This study investigated whether specific academic deficits were associated with attention-deficit disorder subtypes (with or without hyperactivity) with 40 elementary students. Results support the hypothesis that inattention exerts a specific and deleterious effect on the acquisition of arithmetic-computation skills. Implications for ADHD…

Evaluated different types of statistical assignments in a research methods course for graduate students in public affairs administration. Found student learning could be improved through appropriate readings, hand calculation, and the use of computers. Hand calculation was particularly effective in improving student confidence in using statistical…

Examines 109 children from grades 3 through 6 for computational facility and the relationship between automaticity, or efficient processing of addition facts, and success in more complex tasks. Indicates that most errors on the multidigit sums were due to fact inaccuracy, not algorithmic errors. Discusses instructional implications for students…

Examines the computational strategies of 10 young street vendors in Beirut by describing, comparing, and analyzing computational strategies used in solving three types of problems: (1) transactions in the workplace; (2) word problems; and (3) computation exercises in a school-like setting. Indicates that vendors' use of semantically-based mental…

Assessed the strategic flexibility of students in mental arithmetic up to the number 100. Results from 60 Dutch second graders show that students' preference for certain mathematical procedures depend on the number characteristics of the problems, indicating that the students had a good conceptual understanding of numbers and procedures. Actual…

Compares the approaches to teaching division in Britain and in Holland where different emphasis is placed on the development of mental and written methods. Describes how it is common for pupils in Britain to work from an early stage with pencil and paper rather than mentally whereas early emphasis is placed on mental strategies in Holland. (ASK)

Explores the mathematical problem posing and problem solving of U.S. (N=181) and Chinese (N=223) sixth-grade students. Reports that while Chinese students outperform U.S. students on computational tasks, there are many similarities and differences between U.S. and Chinese students in performing relatively novel tasks. Discusses the direct link…

Presents a game in which students are told to say 'Fizz' on multiples of two and 'Buzz' on multiples of three while the teacher proceeds to count upward by one. (ASK)

Presents an activity for identifying patterns in the book "The Grouchy Ladybug" by Eric Carle. The book is appropriate for teaching many concepts including time, developing an alternative story line, and constructing a new book to involve children in thinking about how time passes on a clock as part of exploring patterns. (ASK)

Presents a study in which participants were trained on nine single-digit multiplication problems over three sessions. Transfer of practice was tested with nine different multiplication problems in the fourth session for half the participants. Interprets problem-size, transfer, and retention effects within a network-interference model of mental…

Describes the success, the methods (mental, informal written, standard algorithm) and the strategies of informal written arithmetic to be observed when 300 elementary students worked on six addition and six subtraction problems with three-digit numbers. (Author/MM)

Describes first grade students' mathematical investigation of the number of spots on a cheetah. The exploration of counting and estimation strategies that grew from the investigation gives evidence that mathematicians come in all ages. (ASK)

Describes the recent SAUCER Project at Edith Cowan University which was designed to answer questions such as what mathematics should really be taught, and what mathematics adults actually do in everyday life. (ASK)

Examined whether preschoolers could recognize numerical equivalence for comparisons involving sequentially presented sets. Found that children recognized numerical equivalence for static sets earlier than for sequential sets. Memory of the number of sequentially presented objects emerged earlier than memory for the number of sequential events.…

Adapts Stanic and McKillip's ideas for the use of developmental algorithms to propose that the present emphasis on symbolic manipulation should be tempered with an emphasis on the conceptual understanding of the mathematics underlying the algorithm. Uses examples from the areas of numeric computation, algebraic manipulation, and equation solving…