The possibilities and effects of promoting logical-combinatorial thinking in initial mathematics teaching/Logičko-kombinatorno mišljenje u početnoj nastavi matematike – učinci i mogućnosti poticanja

Abstract

Summary
The purpose of the paper is to emphasize the importance of promoting and
developing logical-combinatorial thinking in students at an early age, in initial
mathematics teaching, and to point to certain specificities of this teaching model.
With regard to that, the authors firstly provide the definition of the term logical
combinatorial thinking and stress the need for an early introduction of the elements
of logic and combinatorics in the teaching process. Taking into consideration
the specific nature of initial mathematics teaching and students’ age, a special
approach to the teaching content was designed, which involves a range of various
combinatorial scenarios that can be used in the teaching process. Experimental
research was carried out on a sample comprising 276 students in the fourth grade
of primary school in the Republic of Serbia. The aim of the research was to examine
if it is possible to develop logical-combinatorial thinking in students in mathematics
teaching by selecting suitable content (tasks) which involve the application and
solving of typical logical-combinatorial problems and contextual examples. The
findings indicate that an appropriate selection of content can significantly influence
the optimal development of logical-combinatorial thinking in students.
Keywords: combinatorics; logic; mathematics; reasoning; task

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Sažetak
U radu se ukazuje na važnost ranoga poticanja i razvoja logičko-kombinatornoga
mišljenja učenika u početnoj nastavi matematike te se ističu određene specifičnosti
ovoga modela nastavnoga rada. S tim u vezi, autori se najprije usmjeravaju na
definiciju pojma logičko-kombinatornoga mišljenja i potrebu ranoga uvođenja
elemenata logike i kombinatorike u nastavni proces. Na temelju specifičnosti
početne nastave matematike i dobi učenika, osmišljen je poseban pristup
sadržajima koji predviđa niz različitih kombinatornih situacija u nastavi.
Provedeno je eksperimentalno istraživanje na uzorku od 276 učenika četvrtih
razreda osnovnih škola u Republici Srbiji, s ciljem da se ispita može li se odabirom
primjerenih sadržaja (zadataka) koji uključuju primjenu i rješavanje tipičnih
logičko-kombinatornih zadataka, kao i kontekstualnih primjera, razviti logičko
kombinatorno mišljenje učenika u nastavi matematike? Rezultati istraživanja
pokazuju da se primjerenim izborom sadržaja može značajno utjecati na optimalan
razvoj logičko-kombinatornoga mišljenja učenika.
Ključne riječi: kombinatorika; logika; matematika; rasuđivanje; zadatak