The decomposition of numbers when solving subtraction tasks is regarded as more powerful than counting-based strategies. Still, many students fail to solve subtraction tasks despite using decomposition. To shed light upon this issue, we take a variation theoretical perspective (Marton, 2015) seeing learning as a function of discerning critical…

This article illustrates how teachers can use number lines to support students with or at risk for learning disabilities (LD) in mathematics. Number lines can be strategically used to help students understand relations among numbers, approach number combinations (i.e., basic facts), as well as represent and solve addition and subtraction problems.…

In numerical cognition research, the operational momentum (OM) phenomenon (tendency to overestimate the results of addition and/or binding addition to the right side and underestimating subtraction and/or binding it to the left side) can help illuminate the most basic representations and processes of mental arithmetic and their development. This…

This study used units coordination as a theoretical lens to investigate how whole number and fraction reasoning may be related for preservice teachers at the conclusion of a math methods class. The study contributes quantitative evidence that units coordination provides a common foundation for both mathematical knowledge for teaching whole number…

Drawing on research around the utility of worked examples, we examine how 29 first- and 27 third-grade students made sense of integer subtraction worked examples and used those examples to solve similar problems. Students first chose which of three worked examples correctly represented an integer subtraction problem and used the example to solve a…

This paper dealt with the design of learning tools, that was the development of learning implementation plan or Rencana Pelaksanaan Pembelajaran (RPP) based on Fun and Easy Math (FEM) approach in the form of a number line model. FEM was an approach in order to teach mathematics effectively to students in a fun and easy way according to the…

In the present research, we provide empirical evidence for the process of symbolic integration of number associations, focusing on the development of simple addition (e.g., 5 + 3 = 8), subtraction (e.g., 5 - 3 = 2), and multiplication (e.g., 5 × 3 = 15). Canadian children were assessed twice, in Grade 2 and Grade 3 (N = 244; 55% girls). All…

This chapter focuses on the interaction of two first graders as they attempt to make sense of a particular instructional context for learning negative numbers. The context is one where they move an elevator to a building's floors above and below ground in order to model integer addition and subtraction problems. In particular, the focus of the…

I present a viable learning trajectory for prospective elementary teachers' number sense development with a focus on whole-number place value, addition, and subtraction. I document a chronology of classroom mathematical practices in a Number and Operations course. The findings provide insights into prospective elementary teachers' number sense…

Despite the growing attention being paid to teaching mathematics for students with disabilities, the existing research tends to focus on mathematical skill acquisition, but not on skill maintenance. Maintenance of mathematical skills is especially important as mathematics has applications in daily life and is directly related to important life…

A robust understanding of place value is essential. Using a problem-based approach set within meaningful contexts, students' attention may be drawn to the multiplicative structure of place value. By using quotitive division problems through a concrete-representational-abstract lesson structure, this study showed a powerful strengthening of Year 3…

The language that students use with whole numbers can be insufficient when learning integers. This is often the case when children interpret addition as "getting more" or "going higher." In this study, we explore whether instruction on mapping directed magnitudes to operations helps 88 second graders and 70 fourth graders solve…

Experts think in patterns and structures using the specific "language" of their domains. For mathematicians, these patterns and structures are represented by numbers, symbols and their relationships (Stokes, 2014a). To determine whether elementary students in the United States could learn to think in mathematical patterns to solve…

The basis of this intervention study is a distinction between numerical calculus and relational calculus. The former refers to numerical calculations and the latter to the analysis of the quantitative relations in mathematical problems. The inverse relation between addition and subtraction is relevant to both kinds of calculus, but so far research…

This article describes how teachers address issues and tensions that students meet in learning division of fractions. First, students must make sense of division of fractions on their own by working individually and in small groups, using concrete or pictorial representations, inventing their own processes, and presenting and justifying their…