Reply To: Lesson 4-1: The Stages of Mastery Action

[Victoria Murphy]

We will be combining like terms in 7th grade soon. As I think about it now, I guess I would break it down as:

Unconsciously Incompetent: student does not understand an algebraic expression, what a variable is nor the difference between a coefficient and a constant. I picture them just staring at the page or the problem and watching others do the problem.

Consciously incomp. – the student would know they have to add, but might not understand the difference between a coefficient and a constant. I think of the students who just combine everything and end up with a single answer of a coeff. and a variable.

Cons. Comp. – the student can add correctly coef. to coef. and constants to constants.

Uncons. Comp. – the student can not only add, but also when there is a subtraction in the expression, changes to addition, changes the sign and fluently combines. They know how to deal with negatives easily.