The decline of Euclidean geometry in English schools has led to a loss of experience
with systematic proof. The increase in practical links with real world problems and loss
of manipulative practice seems to lead to less meaning within mathematics. Procepts,
such as fractions, involve many conceptual encapsulations, including the encapsulation
of counting as the concept of number, addition of whole numbers as sum, repeated
addition as product and the process of equal sharing as the concept of fraction. There is
little wonder that fractions proves difficult for a wide range of the population. Likewise,
the meaningless manipulation of symbols in algebra is a consequence of inability to give
them meaning as process and concept (Sfard & Linchevski, 1994).