Solving word problems is challenging in elementary schools, both for the teacher in teaching students to solve word problems and for the student in learning to solve them. This paper examines how the ideas of learning trajectory and variation pedagogy could be integrated as an instructional principle for teaching this content in the context of…

We investigate thirty-three second and fifth-grade students' solution strategies on integer addition problems before and after analyzing contrasting cases with integer addition and participating in a lesson on integers. The students took a pretest, participated in two small group sessions and a short lesson, and took a posttest. Even though the…

In this study, we explore thirty-two second graders' performance on integer addition problems before and after analyzing contrasting cases involving integers. The students, as part of a larger study, completed a pretest, were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups, and participated in two small-group sessions, one short whole-class…

The purpose of the study was to determine whether there was any significant difference in speed, accuracy, retention and transferability between the Decomposition (DEC) and the Base-Complement Additions (BCA) algorithms for performing compound subtraction in non-decimal bases. Fifty-nine students with a mean age of approximately 15 years from two…

This study investigated the sets of mental computation strategies used by prospective elementary teachers to compute sums and differences of whole numbers. In the context of an intervention designed to improve the number sense of prospective elementary teachers, participants were interviewed pre/post, and their mental computation strategies were…

In this study, it was aimed to determine the errors and misunderstandings of 5th and 6th grade middle school students in fractions and operations with fractions. For this purpose, the case study model, which is a qualitative research design, was used in the research. In the study, maximum diversity sampling, which is a purposeful sampling method,…

Addition of fractions is an important foundation for students to experience success in mathematics. This mixed-methods study was conducted to measure the effectiveness of robotics as a mathematics manipulative with seventh grade students. Two groups of students were established: control and treatment. The control group received teacher-centered…

In this study, we explore four, second graders' performances on integer addition problems before and after analyzing contrasting cases involving integers. The students, as part of a larger study, participated in a pretest, small group sessions, one short whole-class lesson on integer addition, and a posttest. Based on their integer mental models…

Students with physical and health disabilities struggle with basic mathematical concepts. The purpose of this research study was to increase the students' mathematical computation skills through implementing new strategies and/or methods. The strategies implemented with the students was utilizing the ten-frame tiles and technology with the purpose…

The purpose of this study is to investigate if information and communications technology (ICT) helps improve kindergarten students' basic mathematical achievement regarding addition. Our research compares the level of mathematical competence of the students taught using our ICT oriented learning method which specifically takes advantage of…

This design study investigated the use of multiplication and division problems to help 5-year-old children develop an early understanding of multiplication and division. One teacher and her class of 15 5-year-old children were involved in a collaborative partnership with the researchers. The design study was conducted over two 4-week periods in…

The language that students use with whole numbers can be insufficient when learning integers. This is often the case when children interpret addition as "getting more" or "going higher." In this study, we explore whether instruction on mapping directed magnitudes to operations helps 88 second graders and 70 fourth graders solve…

Students often misinterpret the equal sign (=) as operational instead of relational. Research indicates misinterpretation of the equal sign occurs because students receive relatively little exposure to equations that promote relational understanding of the equal sign. No study, however, has examined effects of nonstandard equations on the equation…

Researchers and practitioners indicate students require explicit instruction on mathematics vocabulary terms, yet no study has examined the effects of an embedded vocabulary component within mathematics tutoring for early elementary students. First-grade students with mathematics difficulty (MD; n = 98) were randomly assigned to addition tutoring…

Over the last two decades, students in Singapore consistently scored above students from other nations on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS; Provasnik et al., 2012). In contrast, students in the United States have not performed as well on international and national mathematics assessments and students with…