• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.85-102
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• 2010

Linear programming(LP) is useful for finding the best way in a given condition for some list of requirements represented as linear equations. This study analysed LP in mathematics contexts and LP in school mathematics contexts, considered learning process of LP from an epistemological point of view, and explored a hypothetical learning trajectory of LP. The differences between mathematics contexts and school mathematics contexts are whether they considered that the convex polytope $\Omega$ is feasible/infeasible or bounded/unbounded or not, and whether they prove the theorem that the optimum is always attained at a vertex of the polyhedronor not. And there is a possibility that students could not understand what is maximum and minimum of a linear function when the domain of the function is limited. By considering these three aspects, we constructed hypothetical learning trajectory consisted of 4 steps. The first step is to see a given linear expression as linear function, the second step is to partition a given domain by straight lines, the third step is to construct the conception of y-intercept by relating lines and the range of k, and the forth step is to identify whether there exists the optimum in a given domain or not.