Multiplicative thinking is a critical stage in mathematical learning and underpins much of the mathematics learned beyond middle primary years. Its components are complex and an inability to understand them conceptually is likely to undermine students' capacity to develop beyond additive thinking. Of particular importance are the ten times…

Chinese pre-school children perform well in learning mathematics compared with English-speaking children. This study investigates the scenes behind Chinese preschool children's mathematics performance using teacher questionnaires and interviews. Results indicated that the Chinese number system appeared to afford advantages to Chinese children in…