A study involving 66 sixth-graders with learning disabilities, average achievers, and gifted students found gifted students used significantly more visual-spatial representations than the other two groups in solving mathematical problems. Students with learning disabilities used significantly more pictorial representation than their peers, a…

A computer-delivered problem-solving task based on cognitive research literature was developed and its validity for graduate admissions assessment was studied with 107 undergraduates. Use of the test, which asked examinees to sort word-problem stems by prototypes, was supported by the findings. (SLD)

This article describes teaching mathematics to students with disabilities using "My Math," a three-component software program consisting of "shells" into which students or teachers insert content. The three components include computation problems, arithmetic word problems, and arithmetic story problems. The content of the program is discussed,…

Investigated were Australian and Papua New Guinean elementary school children's strategies and errors on arithmetic word problems. Reports that (1) the two samples showed similar strategies and similar errors and (2) the main variable determining difficulty was the semantic structure of the questions. (YP)

Discussed is the value of making writing a regular part of the mathematics curriculum. Writing skills can be used in creating word problems, bilingual classrooms, process problems, mathematics journals, and as a diagnostic tool. Included are examples of students math work and written explanations. (KR)

Discussion of regulation of learning, mind orientation, and distraction focuses on two studies of 12- to 14-year-old students with weak concentration abilities from a special education secondary school who were asked to solve arithmetic word problems. These studies explored individual differences in self-regulation processes, and the effect of…

The interaction of reading and computational abilities in solving mathematics word problems was investigated with the responses of about 20,000 fourth graders and 20,000 eighth graders to items from the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. Item responses exhibited different types of interaction, a finding with implications for item-response theory…

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)

Forty-eight rural high school students were randomly assigned to groups that solved math problems with paper and pencil or with calculators. Both groups displayed similar attitudes toward math. Results of a word problem test revealed that, after one week, calculator use contributed significantly to mathematical word problem achievement. (LP)

Among 32 ESL students who received training in metacognitive strategies for mathematics problem solving, those students who were the highest achievers in mathematics and whose teachers were involved extensively in project activities were better problem solvers than less able math students or students in low implementation classrooms. Includes…

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…

Investigated is whether children would spontaneously model problems with superfluous information and whether their modeling would facilitate problem solving. Included are the addition/subtraction story problems used in this study, introduction, method, results, discussion, and conclusions. (KR)

Described are the conceptions held by United States and Israeli students about multiplication and division that may impede their work with decimals. Included are the introduction, method, division and multiplication task results, and the implications for education and textbook development. (KR)

Presents teaching methods to rectify the tendency of students and even teachers to divide the smaller number into the larger in problem situations requiring division, while recognizing the impossibility of the answer in the situation. (MDH)

To test the Lewis and Mayer simulation model (1987) for understanding compare problems, 3 experiments involving 39 college students and 15 third graders used registration of eye movements. Two experiments somewhat support the model, suggesting it holds true only when the task puts cognitive demands on the subject. (SLD)