May 2004, Vol. 35, Issue 3
Understanding Primes: The Role of Representation
Rina Zazkis, Peter Liljedahl
In this article we investigate how preservice elementary school (K-7) teachers understand the concept of prime numbers. We describe participants' understanding of primes and attempt to detect factors that influence their understanding. Representation
of number properties serves as a lens for the analysis of participants' responses. We suggest that an obstacle to the conceptual understanding of primality of numbers is the lack of a transparent representation for a prime number.
This article is available to members of NCTM who subscribe to
Journal for Research in Mathematics Education. Don't miss out—join now or upgrade your membership. You may also purchase this article now for online access.
Log In/Create Account
Purchase Article