Abstracts - Earli

the adult learners have positive attitude towards network-based language studies regardless of poortechnical skills. Implications of learner autonomy can also be discerned. In network-based learningenvironments also the teachers meet new challenges, as they become designers of learningenvironments rather than transmitters of knowledge. Designing a web-course requires of teacherboth good technical skills and understanding of what kind of actions may take place on the net.Developing scientific concepts in Mathematics in elementary schoolHayuta Regev, Levinsky College of Education, IsraelEdith Tabak, Levinsky College of Education, IsraelThe aims of this qualitative-descriptive study conducted in the context of a partnership between anElementary School and a College of Education, are to describe the formation of mathematical–scientific concepts by student-teachers, teachers, the methods-supervisor and pupils, and toidentify the factors which obstruct this process. The study is framed by Vigotzky’s distinctionbetween spontaneous and scientific concepts, and the role played by the teacher in mediating theprocess of developing mathematical–scientific concepts (Karpov, 2003). The participants were 30student-teachers, their methods-supervisor, 10 teachers and 100 pupils. The data was collectedduring one academic year from different sources, and consisted of participant observations andinterviews. The data analysis was conducted in a dialectical process between the empirical data,the lexical concept and the mathematical-scientific concept of "sequential number". A contentanalysis of the participants’ answers and their explanations to the question "what number issequential to a quarter?" enable the identification of three groups of responses: The first group wascharacterized by lacking awareness of the scientific concept and a strong emphasis on the daily useof the concept. The second group made an analogy to a more familiar system of numbers and anextrapolation to any group of numbers. The third group shows a good understanding of thescientific concept. The main finding is that the factor which obstructs the formation ofmathematical–scientific concepts is the tendency to forget the mathematical–formal argument,which is not yet well grounded, and return to one’s intuitive knowledge and spontaneous concepts,while using analogies to familiar mathematical systems. The importance of this study is thedescription of mediated tools and learning strategies developed by all the participants, which canhelp students to deal with erroneous analogies and in turn, promote the developing of scientificconcepts.Equivalence and ordering of fractions: a comparative study of Brazilian and Portuguese childrenBeatriz Vargas Dorneles, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, BrazilEma Mamede, Universidade do Minho, PortugalThe understanding of the concept of fractions is progressive and begins with the informalknowledge that children have before they are systematically taught fractions in school. That initialunderstanding depends on the context in which the children interact with such concept. Ourobjective is to compare the understanding of fractions in six- and seven-year-olds in two problemsituations: part-whole and quotient situations in two studies. Cross-countries systematiccomparisons are necessaries before making generalizations. Two groups of children participated:80 children, from Braga, Portugal, and 80 children, from Porto Alegre, Brazil. Three types ofquestions – about equivalence, ordering and naming of fractions - were proposed in part-wholeand quotient situations. In order to keep the number of questions posed to each child manageable,a between-participants design was used, with random assignment of children to one of the twoproblem situations. Both Portuguese and Brazilian children performed significantly better inproblems presented in quotient situations. The Portuguese children’s overall better performance– 463 –