The aim of the study is to find out the problem-solving strategies used by primary school 3rd and 4th-graders in solving non-routine problems. The basic qualitative research design, one of the qualitative research approaches, was used in the research. The participants of the research consisted of 216 students, 104 of them in the third-grade and…

Math fact fluency--the ability to quickly and accurately recall basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts--is a foundational mathematical skill. "Zaner-Bloser Building Fact Fluency (BFF)" was designed to build students' conceptual understanding of arithmetic operations and increase procedural fluency among…

This paper adopts a semiotic perspective on mathematical learning according to Peirce, in which the actions on material arrangements are considered the bases for diagrammatic work. The focus is on the learner's actions using digital and analogue material arrangements which are the starting point for the reconstruction of the learner's mathematical…

In a three-phase study, with a total of 40 third-grade teachers and their 830 students, teachers were supported to use classroom assessment techniques (CATs) to reveal their students' knowledge of number operations. In phase I, four teachers and 66 third-grade students participated in five monthly workshops in which CATs were co-designed and their…

Cognitive, numeracy, and motivational factors have been implicated in math achievement. However, few studies have investigated these factors simultaneously and in middle childhood, limiting our understanding of the relative contributions of these factors during an important developmental period. The current study investigated how one numeracy,…

Spaced practice, or the distribution of practice opportunities across time, is a well-known and effective practice for improving retention. However, spaced practice is not effectively implemented in schools, perhaps as a result of a lack of educationally relevant research in the area. We conducted an educationally relevant investigation of the…

Powell, Berry, et al. (in press) conducted a randomized control trial assessing the effects of two variants of word-problem intervention with third graders (n = 304) experiencing mathematics difficulty. Students were assigned to a business-as-usual condition (BaU) or one of two variants of word-problem intervention. One variant included a…

Students in the elementary grades often experience difficulty setting up and solving word problems. Using an equation to represent the structure of the problem serves as an effective tool for solving word problems, but students may require specific pre-algebraic reasoning instruction about the equal sign as a relational symbol to set up and solve…

The number of opportunities to respond (OTR) and spacing (massed or distributed practice) of practice sessions are important variables to consider in instructional design. The purpose of this pilot study was to compare the impact of these variables on trajectories of mathematics fluency. Second- and third-grade students (N = 112) were randomly…

This research focuses on the retention of students' algebraic understandings 1 year following a 3-year early algebra intervention. Participants included 1,455 Grade 6 students who had taken part in a cluster randomized trial in Grades 3-5. The results show that, as was the case at the end of Grades 3, 4, and 5, treatment students significantly…

This research focuses on the retention of students' algebraic understandings 1 year following a 3-year early algebra intervention. Participants included 1,455 Grade 6 students who had taken part in a cluster randomized trial in Grades 3-5. The results show that, as was the case at the end of Grades 3, 4, and 5, treatment students significantly…

Recess is a vital piece of the elementary school day. The impact of this time extends beyond students' physical, emotional, and social health. Recess has also been shown to have a positive impact on the classroom performance of students. The purpose of this causal comparative study was to test the theory of the impact of recess in elementary…

Goal setting is utilized by adults regularly to foster success. It has also been shown to benefit academic achievement. This 8-week study sought to determine the effects of goal setting on motivation, self-efficacy, and math achievement in elementary students. The quasi-experimental study included 70 students in 3rd and 4th grade math classes.…

The adaptive use of strategies, that is selecting a strategy which allows an efficient solution for a given problem, can be considered as an important individual ability relevant in various domains. Based on models of subjects' skills of adaptive use of strategies, two idealized instructional approaches are suggested to foster students in their…

Educators and several national standards highlight the role that problem solving should play in students' mathematics education: problem solving is recognized as one of the most significant activities of doing mathematics. From the research point of view, nowadays, it is well established that cognitive and affective factors come into play in…