Development of division strategies for Year 5 pupils in ten English schools (Updated)

This digest found in

What does the study mean for teaching?

In this study the most successful strategies for solving division problems included high level chunking in which pupils used efficient procedures based upon their understanding of number relationships. Pupils showed a greater understanding of problems which were contextualised. However, many 10-year olds still continued to solve division problems by means of low-level strategies that were both inefficient and prone to error.

Evidence showed that even if a completely bizarre answer was achieved by the standard algorithm, the student would record it, suggesting that it was accepted as a valid answer “although number sense would suggest otherwise.” And therefore, “the algorithm replaces more intuitive procedures rather than enhancing them.”

The author suggests that when beginning written methods for division, teachers need to focus on the progressive development of informal approaches so as to achieve improvement without loss of understanding. She goes on to say that teachers need to help pupils structure written recording of informal approaches in preference to teaching the standard algorithm; also, pupils need to be encouraged to develop flexibility in their approaches so that they can choose to solve different problems by different methods.

Your path: Home > Welcome to The Research Informed Practice Site (TRIPS) > Themes > Thinking skills > Development of division strategies for Year 5 pupils in ten English schools (Updated) > What does the study mean for teaching?
Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction What did the researchers set out to learn? What came out of the study? Which pupils were involved and what were they involved in? What were the effects on pupil performance? What does the study help us to understand about the teaching and learning of division? What does the study mean for teaching? The way forwards? Definitions of technical terms Implications Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests Teaching Children How to Use Language to Solve Maths Problems To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader Development of division strategies for Year 5 pupils in ten English schools (Updated) This digest found in Thinking skills Mathematics Send to a friend Word doc 70KB Printer friendly Collate for later What does the study mean for teaching? In this study the most successful strategies for solving division problems included high level chunking in which pupils used efficient procedures based upon their understanding of number relationships. Pupils showed a greater understanding of problems which were contextualised. However, many 10-year olds still continued to solve division problems by means of low-level strategies that were both inefficient and prone to error. Evidence showed that even if a completely bizarre answer was achieved by the standard algorithm, the student would record it, suggesting that it was accepted as a valid answer “although number sense would suggest otherwise.” And therefore, “the algorithm replaces more intuitive procedures rather than enhancing them.” The author suggests that when beginning written methods for division, teachers need to focus on the progressive development of informal approaches so as to achieve improvement without loss of understanding. She goes on to say that teachers need to help pupils structure written recording of informal approaches in preference to teaching the standard algorithm; also, pupils need to be encouraged to develop flexibility in their approaches so that they can choose to solve different problems by different methods.