Case Analysis of Student C

I can consider that whenever student C is faced with mathematical word problems he/she had
very well comprehended the information from the question. The student thinks of the steps on
how to solve the problem. The student intuits what is asked or required, extracts the given
information and translates the problem into an equation. The student also represents the unknown
into „X‟ or „?‟ then proceeds to solve the problem and checks his answer. The student reviews
the answer by rereading the problem and checking the computations. This can be seen in
question 3(Appendix 2).

Moreover from question 7(Appendix 2) it can clearly concluded that the student has necessary
problem-solving skills. It is noticeably seen that the student was able to find the entry points to
the solution, analyzed the core information which was required to plan the solution. The student
was able to comprehend information which is the key skill in problem solving. The student had
evidently given the coherent reasoning to the solution through effective mathematical language
and justification which is seen in this working done in the paper with all the mathematical
calculation. The student has assimilated the word problem and had given accurate and precise
conclusion to the solution. The student has clearly shown a communication skill which reflects
the mathematical thinking of the student. This problem is nearly unsolvable if one does not place
oneself in the context. It is also a problem where the students need not marginalize their own
experiences. Problems such as this one require the student to learn a solution attitude rather than
a solution method.

The student C was able to compute 23, 42…., indicating that he/she had some basic notion of
exponent. As it can be seen that in the answer sheet of student C Q8 (Appendix 2) the student has
performed all Basic computation questions.

For instance, to answer question Q2, one could simply combine several rules of exponents
(√9=3. So (32)x=243 which implies (32)x=35. Therefore 32x=35. Since bases are same the
exponents can be equal). The student was unable to answer the question but from the working
on the paper it could be noticed that the student was trying a strategy where he/she repeatedly
multiplied 9 until the result reached or exceeded 243. Also the student tried to divide 243 by
9.Both the attempts made by the student were inappropriate to solve the problem. It is clear that
if the student had deep understanding of the concepts involved, these rules could have been
incorporated to find the solve for the value of x.

In Q, the process of constructing the value of (m+n) was based on the simple rule of exponent.
Students should be able to perform basic computations with exponents and be able to recite and
apply the “rules" of exponents. Student C had shown the understanding of exponents bring the
solution down where the bases become equal. However, the student had given small explanation
and more intuitive. If the students had communicated well and explicitly describe the steps of an
operation then in doing so, student would have reflected on the steps of an operation and would
have interiorized it into a process.

If noticed Q2 and Q6 where based on the same rule of exponents but the student could perform
only Q6 with intuitive response. In Q 2 Student C could not write 243 as 35 but in Q6 Student C
managed to write 243 as 35 but evidently did not show the reasoning. Therefore, I can infer that
the conceptual questions could best be answered if the student had a process understanding of
exponents. Student C successful responses explicitly drew on this understanding.

In my analysis of question 8(Appendix 2) where the student had to investigate patterns using
expansion of the powers. The (a) part of the question asks the student to perform the expansions
from 22 to 27 which helped the student to list out the initial expansions of a power to determine a
pattern occurred on the last digit of the number. But the reasoning given by the student does not
justify the pattern which occurs that is 2, 4, 8, 6, 2, 4…..The student justifies that the number
keeps doubling but that is the property of exponent where else the question asked about the
pattern occurred. In the last part of the question (d) where the student shows no understanding of
general rule of the last digit of 2n which was simply to describe the pattern repeating in a cycle
of 2,4,8,6. I can anticipate that the student had mathematical understanding of exponents but did
not reflect on the investigating patterns.