Base Ten Blocks Fuson 1990

Using a Base-Ten Blocks Learning/Teaching Approach for First- and Second-Grade Place-Value and Multidigit Addition and Subtraction
Author(s): Karen C. Fuson and Diane J. Briars Source: Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, Vol. 21, No. 3 (May, 1990), pp. 180206 Published by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/749373 . Accessed: 12/03/2011 14:28
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Journalfor Researchin MathematicsEducation 1990, Vol. 21, No. 3, 180-206
USING A BASE-TEN BLOCKS LEARNING/ TEACHINGAPPROACHFOR FIRST- AND SECOND-GRADEPLACE-VALUEAND MULTIDIGIT ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION
KAREN C. FUSON, NorthwesternUniversity DIANE J. BRIARS, PittsburghPublic Schools
A learning/teaching approachused base-tenblocks to embodythe Englishnamed-valuesystem of numberwordsanddigit cardsto embodythe positionalbase-tensystem of numeration. Steps in additionand subtraction of four-digitnumberswere motivatedby the size of the blocks and then were carried out with the blocks; each step was immediately recorded with base-ten numerals.Childrenpracticedmultidigitproblemsof from five to eight places afterthey could successfully add or subtractsmallerproblemswithout using the blocks. In Study 1 six of the eight classes of firstand second graders(N = 169) demonstrated meaningfulmultidigitaddition and place-value concepts up to at least four-digit numbers;average-achieving first graders showed more limited understanding. Three classes of second graders(N = 75) completed the initial subtraction meaningfulsubtraction learninganddemonstrated concepts.In Study2 most classes (N = 783) in a large urbanschool districtlearnedat second gradersin 42 participating least four-digitaddition,and manychildrenin the 35 classes (N = 707) completingsubtraction work learnedat least four-digitsubtraction.
The English spoken system of numberwords is a named-valuesystem for the values of hundred,thousand,andhigher; a numberwordis said andthenthe value of that numberword is named. For example, with five thousandseven hundred names the value of the "five" to clarify that it is not five twelve, the "thousand" ones (= five) but is five thousands.In contrast,the system of writtenmultidigit numbermarksis a positionalbase-tensystem in which the values are implicit and are indicatedonly by the relativepositionsof the numbermarks. In orderto understand these systems of English words and writtennumbermarks for large multidigit numbers, children must construct named-value and positional base-ten conceptual structuresfor the words and the marks and relate these conceptual to each otherand to the words and the marks. structures English words for two-digit numbersare irregularin several ways and are not named-value,in contrastto Chinese (and Burmese, Japanese,Korean,Thai, and Vietnamese)words in which twelve is said "tentwo" and fifty seven is said "five ten seven."These irregularities make it much more difficult for English-speaking
Study I was fundedby a grantto the Universityof Chicago School MathematicsProject for handlingall of the field from the Amoco Foundation.Thanksgo to MaureenHanrahan details for Study 1; to GordonWillis for carryingout the data analyses for both studies;to Fred Carr,Tracy Klein, and Thuc Huong for careful grading,data entry,and erroranalyses for both studies;andespecially to the teachersof both studies who were willing to try something new because they thoughtit might help theirchildrenlearnbetter.Thanksalso to Art Baroody, Paul Trafton,and several anonymousreviewers who made helpful comments on earlierdrafts.
181 childrenthanfor Chinese, Japanese,or Koreanchildrento constructnamed-value meanings for multidigit numbers (Fuson, in press a; Fuson & Kwon, in press; Miura, 1987; Miura,Kim, Chang, & Okamoto, 1988; Miura& Okamoto, 1989). English-speakingchildren use for a long time unitaryconceptual structuresfor two-digit numbers as counted collections of single objects or as collections of spoken words (Fuson, Richards,& Briars, 1982; Fuson, 1988a; Steffe, von Glasersfeld, Richards,& Cobb, 1983; Steffe & Cobb, 1988); these early conceptual structurescan interferewith children's later constructionof named-valuemeanings. The lack of verbal supportin the English languagefor named-valueor baseten concepts of ten makes it particularlyimportantthat supportfor constructing such ten-structured conceptions be provided in other ways to English-speaking children. In the United Statessuch supportis rarelygiven or is insufficient.Childrenmore as sequentialprocedures commonly are taughtmultidigitadditionand subtraction of adding and subtractingsingle-digit numbersand writingdigits in certainlocations (Fuson,in press c). These experiencesresultin manyU.S. childrenconstructing conceptual structuresfor multidigit numbers as concatenated single-digit numbers, a view that is inadequatein many ways and results in many errorsin place-value tasks and in multidigit addition and subtraction(Fuson, in press a; Kouba et al., 1988). Even many children who carryout the algorithmscorrectly reasons for crucialaspectsof the procedo so procedurallyand do not understand dure or cannot give the values of the tradesthey are writingdown (Cauley, 1988; Cobb & Wheatley, 1988; Davis & McKnight, 1980; Labinowicz, 1985; Resnick of place& Omanson,1987). U.S. childrenalso show quite delayedunderstanding value concepts (Kamii, 1986; Koubaet al., 1988; Labinowicz, 1985; Miuraet al., 1988; Ross, 1989; Song & Ginsburg,1987). in the United States, instructionin the additionand subtraction of Furthermore, whole numberstypicallyis both delayed and extendedacross gradesmore thanin countrieslike China,Japan,Taiwan,and the Soviet Union thathave been characterized as fostering high mathematics achievement (Fuson, Stigler, & Bartsch, 1988). In the United States the single-digit sums and differencesto 18 consume much of the first two grades,and work on the multidigitalgorithmswith trading over 4 or 5 years beginningwith two-digit (carryingand borrowing)is distributed problems in second grade followed by the introductionof problems one or two digits largereach year.In contrast,othercountriesstress masteryof sums and differences to 18 in the first grade, and they complete multidigit instructionby the thirdgrade. In orderto use and understand English words and base-ten writtenmarksand add and subtractmultidigitnumbers,childrenneed to link the words and the written marksto each otherand need to give meaningto both the wordsandthe marks. The learning/teaching approachused in the presentstudies was developed to meet these goals. It is an adaptationof an approachused by the first authorwith teachers and childrenfor 20 years (the teacherversion is in Bell, Fuson, & Lesh, 1976). It provides childrenan opportunityto constructthe necessary meaningsby using
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Base-TenBlocks Learning/Teaching Approach
for each system a physical embodimentthat can direct their attentionto crucial meanings and help to constraintheir actions with the embodimentsto those consistent with the mathematicalfeaturesof the systems. The English named-value system of words is embodiedby a set of base-tenblocks (Dienes, 1960), and the positional base-ten writtenmarksare embodied by digit cards (numeralswritten on small individualcards). English words, words for the block embodiment,and words for the digit cards (see Figure 1) were used to help direct children'sattention to critical featuresof the mathematicalsystems and embodiments,facilitate communication among the participantsin the learning/teachingapproach,and supportthe constructionof links among the differentsystems and embodiments.
