In the Hypothesis-Experiment-Instruction (HEI) method students are presented with a problem with three or four answer alternatives, which leads them later to recognize the distribution of choices, discuss a variety of ideas among them, and integrate distributed pieces of information. This study examined the effects of presenting a problem with or without answer alternatives on the deployment and products of group discussion in the case of adding fractions with different denominators. Fourth- and fifth-grade students (n=289) were assigned class by class to either Group With Alternatives or Group Without Alternatives. Results showed no significant difference between the two groups on a post test. Researchers surmised that group discussion beginning with presenting a problem with answer alternatives may be effective for discussion among a few competing but equally plausible ideas, but not effective for discussion in the situation where the correct answer can easily be recognized by excluding other implausible alternatives. (MKR)