ERIC Number: EJ1399046
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 32
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1033-2170
EISSN: EISSN-2211-050X
Available Date: N/A
Meeting Multiplicative Thinking through Thought-Provoking Tasks
Cheeseman, Jill; Downton, Ann; Ferguson, Sarah; Roche, Anne
Mathematics Education Research Journal, v35 n4 p789-820 2023
Children's multiplicative thinking as the recognition of equal group structures and the enumeration of the composite units was the subject of this research. In this paper, we provide an overview of the Multiplication and Division Investigations project. The results were obtained from a small sample of Australian children (n = 21) in their first year of school (mean age 5 years 6 months) who participated in a teaching experiment of five lessons taught by their classroom teacher. The tasks introduced children to the "equal groups" aspect of multiplication. A theoretical framework of constructivist learning, together with research literature underpinning early multiplicative thinking, tasks, and children's thinking, was used to design the research. Our findings indicate that young children could imagine equal group structures and, in doing so, recognise and enumerate composite units. As the children came to these tasks without any prior formal instruction, it seemed that they had intuitive understandings of equal group structures based on their life experiences. We argue that the implications for teaching include creating learning provocations that elicit children's early ideas of multiplication, visualisation, and abstraction. The research has also shown the importance of observing children, listening to their explanations of their thinking, and using insights provided by their drawings.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Multiplication, Thinking Skills, Arithmetic, Mathematics Instruction, Division, Elementary School Students, Grade 1, Task Analysis, Freehand Drawing, Lesson Plans
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Early Childhood Education; Grade 1; Primary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A