How have five years of the National Numeracy Strategy affected Year 5 pupils’ written division calculations?

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What were the aims of the study and how was it designed?

The study explored how Year 5 pupils from ten English primary schools tackled a variety of division problems. The fieldwork took place in 2003 and aimed to replicate a study conducted five years earlier in order to examine:

whether pupils’ ability to answer questions on division had improved in the five years since the introduction of the National Numeracy Strategy; and
any changes in the strategies pupils used to tackle division questions.

Nine of the ten schools also took part in the original study. The tenth was chosen to be as similar as possible to the school it replaced. The pupils in the study (308 Year 5 pupils, compared with 275 Year 5 pupils in 1998) responded to ten division questions. Half of the questions were presented as word problems and half were presented as ‘bare’, uncontextualised questions, for example, 64:16.

Eight of the division questions in the test were exactly the same as before. Two of the original questions were altered. The original questions involved division of three-digit numbers by ten. They were replaced by two questions involving three-digit numbers to be divided by four. These questions could be tackled through ‘halving and doubling strategies’ highlighted in the National Numeracy Strategy.

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction How did pupils differ in their division methods and success rates? What strategies did pupils use in more and less successful schools? Did boys and girls perform differently? What did the researcher conclude from the study? What were the aims of the study and how was it designed? What are the implications of the study? Where can I find out more? Definitions Send us your feedback Collated digests To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader How have five years of the National Numeracy Strategy affected Year 5 pupils’ written division calculations? This digest found in Mathematics Send to a friend Word doc 60KB Printer friendly Collate for later What were the aims of the study and how was it designed? The study explored how Year 5 pupils from ten English primary schools tackled a variety of division problems. The fieldwork took place in 2003 and aimed to replicate a study conducted five years earlier in order to examine: whether pupils’ ability to answer questions on division had improved in the five years since the introduction of the National Numeracy Strategy; and any changes in the strategies pupils used to tackle division questions. Nine of the ten schools also took part in the original study. The tenth was chosen to be as similar as possible to the school it replaced. The pupils in the study (308 Year 5 pupils, compared with 275 Year 5 pupils in 1998) responded to ten division questions. Half of the questions were presented as word problems and half were presented as ‘bare’, uncontextualised questions, for example, 64:16. Eight of the division questions in the test were exactly the same as before. Two of the original questions were altered. The original questions involved division of three-digit numbers by ten. They were replaced by two questions involving three-digit numbers to be divided by four. These questions could be tackled through ‘halving and doubling strategies’ highlighted in the National Numeracy Strategy.