Introducing the distributivity property of multiplication over addition is a well-known challenge in mathematics education, especially in primary school. As a contribution, this paper presents the results of a cycle of design research that focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of a modelling activity in which 2nd-grade students are…

Suggests that children enter school with a great deal of informal intuitive knowledge of mathematics that can serve as the basis for developing much of the formal mathematics of the primary school curriculum. Describes a research-based model of children's thinking that teachers can use to interpret, transform, and reframe their informal or…