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What is a Mathematical Concept?

Preprint · January 2020

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.28918.96328/2

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 What is a Mathematical Concept?

Martin A. Simon

New York University

[email protected]

This article may be cited.

© 2018 Martin A. Simon

All Rights Reserved.
 Simon 2

Since the publication of the first NCTM Standards (1989), there has been an emerging

consensus that “mathematical concepts and understanding” are a central goal of mathematics

education at all levels. However, there does not seem to be a commensurate level of consensus

about the meaning of mathematical concept and mathematical understanding. The meaning of

these terms has been underspecified. Part of my work over the last decade has been to explicate

these terms in a way that can be useful for mathematics education (e.g., Simon 2017; Simon,

Kara, Placa, & Avitzur in press). In this article, I attempt to discuss these terms in a way that can

be of practical use to teachers, prospective teachers, and teacher educators. Rather than

discussing the terms separately, I will stipulate up front that mathematical understanding is the

availability of and ability to call on appropriate mathematical concepts. Thus, I focus on the

question, What is a mathematical concept?

Why is This an Important Question?

Common sense tells us that setting clear goals for students is the essential first

step in teaching. Clear goals allow teachers to determine the best methods and

materials for reaching our objectives and also enable us to establish appropriate

criteria for assessing students' success. (Rose, Meyer, Strangman & Rappolt 2002)

If our goal is to promote mathematical concepts, it stands to reason that it is not only

advantageous, but necessary to be clear about the concepts that we wish to teach. Clearly

articulated goals do not assure success. However, lack of clearly articulated goals is likely to

significantly limit success.

Clear articulation of mathematical concepts is not the norm. Instead, mathematics

educators often do one of the following to specify the goal of a lesson or unit:
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• Specify the topic to be studied, perhaps accompanied by the word “understand”

(e.g., “understand regrouping in subtraction”)

• Specify a procedure, perhaps with the words “know why it works” (e.g., “to learn

to convert a fraction to a decimal and know why it works”).

• Specify problems that students will be able to solve.

However, none of these ways of specifying instructional goals gives any indication of the

understanding to be developed. Promoting mathematical understandings is one of the most

difficult challenges in teaching. Trying to do so without clear articulation of the goal

understandings puts us in a disadvantageous situation.

What is Not a Mathematical Concept?

A Mathematical Concept is Not the Result of an Empirical Process.

Consider the following example. A teacher wishes to teach about the parity (odd or even)

of the product of two numbers. She has the students use their calculators to explore the product

of pairs of numbers. After examining many such pairs, the students draw conclusions about the

products (e.g., the product of two odd numbers is odd), the product of an even and an odd

number is even). This seems to be student-centered, active learning. But, have they learned a

mathematical concept? No, they have not. They have seen a pattern between the inputs (parity of

the factors) and the outputs (parity of the products) but have developed no understanding of why

this pattern exists. Note that I am not arguing against observing patterns, only that observing a

pattern in itself is not the acquisition of a mathematical concept.

I offer a second example taken from our research with teachers (Heinz, Kinzel, Simon, &

Tzur 2000). Ivy was a sixth-grade teacher committed to teaching for understanding. When

teaching the formula for the area of a triangle, A=!"bh, she wanted her students to “find the
 Simon 4

formula themselves.” She began by focusing on the area of a right triangle. Students used

geoboards to find the area of right triangles specified by the teacher. They did so by making the

triangle on the geoboard, putting a rectangle around the triangle, finding the area of the rectangle,

and dividing the area of the rectangle by 2 (see Fig. 1). Ivy gave them a chart on which they were

to record the length of each leg of the right triangle and the area. She then worked with them,

using their charts, to have them observe a pattern – that half the product of the legs equals the

area.

Fig. 1. Using geoboard to find area of right triangle: rectangle, 2x3, triangle 2x3÷2.

Despite, Ivy’s good intentions, her lesson was unlikely to foster a mathematical concept.

Ivy’s use of the chart focused the students on a numerical pattern in the chart. The geoboard

activity was only used to generate those numbers. The students produced a formula from

observation of a numerical pattern; they did not develop a mathematical concept. They did not

develop understanding of the geometric relationships that produced that pattern. Ivy had set up a

lesson that could have led to a mathematical concept. I will discuss what Ivy could have done in

the next section.

To summarize, a mathematical concept is not the result of an empirical process, a process

in which the student just sees a pattern between the inputs and the outputs.
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A Mathematical Concept is Not the Result of “Seeing”

Because visual representations are often accessible for students to use when solving

tasks, it is easy to believe that seeing is understanding. However, this is not the case. Often

students solve problems informally using manipulatives and then do not seem to have any

additional insight when numerical and arithmetic symbols are used. I use a canonical example of

mathematics learning to illustrate that learning is not just seeing.

