The analysis of word problem types and schema-based diagrams are assumed useful for helping students and thus, important for preservice teachers to learn in their preparation programs. Drawing on pre-and post-assessments and videotaped demonstrations, this study analyzed elementary preservice teachers' understanding of addition and subtraction…

The integration of virtual manipulatives in classroom practices facilitates student learning processes. For this, the teacher must understand how to support students in establishing mathematical connections between the manipulation and their interpretations of the representations. We present a learning scenario that integrates the use of virtual…

Drawing on a literature review of classifications developed by each of Riley, Verschaffel and Carpenter and their respective research groups, a refined typology of additive relations word problems is proposed and then used as analytical tool to classify the additive relations word problems in South African Curriculum and Assessment Policy Standard…

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 study investigated the sets of mental computation strategies used by prospective elementary teachers to compute sums and differences of whole numbers. In the context of an intervention designed to improve the number sense of prospective elementary teachers, participants were interviewed pre/post, and their mental computation strategies were…

This article contributes to the research literature concerning prospective elementary teachers' mathematical thinking and learning with a focus on flexibility. We present a case study of a prospective elementary teachers' development of flexibility in mental addition and subtraction during a Number and Operations course. Building upon the…

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…

Among findings of a study involving 94 elementary learning disabled (LD) students were that Ss with math goals on their individualized education programs did significantly more poorly on a subtraction test than did Ss without math goals, and that Ss' subtraction skills generally improved with age except for age 11. (CL)

Attempts to reconstruct the productive ideas that evolved from already existing sources for the teaching and understanding of negative numbers. Discusses examples from developmental research. (Author/MKR)

Describes the work that students and teachers do to develop computational fluency for subtraction. Examines the orchestration of whole-class discourse and presents a collection of common strategies. (Author/NB)

The paper describes strategies for remediating mathematics difficulties (particularly the process of regrouping or "borrowing" in whole number subtraction) in children. Three interrelated aspects of the process (the meaning of subtraction, understanding of non-standard numerals, and the function of the subtraction algorithm), are considered. The…

A modified method of regrouping the minuend for subtraction is described. This more flexible method decreases the number of steps in the subtraction process and in checking the regrouping. (SD)

Via a demonstration-plus-model technique, the equal additions method of subtraction was used to teach seven learning disabled students (grades 3-5) subtraction requiring reqrouping. Results suggested that instruction in the equal additions method was effective in producing an increase in student computaton of subtraction with regrouping. All Ss…

Discusses the importance of developing teachers' computational fluency so that they can effectively support their students' fluency work. Provides suggestions for helping teachers develop computational fluency with subtraction. (Author/NB)

The author taught one group using the traditional subtraction algorithm and one using an equal additions algorithm. Students in the latter group showed greater success than the former. (SD)