. The conclusion of this research is that there are reasons to consider diversified approaches to memorizing and retrieving numerals during mental additions to make students increasingly competent in mental calculus. In view of the findings, the study recommends the need for teachers to take into account the different strategies for mental control of sums by students. (TRADUÇÃO NOSSA)
