Uso de errores matemáticos para atender dificultades y reforzar el aprendizaje de ecuaciones lineales

Background: We use mathematical errors as learning opportunities. Objective: This study describes the implementation of one of the activities with mathematical errors from a teaching proposal that addressed the difficulties and promoted the learning of the topic of linear equations with one unknown. Design: Through a qualitative approach, specifically with a case study. Setting and Participants: We chose 18 Costa Rican students in their final year of secondary education, the closest level to higher education. Data collection and analysis: The information was collected through the written productions of the participants, then a content analysis was carried out, using the previously constructed categorization from theory. Results: Although the students demonstrated the ability to identify errors and propose corrections, some solutions revealed weaknesses in reasoning related to the use of algebraic symbolism and the interpretation of the equal sign in an equation. We also identified difficulties in the manipulation of fractions and radicals. Nevertheless, several responses provided evidence of conceptual understanding, when the students identify and correct errors in the equations presented. Conclusions: We consider that it’s crucial to generate learning situations that promote the use of errors as learning opportunities, by including them in the development of activities inside the mathematics classroom because these situations could benefit students and provide information on measures for their improvement in learning.