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…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

This study developed a computer-assisted mathematical problem-solving system in the form of a network instruction website to help low-achieving second- and third-graders in mathematics with word-based addition and subtraction questions in Taiwan. According to Polya's problem-solving model, the system is designed to guide these low-achievers…

This practicum was designed to improve and increase the problem-solving skills of third-grade students. Using a specially designed 20-item test consisting of mathematical word problems, a preassessment was made of the addition and subtraction skills of 843 third-grade students from high, middle, and low socioeconomic levels in four Florida…

Limitations of the retrieval strategy dimension of Siegler's (1982, 1984) distributions-of-associations model of young children's estimation of sums are delineated, an alternative model is described, and findings of two studies designed to test key assumptions of the models are reported. In Study 1, kindergarten children with normal IQ and no…