Discussed are preservice elementary teachers' misconceptions and inconsistent beliefs about multiplication and division with decimals. Sources of inconsistencies and recommendations for overcoming inconsistencies are included. (KR)

Presents teaching methods to rectify the tendency of students and even teachers to divide the smaller number into the larger in problem situations requiring division, while recognizing the impossibility of the answer in the situation. (MDH)

Discusses the two overgeneralizations "multiplications makes bigger" and "division makes smaller" in the context of solving word problems involving rational numbers less than one. Presents activities to help students make sense of multiplication and division in these situations. (MDH)