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Understanding the Equal Sign

November 21 , 2005

Given its role as a gatekeeper to future educational and employment opportunities, algebra has become a focal point of both reform and research efforts in mathematics education. Understanding and using algebra depends on understanding a number of fundamental concepts, one of which is the  concept of equality. Recent work by Eric Knuth, Ana Stephens, Nicole McNeil, and Martha Alibali focuses on middle school students' understanding of the equal sign and its relation to performance solving algebraic equations. They found that many students lack a sophisticated understanding of the equal sign and that they frequently view the symbol as an announcement of the result of an arithmetic operation rather than as a symbol of mathematical equivalence.