This paper explores the correlation between mental calculation performance and the frequency of using written algorithms in mental calculation tasks. Mental calculation is a mathematical tool used in everyday life situations during and after our formal education. After presenting an overview of the professional literature on this topic, the paper…

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is a critical component of mathematics problem-solving. Students skilled in SRL are more likely to effectively set goals, search for information, and direct their attention and cognitive process so that they align their efforts with their objectives. An influential framework for SRL, the SMART model (Winne, 2017),…

The forum is focused on thinking about and with algorithms as a way of unifying all one's mathematical endeavors. The lead article by Maurer presents examples and discussion of this point. Responses, often disagreeing with his views, are by Douglas, Korte, Hilton, Renz, Smorynski, Hammersley, and Halmos. (MNS)

Although the average, or arithmetic mean, has a rich conceptual meaning, it is often defined simply as the outcome of a procedure. The purpose of this study was to compare the nature and extent of the procedural and conceptual understandings developed by two groups of students who received different forms of instruction, one based on the…

The conceptual difference between understanding and algorithmic performance is examined first. Then some dilemmas that flow from these distinctions are discussed. (MNS)

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)

Reviews research using diagrams, number sentences, and algorithms to help students learn to add and subtract; poses questions on the relationship of instruction to children's knowledge construction; and proposes a research agenda in this area. (86 references) (MKR)

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…

An algorithm is first defined by an example of making pancakes and then through discussion of how computers operate. The understanding that human beings bring to a task is contrasted with this algorithmic processing. In the second section, the question of understanding is related to learning algorithmic performance, with counting used as the…

Sixteen Brazilian third graders aged 8-13 were given problems involving multidigit computation. School-taught algorithms were likely to be used in school-taught problems, with little carry-over to real problem situations, but resulted in more incorrect answers. (MNS)

Use of low-stress algorithms to reduce the cognitive load on students is advocated. The low-stress algorithm for addition developed by Hutchings is detailed first. Then a variation on the usual algorithm is proposed: adding from left to right, writing the partial sum for each stage. Next, a "quick addition" method for adding fractions proposed by…

The author argues that children not only can but should create their own computational algorithms and that the teacher's role is "merely" to help. How children in grades K-3 add and subtract is the focus of this article. Grouping, directionality, and exchange are highlighted. (MNS)

The ideas and techniques involved in learning about fractions were investigated with students in grades 1-12, in the first 3 years of colleges, in community college mathematics courses, and in graduate school. Also included were some high school mathematics teachers, some mathematicians, and some retired persons. Part I provides the rationale and…

This document is intended as a resource for persons using, designing, or evaluating instructional materials in whole number subtraction. Its purpose is to provide conceptual machinery: (1) for describing/specifying subtraction tests and exercises and (2) for formulating related questions and conjectures. It is mainly a logical analysis subject to…

In one school, algorithmic development has been infused in the mathematics curriculum. An example of what occurs in mathematics classes since the teachers began using the computer is given, with two students' conjectures included as well as the algebraic justification. (MNS)