ERIC Number: EJ1120977
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Dec
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1033-2170
EISSN: N/A
A Design Study to Develop Young Children's Understanding of Multiplication and Division
Bicknell, Brenda; Young-Loveridge, Jenny; Nguyen, Nhung
Mathematics Education Research Journal, v28 n4 p567-583 Dec 2016
This design study investigated the use of multiplication and division problems to help 5-year-old children develop an early understanding of multiplication and division. One teacher and her class of 15 5-year-old children were involved in a collaborative partnership with the researchers. The design study was conducted over two 4-week periods in May-June and October-November. The focus in this article is on three key aspects of classroom teaching: instructional tasks, the use of representations, and discourse, including the mathematics register. Results from selected pre- and post-assessment tasks within a diagnostic interview showed that there were improvements in addition and subtraction as well as multiplication and division, even though the teaching had used multiplication and division problems. Students made progress on all four operational domains, with effect sizes ranging from approximately two thirds of a standard deviation to 2 standard deviations. Most of the improvement in students' number strategies was in moving from "counting all" to "counting on" and "skip counting." The findings challenge the idea that learning experiences in addition and subtraction should precede those in multiplication and division as suggested in some curriculum documents.
Descriptors: Research Design, Young Children, Mathematics Instruction, Numeracy, Multiplication, Arithmetic, Teaching Methods, Pretests Posttests, Interviews, Student Improvement, Addition, Subtraction, Mathematics Achievement, Achievement Gains, Effect Size, Learning Strategies, Learning Experience, Early Childhood Education
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A