The Effect of a Technology Based Measurement Experience on the 8th Graders’ Perception of the Irrationality

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This study aimed to reintroduce irrationality concept to the 8th graders following the crisis of Pythagoras and his followers, due to the fact that the cases the place of irrational numbers on a number line and “existence of a number that cannot be expressed as a ratio of two integers” are thought as two distinct ideas of irrationality and their relationship is generally neglected. In this study, a dynamic mathematics software activity was designed to make students meet the similar crisis while defining an irrational measure. The students were observed with respect to how they perceive the quantities which have no commeasures, while they were studying on the dynamic activity. The activity had variety of lengths including both rational and irrational measures. The dynamic activity was conducted through 5 seperate interviews including two participants and the interviews were video-recorded. The results revealed that the dymanic activity enabled the students to raise awareness for common unmeasured quantity and to develop an awwreness for the idea of the existence of a number that cannot be expressed as a ratio of two integers.

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Irrational number , rational number , the dynamic math software , the incommensurable quantities

Başkent University Journal Of Education

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Başkent University Journal Of Education