Twenty-four mathematics teachers were asked to think aloud when posing a word problem whose solution could be found by computing 4/5 divided by 2/3. The data consisted of verbal protocols along with the written notes made by the subjects. The qualitative analysis of the data was focused on identifying the structures of the problems produced and…

Predictions of the Identical Elements (IE) model of arithmetic fact representation (Rickard, 2005; Rickard & Bourne, 1996) about transfer between arithmetic facts were tested in primary school children. The aim of the study was to test whether the IE model, constructed to explain adult performance, also applies to children. The IE model…

One of the most fundamental math skills for students to learn is basic computational skills. Students who have difficulty learning math skills may benefit from representational approaches, such as TouchMath. A multiprobe, multiple baseline, across-participants design was used in this study to investigate the use of TouchMath with students with…

This study compared one lesson across four U.S. "traditional" textbook series, two U.S. reform-based textbook series, and one Chinese mathematics textbook series in teaching the connection between multiplication and division. The results showed the differences across U.S. and Chinese lessons in both the teaching and the practice parts of…

The aim of this study was to test a training program intended to fine-tune the mental representations of double-digit numbers, thus increasing the discriminability of such numbers. The authors' assumption was that increased fluency in math could be achieved by improving the analogic representations of numbers. The study was completed in the…

Second and third graders from six Dutch elementary schools (N = 168) solved two sets of almost identical addition and subtraction sums at a two-week interval. Inconsistency in strategies, which characterized half the subjects, was related to unfamiliar sums and resulted in misinterpreted errors. (TJH)

Age-related changes in children's performance on simple division problems (e.g., 6 divided by 2, 72 divided by 9) were investigated by asking children in Grades 4 through 7 to solve 32 simple division problems. Differences in performance were found across grade, with younger children performing more slowly and less accurately than older children.…

Variation in syntactic difficulty in arithmetic problems is studied to determine its influence on students' ability to solve problems correctly. Findings in a study of elementary school students indicated syntactic difficulty affects problem solving ability, regardless of sex (f=fiche number). (MH)

Studied schemes involved in solving two-step arithmetic word problems in (n=1824) elementary schoolchildren in Israel. Compound schemes and combinations of operations were found to affect the difficulty level of the problems. Appendix includes two versions of the test instrument. (Contains 17 references.) (MKR)