Increasing the use of conceptually-derived strategies in arithmetic: using inversion problems to promote the use of associativity shortcuts

We report three intervention studies that were conducted in university classrooms to investigate whether adults' use of associativity could be improved. In all three studies, it was found that those who first solved inversion problems (e.g. ‘a + b − b’) were more likely than controls to then use associativity on ‘a + b − c’ problems. We suggest that ‘a + b − b’ inversion problems may either direct spatial attention to the location of ‘b − c’ on associativity problems, or implicitly communicate the validity and efficiency of a right-to-left strategy. These findings may be helpful for those designing brief activities that aim to aid the understanding of arithmetic principles and algebra.
Source: Learning and Instruction - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research