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Development of Division Strategies for Year 5 Pupils in Ten English Schools
Author(s) -
Anghileri Julia
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
british educational research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.171
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1469-3518
pISSN - 0141-1926
DOI - 10.1080/01411920125581
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , test (biology) , mathematics education , structuring , division (mathematics) , psychology , mathematics , arithmetic , geography , political science , paleontology , archaeology , law , biology
A division test involving both context and bare problems was taken by year 5 pupils in 10 different schools at two points in the school year to identify changes in approach as the standard algorithm was introduced. Increase in the use of the standard algorithm led to many errors and only half of the attempts to use this strategy in the second test were successful. More successful were efficient informal strategies although difficulties in structuring a written record of such strategies were evident. Overall 52% of pupils gained a higher score in the second test while 48% remained the same or performed less well. In comparing context and bare problems, development of a successful strategy was most marked in problems that were given a context. In both tests girls performed better than boys with better improvements over the two tests.