Examines problem-solving results among second-grade students in three schools that were all using a reformed mathematics curriculum. Except for one problem, more students used a mental procedure than the standard written algorithms, and both methods were used with approximately the same degree of accuracy. (AIM)

Describes two experiments that investigate how "buggy algorithms" in multi-digit subtraction are used. The first experiment tested third grade students (N=110) and repeated the test two years later. The second experiment tested students in grades 3-6 (N=301). Contains 21 references. (DDR)

Differences in students' (aged 12-14) construction and analysis of mathematical algorithms may be explained by the differences between predicative and functional cognitive structures. Analyzes the central role of internal and external representations and the characteristics of each. Discusses prototypical research design and development of a…

Coordinates anthropological and cognitive perspectives on one child's learning of the standard addition algorithm in second and third grade. Analysis showed that the student abandoned his self-generated computational algorithms in favor of less understood conventional procedures. (25 references) (Author/MKR)

A 14-year-old Brazilian boy in the fourth grade was given 170 problems orally, each asking for the sum of 2 2-digit numbers. Responses indicated he had invented his own algorithm for addition, similar to the school one, based largely on his experiences with money. (Contains 13 references.) (JAF)