Strategies used by second-year algebra students to solve problems

This Brief Report describes a secondary analysis of the solutions written by 306 second-year algebra students to four constructed-response items representative of content at this level. The type of solution (symbolic, graphical, or numerical) used most frequently varied by item. Curriculum effects were observed. Students studying from the second edition of the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project's (UCSMP) Advanced Algebra curriculum used a higher percentage of graphical and numerical strategies than comparison students. Achievement and choice of strategy were also related. Both UCSMP and non-UCSMP students who used symbolic or graphing strategies were generally successful on the quadratic comparison item; UCSMP students who used graphing strategies were also successful on items dealing with logarithm properties and a quadratic application.