Abstract

This investigation has as general objective to analyze, classify and interpret the algebraic errors presented by a group of 38 students enrolled in the General Mathematics course of Universidad Nacional in Costa Rica, which is offered to different majors. In this study, that constitutes a research replica, we use a questionnaire focused on the use of letters with different meanings, from labels to variables. It was developed from the quantitative approach during the 2018-2019 period. As a result of the analysis, it has been detected that the most frequent errors in the answers of the items respond to the use of the letters as unknown specific value, letter as generalized number, or in the use of the letter as variable.

Keywords: Errors; difficulties; algebraic tasks; use of letters; university students; algebra; higher education, Mathematics education