This conceptual paper discusses two frameworks, developed independently by the lead author, that will provide the conceptual foundation for the identification and evaluation of mental computation strategies students demonstrate during an upcoming research project entitled Mental Computation in Year 5. These frameworks will be used by the lead…

The aim of this study is revealing the strategies used by 5th-grade students in comparing fractions. In line with this purpose the study is based on qualitative research. Participants of the study conducted with convenient sampling method are seventy 5th-grade students. The students have been asked six questions which necessitate comparison of…

This study examined how two small-group discourse types (Reflective and Exploratory) supported the inclusion and enacted levels of cognitive demand of students who typically struggle with mathematics in real-world, task-based assessment activities. The study focused on 11 fifth-grade students within a larger study involving 97 fifth-grade students…

In the core of computational thinking (CT) practices is problem-solving. However, there is little research on connecting CT with problem solving processes. We developed a computer-based assessment on CT that can log students' problem-solving processes and administered it to a group of fifth graders as a pre- and post- measure of a robotics…

The present study examined the social dynamics of interpersonal immediacy, a manifestation of social support, during collaborative small-group discussions. The temporal sequence of three forms of immediacy behaviors identified from 24 discussions in two fifth-grade classrooms were analyzed using statistical discourse analysis. The preliminary…

In this exploratory study, we documented teachers' knowledge of children's mathematical thinking as they engaged in the task of anticipating children's strategies for an equal sharing fraction problem. To elicit an array of knowledge, 18 teachers were deliberately selected with a variety of numbers of years participating in professional…

We examined how a student with learning disabilities (SLD) in mathematics constructed a scheme for differentiating, selecting, and properly operating on/with units that constitute a multiplicative situation, namely, singletons ('1s') and composite units (abbreviated UDS). Conducted as part of a larger teaching experiment in a learning environment…

When students confront arithmetic or algebraic word problems, they develop ideas and notations during the processes of solving them by using various arithmetic strategies. Those ideas and notations are the basis for solving that type of problems. Is it possible to aid the development of students' algebraic thinking during their transition from…

The purpose of this study was to document and trace how students' understanding of situations that involve finding a fractional part of a fraction developed during a course of instruction in which students explored and represented various kinds of situations using each of the five representational systems. A class of 5th grade students (n=22)…

One fifth grade student, Martha, was encouraged to develop her informal ratio and proportion strategies during a 6-month teaching experiment. The challenges Martha faced during the teaching experiment are described. The current study supports the claim made by Kaput and West (1994) that initial instruction on ratio and proportion based on…

This investigation is part of an ongoing, larger study which is looking at joint activity and appropriation of new understandings in an inquiry mathematics classroom setting. Instances of help-seeking which occurred while children were endeavoring to solve non-routine problems at home were analyzed. Considered in this study were (1) the kind of…

A study focused on those factors that typically characterize television viewing--those ground rules for processing that are relatively immutable and those that vary in accordance with situation and contextual cues within the environment. Sixty fifth grade students were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups. Members of all four groups…

This study explores the potential effectiveness of a new procedure for identifying and studying certain of the cognitive processes used during problem solving. The procedure is used in an attempt to categorize the types of conceptual thinking problem solvers employ, to study trial-and-error behavior, and to investigate problem solvers' abilities…

This study examined the effect of reading ability and frequency of object association on picture-verification latency in a group of 40 fifth graders. Subjects received sets of two slides each, the first of which was a sentence in which the subject and object were in either frequent or infrequent association. When the children had read and had…

The purpose of this study was to investigate students developing understanding of concepts related to rate of change. Twenty students first participated in a rate of change curriculum unit as part of an after school math and technology program. During the unit, students used motion detectors and related graphing software to create and analyze…