Manipulative materials as mediation artifacts in problem solving

Abstract

Curricular documents encourage the use of manipulative materials, revealing an expectation that they will contribute to the improvement of the teaching of Mathematics in basic education. In this article, we intend to analyze some productions of twelve by 6th grade students who used in the second semester of 2018 manipulative materials to solve two problems. Based on a Historical-Cultural perspective of learning, we seek to understand the potential of manipulative materials beyond planning, focusing on how learners appropriate these objects. Grounded in the assumptions of qualitative research, we analyzed students’ resolution strategies based on the reports of classes produced by undergraduate Mathematics students who were collaborators in the research. As the main results, we highlight that the appropriation of the manipulative material by the students led the resolution process and to the understanding of the possibility of replacing the manipulative material with a design. Thus, we infer that the use of such materials in addition to motivating is justified when they mediate problem solving.