One of the most impressive learning achievements of children is the initial development

of a concept of number (cardinality). Most students successfully learn this landmark concept.

They do so, because the adults in their lives tend to do the right thing; they engage the children in

counting activities. If on the other hand, all they did was to show the students examples of

different numbers of items and give them the name or symbol for that number, the success rate

would be extremely low. Without a concept of number, the students would not know what to

attend to in the visual representations. In fact, they likely would not be able to attend to the

number of items. Offering them a visual representation is not the key.

To summarize, seeing an instantiation of a concept does not engender the concept. The

student needs to already have the concept to recognize an example of it, that is, to know what to

pay attention to in what they are looking at. This point was made in relation to visual models by

Leong, Griffin, Stepanek, and Lavelle (2010).

To “see” in a model the concept that it represents, you must already have that

concept –that relationship – in your mind. … This is precisely why models are

often more meaningful to the teacher then to the students. The teacher already has

the concept and can see it in the model. A student without the concept sees only

the physical object. (p. 131)

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The point is not that models and visual representations are not useful tools. Rather, the

focus needs to be on the activity in which the students engage while using these representations.

What is a Mathematical Concept?

A mathematical concept is knowledge of the mathematical necessity of a particular

mathematical relationship (Simon 2017). This means knowledge that given what we have

learned previously, a particular relationship must exist. For example, students who understand

the formula for the area of a rectangle, understand why it has to be the product of the length and

the width. They might understand it in terms of a concept of multiplication that determines the

total number given the number in a group (square units in a row) and the number of groups

(number of rows).

The Importance of Teacher Articulation of Goal Concepts

As discussed previously, a clearly specified instructional goal is key to effective

instructional planning and teaching. When a concept is the goal, articulation of the concept is the

way to specify the instructional goal, that is, making explicit the intended knowledge of the

logical necessity. Here I am referring to teachers articulating the goal as a basis for their

planning, teaching, and assessment. I am not encouraging articulating the concept for the

students.

As mentioned earlier, teachers (and others in mathematics education) often stop short of

articulating the concept. For example, a teacher might say, “My goal is for students to understand

the process of converting a mixed number into an improper fraction.” This goal statement gives

no indication of what the understanding is that the teacher intends to promote. An articulation of

the goal concept might be:

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The students will understand that for a mixed number, c a/b, multiplying the

whole-number, c, by the denominator, b, allows them to find how many parts of

size 1/b are in the c wholes. Each whole has b parts of size 1/b and so c wholes

have c x b parts of size 1/b. Since the mixed number also had a parts of size 1/b,

we add the a parts of size 1/b to the c x b parts of size 1/b, which gives a sum of

c x b + a parts of size 1/b. So, the improper fraction equivalent to the mixed

number c a/b is (c x b + a)/b.

Several points are important in considering this example:

1. There are multiple ways to articulate a concept. The intent is for teachers (and

curriculum developers) to clearly articulate the conceptual goals of their lessons for themselves

and each other.

2. The teachers’ articulation of the concept is not an expectation of how the students will

articulate the concept. It is a way for teachers, using all of their relevant knowledge, to clearly

articulate the concept for themselves. Note that I used variables in articulating the concept. This

was not necessary, but the use of variables is a part of my knowledge, which helped me articulate

this concept more clearly.

3. Note that I was not able to articulate the concept in a single sentence. I find this to

generally be the case when one tries to articulate an understanding of the logical necessity of a

relationship. I find it useful to articulate the understanding step by step.

4. An articulation of the concept identifies prior knowledge upon which the concept is

based. Although I am not using student language or representations (e.g., my use of variables), I

am indicating prior concepts I anticipate my students will use. In the example above, you can see

indications of the prior knowledge including: an understanding of the parts of a mixed number,
 Simon 8

the meaning of an improper fraction, the number of parts of size 1/b in a whole, and concepts of

whole number multiplication and addition. (Note for brevity, I am not articulating these

concepts.)

Should We Expect Students to be Able to Articulate the Concept?

In some cases, we want students to be able to articulate (or justify) the concept that they

have learned, for example changing a mixed number to an improper fraction. However, there are

other concepts that it is unreasonable to expect students to articulate. For example, young

students who have learned a concept of number will not be able to articulate that concept.

