NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
ERIC Number: EJ732020
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Mar
Pages: 15
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0965
EISSN: N/A
Stability and Change in Children's Division Strategies
Robinson, Katherine M.; Arbuthnott, Katherine D.; Rose, Danica; McCarron, Michelle C.; Globa, Carin A.; Phonexay, Sylvia D.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, v93 n3 p224-238 Mar 2006
Age-related changes in children's performance on simple division problems (e.g., 6 divided by 2, 72 divided by 9) were investigated by asking children in Grades 4 through 7 to solve 32 simple division problems. Differences in performance were found across grade, with younger children performing more slowly and less accurately than older children. Problem size effects were also found in that children were faster and more accurate on small problems than on large problems. Two strategies changed across age, with children in Grade 4 relying heavily on the strategy of ''addition'' (adding the divisor until the dividend was reached) to solve the problems and children in Grades 5 through 7 relying primarily on the strategy of ''multiplication'' (recasting the division problem as a multiplication problem) to solve the problems. Surprisingly, the frequency of direct retrieval (retrieving the answer directly from memory) did not increase across grade and never became the dominant strategy of choice. Reasons for why retrieval use remains infrequent and age invariant are discussed. Overall, the results suggest that division is a unique operation and that the continued study of division may have implications for further understanding of how procedural and conceptual knowledge of arithmetic develops.
Elsevier Customer Service Department, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-4800. Tel: 877-839-7126 (Toll Free); Fax: 407-363-1354; e-mail: usjcs@elsevier.com.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 4; Grade 5; Grade 6; Grade 7; Intermediate Grades
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A