Word problem solving is an approach that can increase knowledge, improve performance and develop learners' critical thinking skills that can assist them in solving mathematical and real-life problems. This study examined the effectiveness of using a word problem solving approach to improve Grade 3 learners' performance when learning addition and…

The analysis of word problem types and schema-based diagrams are assumed useful for helping students and thus, important for preservice teachers to learn in their preparation programs. Drawing on pre-and post-assessments and videotaped demonstrations, this study analyzed elementary preservice teachers' understanding of addition and subtraction…

The aim of this study is to investigate Danish pre-service teachers' (PSTs) mathematical and didactical knowledge of operations with rational numbers. This knowledge is studied through their collaborative activities to certain tasks related to the teaching of operations with rational numbers. An explicit model of the teachers' mathematical and…

This article outlines how a Brisbane independent school, Clayfield College, improved the ability of its Year 3 students to solve addition and subtraction word problems by utilising a schematic approach. It was observed that while students could read the words in the text of a written problem, many had difficulty identifying the core information…

This submission contains the Proceedings of the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group (CMESG), held at the Université de Moncton in Moncton, New Brunswick. The CMESG is a group of mathematicians and mathematics educators who meet annually to discuss mathematics education issues at all levels of learning. The aims of…

Proposes a four-category classification of semantic structures of one-step word problems involving multiplication and division: forming the n-th multiple of measures, combinatorial multiplication, composition of operators, and multiplication by formula. This classification is compatible with semantic structures of addition and subtraction word…

This cross-sectional study investigated the problem-solving strategies used by schooled and unschooled Nigerian children to solve simple addition and subtraction problems. The purpose of the study was to: (1) verify with Nigerian children, models of the knowledge and strategies underlying children's solutions to simple word problems; (2) test the…

This manual is used with MATHBOXES, a computer program written for Apple II microcomputers to help children relate formal mathematical symbols for representing simple word problems to the informal strategies using physical objects that they naturally use to solve them. There is a substantial body of research that documents that young children are…

One of the major goals in mathematics education is to teach the ability to solve word problems. This study compared the word problem solving abilities of second-grade students from Taiwan (N=24) with those of American students (N=24). Two tests were used in the problem solving interviews. The comparisons between the performance of the groups on…

Determined whether 11 third-grade children, differing in cognitive processing capacity, solve addition and subtraction word problems differently. Results, among others, show that children who differ in cognitive processing capacity also differ in strategies they use to solve the same verbal problems and differ in their success in finding correct…

In recognition of the fact that young children develop informal number concepts and strategies for solving several basic types of verbal addition and subtraction problems before entering school, but lose this ability after a few years of schooling, the study created and tested an intervention designed to build on the children's early insights. A…

A study asked 24 first grade children from 3 different classes to write number sentences and select appropriate alternative number sentences for addition and subtraction word problems. Results indicated that children could be characterized into five clusters according to their flexibility in accepting alternative number sentences and that…

The purpose of this manual is to present a series of lessons on solving word problems, each focusing on a specific concept. The solving of story problems should be incorporated into the daily mathematics lesson so that children can maintain and increase their skills. The lessons are sequenced according to their complexity. Lessons one through…

Compares the development of two students' understanding of addition and subtraction. One student's understanding is based on memorized rules and the other's on understanding the concept of place value. Discusses the effects of different goals for instruction and the importance of understanding place value. (MDH)

Relates research findings on the way primary-grade students communicate mathematical ideas through the use of symbols to a framework for students to investigate the part-whole relationship of quantity. Discusses children's problem-solving abilities, linking word problems and symbols, the importance of context for understanding symbols, and the…