Development of a Concept: Learning Through Activity

If students do not reliably learn concepts from hearing someone else’s understanding

(generally accepted) or by seeing a representation of the concept or merely observing a pattern

between inputs and outputs (discussed earlier), how do they learn concepts? My colleagues and I

have been working to answer this question. Building on the work of Piaget (2001), we have

studied how students learn concepts through their activity. The basic idea is that students who

solve a task using an activity (a sequence of actions) already available to them (that they can use

based on prior knowledge), can come to the point where they no longer need to carry out the

activity, they can anticipate the result of that activity. I illustrate this in the next paragraph.

Consider Ivy’s lesson on the area of a right triangle. (Although area of a right triangle is

only a part of teaching about the area of a triangle, I use it to build on and contrast with Ivy’s

lesson.) The initial phase of her lesson could have provided a valuable basis for learning through

activity. It was her introduction of the chart that reduced the lesson to observing a numerical

pattern rather than developing an anticipation of a geometric relationship (i.e., a concept). Thus, I

start my example using the first part of Ivy’s lesson. The students’ initial activity involved
 Simon 9

putting a particular rectangle around the triangle, finding the area of that rectangle, and dividing

it by 2. I outline how I would continue the lesson to promote a concept.

After students find the area of several triangles with the geoboard (Step 1), the lesson

would proceed as follows:

Step 2. Students are given triangles drawn on paper, rulers and calculators. I expect that

they would draw a rectangle around the triangle, measure the sides of the rectangle, multiply

the side lengths, and divide by 2.

Step 3. Students are given similar tasks and told “Do not draw anything, just tell your

partner what you would draw. Then figure out the area of the triangle.” I expect that students

would tell their partner (and likely imagine) that they would draw the rectangle. They would

then measure the legs of the triangle anticipating that this would give the measures of the sides

of the rectangle. They would then multiply and divide by 2.

Step 4. Students are given the leg lengths of a right triangle (no figure) and asked to find

its area. I expect that students would anticipate that the leg lengths would be the side lengths of

the rectangle, multiply and divide by 2.

Step 5. Students are asked to explain how to find the area of any right triangle and

provide justification.

In this example, we see how a concept can be promoted. I highlight a couple points. First,

the learning occurs through an activity already available to the students – producing a particular

rectangle, finding its area, and dividing by 2. Second, the steps I added to Ivy’s lesson foster

progressively greater anticipation. By “anticipation,” I mean that the students come to know

what the result of their activity would be without having to carry out the activity. The learned

anticipation eventually allows them to both compute the area of a right triangle given its leg
 Simon 10

lengths and to justify the procedure. The justification might be, “The area of a right triangle is

the product of the legs divided by 2, because a rectangle could be created that is twice the area of

the triangle and whose sides are the legs of the triangle.” The students might include a diagram to

demonstrate this relationship, and in response to questions, explain how to draw the rectangle.

(For more in depth discussion of the ideas about promoting conceptual learning, see Simon et al.

in press.)

In Summary

I have discussed and exemplified the following points:

1. A concept is knowledge of the logical necessity of a mathematical relationship.

2. Observation of a pattern between inputs and outputs is not in itself a mathematical

concept. Merely fostering observation of a pattern does not promote a concept.

3. Teacher articulation of the goal concept is critical to effective planning, teaching, and

assessment. Articulation of a concept involves specifying the understanding of the logical

necessity and includes identification of the prior knowledge on which the understanding rests.

4. Mathematical concepts develop through students’ activity, both mental and physical.

By making use of activities the students already have available, we support them in building new

knowledge on prior knowledge.

5. Learning a concept involves coming to anticipate the result of one’s activity, so that

the learner no longer needs to carry out the activity to determine the result.

References

Leong, Melinda, Linda Griffin, Jennifer Stepanek, Lisa Lavelle. Teaching by Design in

Elementary Mathematics, Grades 4-5. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2010.

Heinz, Karen, Margaret Kinzel, Martin A. Simon, and Ron Tzur. “Moving Students through
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Steps of Mathematical Knowing: An Account of the Practice of an Elementary

Mathematics Teacher in Transition.” The Journal of Mathematical Behavior 19, no. 1

(2000): 83-107.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School

Mathematics. Reston, VA: Author, 1989.

Piaget, Jean. Studies in Reflecting Abstraction. Sussex, England: Psychology Press, 2001.

Rose, David H. and Anne Meyer. Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design

for Learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum

Development, 2002.

Simon, Martin A. “Explicating Mathematical Concept and Mathematical Conception as

Theoretical Constructs.” Educational Studies in Mathematics 94, No. 2 (2017): 117-137.

Simon, Martin A., Melike Kara, Nicora Placa, & Arnon Avitzur. “Towards an Integrated Theory

of Mathematics Conceptual Learning and Instructional Design: The Learning Through

Activity theoretical framework.” Journal of Mathematical Behavior (in press).

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