We address the question: How can a student's conceptual transition, from attending only to singleton units (1s) given in multiplicative situations to distinguishing composite units made of such 1s, be explained? We analyze a case study of one fourth grader (Adam, a pseudonym) during the course of a video recorded cognitive interview. Adam's case…

Problems with handwriting can negatively impact the writing of students with learning disabilities. In this article, an example is provided of a fourth-grade special education teacher's efforts to assist a new student by using a problem-solving approach to help determine an efficient course of action for special education teachers who are trying…

This study reports findings from a teaching experiment in which 4th grade children engaged in solving multiplication tasks with rectangular arrays in a computer environment. The environment provided flexible task-solving through dynamic virtual manipulatives (VMs) so children could use their existing knowledge of multiplication to complete array…

The purpose of this theoretically-based study was to examine the effects of yellow-highlighting "relevant" words and units within math word problems. Initial differences were documented between 10 girls at-risk for ADHD and 10 comparisons on the performance of group and individual assessments of math computations and word problems, as had…

Previous research has shown that when confronted with missing-value word problems, primary school students strongly tend to use proportional solution approaches, even if these approaches are inappropriate. The authors investigated whether (besides the missing-value formulation of word problems) the numbers appearing in word problems are part of…