Abstract:

During the last decade, learning theories have undergone some considerable changes based on the scientific developments about cognitive processes. In consideration of constructivist learning and process of abstraction, which came up as a result of such developments, this study investigates high schools students’ skills of acquiring knowledge of the greatest integer function. It was carried out using the case study method as a group work with two volunteer high school students. In conformity with the principles of constructivist learning, the students were asked to solve three sequential problems which are suitable for observing the actions in abstraction processes and giving students the chance to use their previous experiences and knowledge as much as possible. It was observed that the students used the knowledge they had gained from the first problem to solve the others and they properly acquired the knowledge of piecewise continuous function and the greatest integer function. Another finding is that the use of cases and problems from real life to teach about functions can make a strong contribution to the use of abstraction

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