This study examined 11 U.S. textbooks written for prospective teachers to investigate how standard decimal multiplication and division algorithms are presented, especially the rationale of both algorithms. Analytical frameworks of various methods used in different textbooks were developed. The findings suggest that half of the textbooks do not…

This report describes a randomized controlled study that compared the personalization of educational content based on neural networks to personalization by human experts. The study was conducted in a graphically rich online learning environment for elementary school mathematics, in which N = 135 fourth- and sixth-grade students learn via…

As technology quickly evolves, there are breakthroughs in science, space exploration, medical and engineering fields almost every day. In the future, there will be more complicated science and technology problems that need specialized researchers and scientists to find an optimized solution. This paper presents the role of robotics in supporting…

The purpose of this study was to find out what difficulties Nicaraguan children encounter in doing addition and subtraction exercises. The results were used in the design of radio lessons in mathematics for elementary school. The performance on addition exercises is analyzed with a view toward identifying the distinct skills that are required by…

The study's purpose was to investigate the differential effects on the achievement of second-grade students that could be attributed to three instructional sequences for the learning of the addition and subtraction algorithms. One sequence presented the addition algorithm first (AS), the second presented the subtraction algorithm first (SA), and…

Fifty Brazilian children aged seven-13 were individually given addition and subtraction exercises. Counting was the preferred procedure, with use of school-taught algorithms limited. Some children decomposed numbers into tens and units and then worked at both levels. They rarely referred to previous results when doing related exercises. (MNS)

The hypothesis investigated is that understanding of the long division algorithm requires a higher cognitive level than understanding of fundamental division concepts. Sixth-grade children were tested on performance and understanding of a given algorithm and concepts of division. (MP)

A study to determine if "random" or "careless" errors in multiplication made by individual students take on discernible patterns is described. Implications for teaching are discussed. (MK)

Research recurrently indicates that children who have difficulty with arithmetic often use systematic routines that yield wrong answers. Recent research has focused less on identifying the most common errors among groups of children and more on analyzing individual children's errors. This paper considers the source of systematic errors in…

This paper presents the results of three experiments studying routine problem-solving tasks in simple addition and subtraction. Indications are that children tend to solve such problems by internalized counting procedures which may be learned independently as a consequence of practice in problem solving. Brief descriptions of exploratory studies…

Five reports from a 2-year study are presented. Frequencies and descriptions of systematic errors in the four algorithms in arithmetic were studied in upper-middle income, regular, and special education classrooms involving 744 children. Children were screened for adequate knowledge of basic facts and for receiving prior instruction on the…

A process of teaching fractions is detailed that respects pupil ideas and concept images and builds on these in a way that helps children to develop personal algorithms. This approach is an attempt to get away from perceived one-sided views found in most textbooks. (MP)

This study was implemented to test the relative effectiveness of two subtraction procedures (decomposition and equal addends) with respect to accuracy in solving subtraction problems requiring regrouping. Results favor the decomposition approach. (MP)

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether children in grade 3 who differ in cognitive processing capacity add and subtract differently. The researchers drew upon information from three sources: individual results from a battery of 14 tests, an objective-referenced achievement test measuring a variety of arithmetic skills related to…

Refinements of work with calculator algorithms previously conducted by the author are reported. Work with "chaining" and the doing/undoing property in addition and subtraction was tested with 24 third-grade students. Results indicated the need for further instruction with both ideas. Students were able to manipulate the calculator keyboard, but…