ACTION RESEARCH

Mark Donnel D. Viernes

MAY 9, 2019
CENTRAL LUZON STATE UNIVERSITY
Philippines
 IMPROVING THE STUDENTS’ SKILL ON SOLVING EQUATIONS
WITH ONE VARIABLE

I. INTRODUCTION

In mathematics, equation is a statement that says two things are equal. One-variable

equation is an equation that contains a single variable. The topic Linear Equation with one variable

is a beginning algebraic topic taught in the 7th Grade in which, students start solving for the value

of a variable. Cai, et. al (2005) stated that “algebra has been characterized as an important

gatekeeper in Mathematics”. Hence, the success of a student on its algebra journey great relies on

the mastery on its fundamentals.

A research entitled: “High School students’ Conceptual Understanding of Variables and

Equality” was presented by T.G. Tan et.al(2013) at DLSU Research Congress arrived into a

conclusion that more than 50% of their participants were not able to reach the highest level of

conceptual understanding of the equality and variables. The properties of equality such as addition

property, multiplication property, distribution property and substitution property are the

fundamental concepts that a student must learn for further exploration and mastery on solving one-

variable equations. The aforementioned properties of equality are the processes or steps to perform

an algebraic manipulation that would lead to the desired equation, usually the value of the variable.

Students who failed to understand the concept of equation and algebraic manipulation

would likely to have difficulties on higher level of mathematics and on other discipline such as

physics and chemistry. The teacher must be enthusiastic on preparing activities on class that would

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make the students realize the meaning of the equal sign − not only as a symbol but also as a part

of a mathematical statement. As a response, this action research was carried out.

II. SITUATION

Junior students (N = 49 ) enrolled in section Rizal of Doña Juana Chioco National High

School had difficulty in solving one-variable equations, a skill that is developed as the student

learned the concept and properties of equality. This situation triggered the student-teacher’s

attention because considering that, the students belong to a relatively homogenous group of above

average, and they are expected to perform well in class especially on solving simple one-variable

equations. However, not until they try to solve a one-variable equation problem, the class did not

participate actively. I realized that most of them did not know why they are solving for the value

of the variable. Seatwork and board works revealed that they have difficulty in solving one-

variable equation caused by lack of understanding on the concept and properties of equality, and

algebraic manipulation.

III. PROBLEM

The students have difficulty in solving one-variable equation, in which it must be their

first step toward solving more complex and multivariable equations. During the discussion, I

noticed that they are not confident on their answers and sometimes even the whole class did not

notice the simple error. The same problem was reflected on their seatwork and quizzes.

The observed errors committed must be taken seriously because Grade 9 students are

already expected to at least know how to solve one-variable equations. Students are continuously

doing algebraic manipulation. This is disturbing because high school Mathematics is more of

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algebraic manipulation and so, this could affect the students’ course in Mathematics. Possibly, this

would contribute to the low esteem and low interest of students in studying Mathematics. Thereof,

I conducted a pre-test to the class. Table 1 summarizes these identified errors and the number of

students committing the errors.

Table 1. The common Errors of Students in Solving One-variable Equations

Number of Students who commit the Percentage of Students

Common Error
error who commit the error

Failed to Apply Addition

15 30%
Property
Failed to Apply
40 82%
Multiplication property
Failed to Apply
43 88%
Distributive Property

Table 1 reveals that after the pre-test, there are 15 out of 49 students or 30% of the class

failed to apply addition property. This procedure is quite simple, but still many of them cannot

remember the steps or did not recognize when to use the addition property.

Another, 40 out of 49 or 82% of the class failed to apply multiplication property. When the

problem requires multiplication or division, most of them had difficulties.

Unexpectedly, 43 out of 49 students or 88% of the class failed to apply the distributive

property to solve the one-variable equation problem. For a group of students who stands as the

group who performs above average, it is seem unacceptable. These students encountered more

complex algebra problems before they reached Grade 9. But, the result shows that they failed to

demonstrate the knowledge this time.

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IV. POSSIBLE CAUSES

The result of the test and the observed difficulties of the students in solving one-variable

equation during the boardwalk and discussion were the same. The Table 2 below identifies the

errors of students in solving one-variable equation with its corresponding possible causes.

