Imagery as a Tool to Assist the Teaching of Algebra

Imagery has an important role to play in the teaching and learning of geometry since content of an image can be the very subject content which is being studied. I will not consider this fruitful area here since there are several chapters in this book which deal with this. Instead, I will consider how images can be used as a tool by a teacher to assist students in their learning of algebra. My initial consideration is to present reasons why a teacher may be interested in using images. To help with this, I invite the reader to carry out the following exercise:

Imagine walking from your house to the nearest shop. If you are like me, with a shop across the road from your house, you may take this walk slowly; if your shop is some distance away, then you may speed it up. As you make your walk, look either side of you and consider what you see, both in the foreground and in the background.