高中數學與大學經濟學課本之間的供需落差──以圖形表徵為例

The Gap Between the Demand for Understanding Introductory Economics Textbooks and the Supply of High School Mathematics–Use Graph Representations as Examples

本研究探討大學一年級經濟學課本中的圖形表徵是否與學校數學學過的圖形表徵一致。研究採內容分析法，分析課本中與數學最相關的一章中坐標圖形的外在表徵與內在表徵。研究結果發現，經濟學中常使用的各樣外在表徵與內在想像動態表徵在學校數學中並未充分涵蓋。經濟學在變數、線段、線及坐標軸的標記方式較為隨意，與數學用法不盡相同。經濟學中會用靜態的表徵來表示圖形中動態的物件，這是數學中不強調的；在經濟學，學生需要建構內在想像動態表徵來理解圖形，但學校數學並未提供這樣的學習經驗，此研究結果給數學教育者一個警示：數學教育應重新思考數學表徵的使用與教學以符應當今重視跨學科學習的時代。

This study employed content analysis on one popular introductory economics textbook to explore whether the graph representations in the textbook match those taught in school mathematics. We analyzed the external and internal representations of coordinate graphs in one of the most math-related chapters. The results showed that neither the various external displays nor the internal imagistic kinesthetic representations used in the economics textbook were sufficiently provided in school mathematics. In economics, the ways of labeling variables, segments, lines, and axes are relatively free and do not match those used in mathematics. Static display representations are often used to express the dynamic/action of objects in graphs, which are usually not emphasized in school mathematics. Students have to construct imagistic kinesthetic representation internally when reading graphs in economics textbooks and this experience is not usually provided in school math classes. This study raised an alert to mathematics educators that the traditional way of using and teaching mathematics representations might be reconsidered in the era of interdisciplinarity.