Developing and supporting understanding of the meaning of multiplication and multiplicative relationships in students with mathematics learning disabilities requires carefully designed instruction that emphasizes strategic representation use. This article discusses three ways in which teachers can incorporate multiple representations within…

Developing and supporting understanding of the meaning of multiplication and multiplicative relationships in students with mathematics learning disabilities requires carefully designed instruction that emphasizes strategic representation use. This article discusses three ways in which teachers can incorporate multiple representations within…

This article explores the role that gestures play in the development of mathematical understanding. Using Pirie Kieren's (1994) notion of image making and Lunney Borden's (2011) idea of verbing mathematics, we share two examples of how students respond to teacher requests to demonstrate what they know about arrays.

A deep understanding of fraction concepts and operations is necessary if pre-service teachers (PSTs) are to present the concepts in multiple forms to learners. Such an understanding needs to be grounded in rich conceptual knowledge. In the present study, we explore the development of this understanding by supporting a cohort of 103 PSTs, who had…

This submission contains the Proceedings of the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group (CMESG), held at the Université de Moncton in Moncton, New Brunswick. The CMESG is a group of mathematicians and mathematics educators who meet annually to discuss mathematics education issues at all levels of learning. The aims of…

Fifteen answers are given by a third-grade class to the question, How can you find the answer for 7x8? The author concludes that a wide variety of experience is necessary to nurture children's wide diversity of learning capabilities. (Author/MP)

Discussed is the topic of least common multiple (LCM), a rationale for its importance, and suggestions for when and how to teach it. (RH)

Six activities useful in developing the idea of prime factorization are described. Some of these activities are best done with a calculator. (MK)

Two instructional variables, sequence and mode, were operationally defined; two methods of sequencing, deductive and inductive, were used, and two modes, concrete and pictorial. Experimental lesson sequences for instruction in the rules and concepts of multiplication were developed for each combination of levels of the variables. The lesson…

Three experiments were conducted to examine children's use of multiplying and proportionality rules in judgments of area. In the first two experiments, 7- through 8-year-olds were asked to judge the area of rectangles. In the third, 8- through 11-year-olds were tested on ratio of a rectangle compared to a horizontal line. Results indicated…

A new approach to teaching the division of common fractions is described. The approach is related to the multiplication operation and involves children working with concrete materials. (MK)

Reviews the author's research on students' conceptions of mathematics and suggests ways to overcome or prevent misconceptions. (MP)

Discusses examples of children's invented equal-sharing strategies that lay a foundation for reasoning about equivalence by connecting ideas from multiplication, division, and fractions. (KHR)

An education major enrolled in a mathematics education course ponders confusing definitions of "multiplication" functions in dictionaries and in a handout on Euclid. This student teacher wants to teach elementary students what multiplication really is, not just impart an algorithmic skill. (MLH)

Three different models with continuous materials, discontinuous materials, and number lines were used to study the operation concept in six investigations on multiplication with fractions with pupils aged 11-12 in a Penang International School. All approaches could be understood by pupils, but they preferred the area and fractional models. (MNS)