In this paper we explored primary school teachers preference for different game modes to support mathematics teaching and learning. Eighty-four teachers played digital and non-digital addition and subtraction games that were functionally equivalent during professional learning workshops. Most teachers indicated that they would be more likely to…

There is an educational expectation that children's natural drawing will develop into proficient mathematical representations and formal diagrams, yet there is little research available to guide the assessment and development of children's mathematical drawing skills. The aim of this paper is to explore how Year 2 children (approx. 7 years) chose…

Prior research suggests that human children lack an aptitude for tool innovation. However, children's tool making must be explored across a broader range of tasks and across diverse cultural contexts before we can conclude that they are genuinely poor tool innovators. To this end, we investigated children's ability to independently construct 3 new…

Mathematics educators and researchers have advocated for the use of manipulatives to teach mathematics for decades. The purpose of this article is to provide illustrative uses of a readily available manipulative rather than a complete list. From an Australian perspective, Pop-it fidget toys can be used across the mathematics curriculum. This paper…

It is frequently surprising to new teachers (and even those with experience) when they find that not only do some children need to recount the group they have just counted to be assured of the total but also that this need seems to be resistant to intervention. Although moving from "counting-all" to "count-on" is sometimes…

This paper provides insight about the development of addition and subtraction strategies for nearly 22,000 Australian primary school children in 2016. The children were each assessed by their teacher using a task-based assessment interview that identified the strategies they used to mentally perform addition and subtraction, and matched these to a…

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…

The data from the national tests such as the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) and its precursor Victorian Achievement Improvement Monitor (AIM) are an important resource. The 2006 Year 3 AIM assessment included two subtraction items that are similar in content, and which are presented without text or images. The detailed,…

The longitudinal progress of 42 Grade 1 students who participated in a 10-20 week Extending Mathematical Understanding (EMU) intervention program was examined to evaluate the effectiveness of the program for enhancing and accelerating mathematics learning. Overall the students made accelerated progress during Grade 1 and their learning was…

This article outlines how a Brisbane independent school, Clayfield College, improved the ability of its Year 3 students to solve addition and subtraction word problems by utilising a schematic approach. It was observed that while students could read the words in the text of a written problem, many had difficulty identifying the core information…

The "Extending Mathematical Understanding" (EMU) Program is a specialised mathematics program that aims to accelerate the learning of Grade 1 students who struggle with learning school mathematics. Forty-two students participated in an EMU Program in 2010 as part of the "Bridging the Numeracy Gap" (BTNG) project. Analysis of…

Compares methods of subtraction used by children and teachers. Suggests ways to encourage children to invent their own subtraction algorithms. (CCM)

Guidelines are presented for modifying basic instruction of subtraction facts for elementary level learning disabled students. A detailed case study is used to illustrate a five-step structured program: (1) find a way to work it out; (2) add to check; (3) learn the partner facts; (4) study families of facts; (5) review and practice. The selection…

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…

Literature at national and international levels argues the importance of including mental computation in a mathematics curriculum that promotes number sense. However, mental computation does not feature in importance in the current Queensland mathematics syllabus documents. Hopefully, with the writing of a new mathematics syllabus, mental…