This research arises as a necessity to solve deficiencies in basic mathematics in university students. The objective was to determine the effect on academic achievement when implementing a didactic strategy for learning arithmetic. The study design is pre-experimental with pretest and post-test. The participants of the experiment are freshman year…

Background: Traditional math instruction that emphasizes procedures and rote memorization is common in math classes, particularly within the United States. Students may be able to perform steps and recite information, but flexible thinking in math is also an important ability. Lay theories assume that extensive experience in math would lead to…

In Asia, some children are taught a calculation technique known as the 'mental abacus'. Previous research indicated that mental abacus experts can perform extraordinary feats of mental arithmetic, but it disagrees as to whether the technique improves working memory. The present study extended and clarified these findings by contrasting performance…

In this study, we decomposed the broad practice of deciphering multiple solution strategies. We conducted interviews with 11 preservice elementary teachers, in which we asked teachers to decipher students' standard and nonstandard strategies to multiplication and division problems. We examined what teachers said and did--what we refer to as…

In this study, we decomposed the broad practice of deciphering multiple solution strategies. We conducted interviews with 11 preservice elementary teachers, in which we asked teachers to decipher students' standard and nonstandard strategies to multiplication and division problems. We examined what teachers said and did--what we refer to as…

A focus of early mathematics education is to build fluency through practice. Several models of skill acquisition have sought to explain the increase in fluency because of practice by modeling both the learning mechanisms driving this speedup and the changes in cognitive processes involved in executing the skill (such as transitioning from…

This study was conducted on year 4 students enrolled in the Bachelor of Education program for Cycle one teacher candidates. The effect of practicing mental calculation strategies in improving students' numeracy proficiency was put under some tests to measure its effect in a scientific way. A Pre-quiz was conducted before with no prior practice…

This paper analyses the strategies used by pre-service primary school teachers for solving simple addition problems involving negative numbers. The findings reveal six different strategies that depend on the difficulty of the problem and, in particular, on the unknown quantity. We note that students use negative numbers in those problems they find…

Research shows that the greatest gains in student learning in mathematics classrooms occur in classrooms in which there is sustained use of high cognitive demanding tasks throughout instruction (Boston and Smith 2009). High cognitive demanding tasks, which this article will refer to as rich tasks, are mathematics problems that are complex, less…

What does it look like to "understand" operations with fractions? The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) uses the term "understand" when describing expectations for students' knowledge related to each of the fraction operations within grades 4 through 6 (CCSSI 2010). Furthermore, CCSSM elaborates that…

Children with learning disabilities face problems in acquiring the basic skills needed for learning. Dyscalculia is one among those learning disorders which affects the ability to acquire arithmetic skills that are needed to perform mathematical calculations. However this is a learning difficulty which is often not recognized. The objectives of…