Documented are major categories of errors that appear as children learn decimal fractions. Then the conceptual sources of these errors are established. Different curriculum sequences influence the probability that these classes of errors will appear. They can be used as diagnostic tools to detect children's understanding of mathematics topics.…

Knowledge about the structure of arithmetic expressions enables people to reason effectively about such expressions, including an ability to judge equivalence under transformations. This paper reports an empirical study of six middle-school children who judged the equivalence of three sets of three-term arithmetic expressions with an addition and…

This report: (1) describes the mathematics test given to Year 8 students in the Mt. Druitt Longitudinal Study in 1986; (2) describes and discusses the results; (3) analyzes errors made by the students; and (4) suggests some possible interventions to address the errors made by students. The study dates from 1975 when funds were obtained to provide…

This report: (1) describes the mathematics test given to Year 9 students in the Mt. Druitt Longitudinal Study in 1987; (2) describes and discusses the results; (3) analyzes errors made by students; (4) analyzes the responses to items common to the 1986 and 1987 tests; and (5) suggests some interventions to address the errors made by students. The…

This issue contains abstracts and critical comments on 11 articles, plus an editorial comment entitled "A Teacher Shortage?". Studies included concern solution processes on addition and subtraction examples; numerical rule induction; individual differences in performance on manipulative, pictorial, and symbolic tasks; the effect of a…