Table 2. The Common Errors and Its Possible Causes

Common Error Possible Cause

lacks understanding on equality; forgot when to apply

Failed to Apply Addition Property
the additive inverse

Failed to Apply Multiplication lacks understanding on equality; forgot when to apply

property the multiplicative inverse

Did not recognize if they going to add first or multiply

Failed to Apply Distributive Property
the quantities/variables inside the parenthesis.

V. PLANNED INTERVENTIONS

Given the observed and identified issues by the student-teacher, the following interventions

were done to address the problem.

1. Activity: Give me the cards!

This activity will engage the students’ participation and put them in enthusiasm to learn by

competing with the other teams. In this activity, the students will be grouped and then, each group

will be given a set of cards with numbers , , , , , , , , , and symbols

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 , , , . Each group will compete to give the set of cards that corresponds to what the

teacher wants, given that the equation formed is true, e.g., the teacher wants 5 cards, the groups

may give . Another set of instructions could be: “Give me 5 cards equal to 6”, the

students may give . By this activity, the students may realize that in a

mathematical statement with an equal sign, the right side and left side are equal or must be equal.

2. Introducing the inverse operations

The teacher will introduce the inverse of each operation, i.e., the inverse of addition is

subtraction and vice-versa, and the inverse of division is multiplication and vice-versa. This will

review the students of the properties of the equality and will make the process of solving of one-

variable a lot easier. For example the teacher may give 2𝑥 = 8 , the teacher will then ask the

student to take out 2 in the term 2𝑥, the teacher may ask: “what is the inverse of 2?”. The students
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will respond on the question that it must be , then they will multiply it on both sides of the
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equations that would yield to 𝑥 = 4. Evaluation

VI. POST IMPLEMENTATION EVALUATION

To address the problem I encountered on students’ difficulty in solving one-variable

equation, doing the activity: give me the cards! and introducing the inverse operations were carried

out. As previously stated, mastering this skill is fundamental in solving more complex and

multivariable equations. Table 3 shows the result of the post-test given after the interventions

compared to the result on the pre-test.

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Table 3. The Result of Post-test is Comparison with the Result of Pre-test

Number of students who Percentage of students who committed

committed the error the error
Common Error

Before After Before After

Failed to Apply
15 8 30% 16%
Addition Property

Failed to Apply
Multiplication 40 5 82% 10%
Property

Failed to Apply
Distributive 43 22 88% 45%
Property

The Table 3 shows that the performance of the students in solving one-variable equation

problems has increased because the number students who committed the error in all areas has

significantly decreased. The number of students who committed error in performing the addition

property has decreased from 15 to 8 or from 30% to 16%. This implies that about half of the

students who failed to answer the equations that has to do with addition property, can now answer

it correctly.

On the other hand, the number of students who committed error in performing the

multiplication property has decreased from 40 to 5 or from 82% to 10%. This is a significant

improvement of the class performance. However, on the number of students who committed error

on distribution property has decreased from 43 to 22 or 88% to 45% ᅳ that is a 43% improvement.

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 The results imply that in reviewing the students, re-discussing the topic will not be

necessary but creating an activity that stimulates students’ participation and attacking the topic in

different way really help.

The activity: Give me the cards! can be used as a tool to review and make the students

realize the essence of the equal sign and equation. This can make them think of a set of numbers

and arithmetic operations to be applied to come up with the desired number, in which eventually

they are making equations by themselves. Reviewing how to solve the one-variable equation by

introducing the inverse operations could be used to discuss the topic the other way. These would

make the students engage in collaboration and makes the steps in solving the one-variable

equations easier.

In this action research, the problem focused on improving the skills of students in solving

one-variable equations. Based on the outcomes, I can say that the activity: Give me cards! and

introducing the inverse operations were effective in dealing with students who already forgot the

properties of equality ᅳ the fundamentals in solving equations.

References

Cai, J., et al. (2005). The Development of Students’ Algebraic Thinking in Earlier Graders: A

CrossCultural Comparative Perspective, Journal on National Science Foundation, ZDM

Terence Tan, Pauline Louven Catolico, Minie Rose Lapinid (2013). High School Students’

Conceptual Understanding Of Variables and Equality, DLSU Rearch Congress 2013, Manila