Four sequential Basic Skill Levels (levels G, H, HA, and I) of a self-paced, individualized mathematics program designed to improve the achievement of junior high school students are presented in this student workbook. Each level includes a pretest, four to seven lessons, quizzes (checkpoints) after each fourth lesson, a posttest, and a level…

Assessing fit of psychometric models has always been an issue of enormous interest, but there exists no unanimously agreed upon item fit diagnostic for the models. Bayesian networks, frequently used in educational assessments (see, for example, Mislevy, Almond, Yan, & Steinberg, 2001) primarily for learning about students' knowledge and…

This research focused on students' learning of mathematical rules with reasoning. A small group of students (age 11-12 yrs) was observed closely by the first author as she taught them fraction rules. The area of focus was fractions and activities were designed pertaining to the four rules of fractions: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and…

This study probed children's reasoning about both correct and incorrect but plausible statements of hypothetical children concerning the concepts of subtraction, with the intention of examining misconceptions in greater depth. Eight third graders, 14 fourth graders, and 14 fifth graders were interviewed individually to assess their understanding…

This report opens by asking how operations in general, and addition and subtraction in particular, are characterized for elementary school students, and examines the "standard" instruction of these topics through secondary schooling. Some common errors and/or "sloppiness" in the typical textbook presentations are noted, and…

Japanese methods of teaching subtraction to first graders, which emphasize the involvement of the children in developing and solving problems, are discussed. The conventional vertical format for solving problems was not introduced immediately. Some results encountered by American teachers using these methods are also discussed. (IS)

The object of this study was to specify the relationship between logical and numerical structures by examining the processes used by operational and preoperational children in solving simple addition and subtraction problems. (MP)

Presents a three-year longitudinal study investigating the development of children's (n=82) understanding of multidigit number concepts and operations in grades one through three by using interview processes. Provides an existence proof that children can invent strategies for adding and subtracting and illustrates both what that invention affords…

This brief report compares the lessons on addition and subtraction of signed whole numbers in three seventh-grade Japanese mathematics texts and four U.S. mathematics texts. Japanese books contained many more worked-out examples and relevant illustrations, while U.S. books had more irrelevant illustrations and unsolved problems. (SLD)

Traditional methods of teaching addition include algorithms that involve right-to-left procedures. This article describes efficient procedures for left-to-right addition and subtraction involving computation and computational estimation that reflect children's natural behaviors observed during activities with unifix cubes. (MDH)

Results of a comparison of 73 Anglo American and 155 Chinese American (CA) fourth through sixth graders on an intelligence test and measures of the speed and consistency of retrieval of arithmetic facts from long-term memory are consistent with the hypothesis that accessing elementary arithmetic knowledge is more completely automatized in CA…

Discusses an introductory mathematics course for six year olds which incorporates visual reflection of essential links and relationships, broad and flexible approaches, student actions, and meaningful cooperation of students. The four topics covered are determination of attributes, symbolic representation of relations and transformations, the…

Most studies on feedback compare elaborated feedback types presenting knowledge on the correct response (KCR) immediately together with further information to simple feedback types providing knowledge of result (KR) or KCR. This study uses bug-related tutoring feedback (BRT-feedback) offering strategic information for error correction, but no…

This report describes TORUS, a computer-based program for elementary school students with learning disabilities which analyzes student work samples in addition and subtraction and provides individual profiles of student misconceptions and weaknesses. Initially, work samples from 236 middle school students with learning disabilities were analyzed…

Research Ideas for the Classroom is a three-volume series of research interpretations for early childhood, middle grades, and high school mathematics classrooms. Each volume looks at research from the perspective of the learner, the content, and the teacher, and chapters are co-authored by a researcher and a teacher. Chapter titles in the early…