fourthousand
two
hundred
fi ty
seven
fourbig cubes
two flats
five longs seven 4== =four two fiveseven littlecubes
approach. Figure 1. The learning/teaching
Featuresof the approachin action are as follows: are made strongly and tightly: Each step with the blocks is immediately recorded with the writtenmarks. "* Linksamongthe Englishwords,base-tenblocks, digit cards,andbase-tenwritten marksare strengthened by the constantuse of the three sets of words. "* Childrenwork with the learning/teaching approachfor many days; they are allowed to leave the embodimentsand do problemsjust in writtenform whenever they feel comfortabledoing so. "* When childrenbegin to do writtenproblemswithoutblocks, theirperformance is monitoredto ensurethatthey are not practicingerrors. "* both begin with four-digitproblems(or in some cases, Additionand subtraction these problemsimmediatelyfollow initial work with two-digit problems). links "* with the blocks, the blocks-to-written-marks Whenaddingand subtracting
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"* Childrenspend only 1 to 4 days on place-valueconcepts initially;much placevalue learning is combined with the work on multidigit addition and subtraction. "* A modificationof the usual algorithmis used for subtraction (see the methods section for Study 1). These features,andthe reasoningbehindthem, arediscussed in Fuson (in press a), where distinctionsbetween named-valueand positionalbase-ten systems are discussed more fully and literaturepertainingto both adequateand inadequateconchildrenconstructfor multidigitnumbersare reviewed. ceptual structures Results of an earlier study with this learning/teaching approachwere reported in Fuson (1986a). In that study second gradersand some first graderslearnedto add and subtract multidigitnumbersmuch more accuratelythanreportedfor usual Most of these childrensuccessfullyandindependently school instruction. extended the procedureslearned with the blocks to five- throughten-digit symbolic problems done withoutthe embodiment.Childrenwho made errorswere interviewed, and those still making errorswere told to think about the blocks as they solved of the problems.Most of these childrenwere able to use a mental representation blocks to self-correcttheirwrittenerrors,andthis use of the blocks showed understandingof place-valueconcepts. This study left unansweredseveral importantquestions that were addressedby the two studiesreportedhere. First,the gradelevel, achievementlevel, and socioeconomic level of the studentswho could benefit from the learning/teaching approach was not clear from the limited sample used in that initial study. Study 1 reportedhere extendedthe sampleto second gradersof all achievementlevels and to first gradersof above-averageand averagemathematicsachievement.Study 2 extended the sample to second gradersin a large urbanschool district.The goal for both the age/achievementand the residentialextensions was not to manipulate these variousbackgroundvariablesin orderto determinetheir differentialeffects on performance.It was simply to examine whether the effects of the learning/ teaching approach could be considered to generalize across a heterogeneous population. Second, there were the practical questions of whether the learning/teaching approachcould be distanced from its designer, communicatedin a fairly small amountof in-service time, and implementedby teacherswith little field support. These seem to be crucialissues determining the feasibility of wide-scale use of the on three major aspects of this focused learning/teachingapproach.Distancing intervention: the classroom teaching,the in-service teachingof learning/teaching the involved teachers,and teaching and supervisionof field supportpersonnel.In Fuson (1986a), project staff members did some of the teaching, the project designer conductedthe teacherin-service, and the field supportperson was taught and supervisedclosely by the projectdesigner. In bothof the studiesreported here, all of the teachingwas done by classroomteachersusing lesson plans and student worksheets developed by the project designer. In the second study, the project
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designer did not conduct the in-service sessions nor supervise the field support persons.The amountof in-servicetime was fairly small for both studies: a 1-hour overview of the learning/teaching approachin the first study and one or two 2V2hourin-servicesessions in the second study.Field supportwas providedin the first study by two teachers in each school who had taught the learning/teachingapproachin the first year.In the second study,threeelementary(K-8) mathematics for the 132 second-grade teachsupervisorswere availableto providefield support ers targetedfor the learning/teachingapproach,but these supervisors also had many otherduties. The results of the two studies reportedhere are analyzed with respect to three approach: goals of the learning/teaching andjustifying procedures 1. understanding multidigitadditionand subtraction with named-value/base-ten concepts; 2. understanding place-valueconcepts; 3. being able to add and subtractmultidigitnumbersof several places, including subtraction problemswith zeros in the top number. The literatureconcerningperformancein these areasby childrenreceiving usual instructionis briefly summarizedin the discussion of the resultsof each study in the results. orderto providea context within which to interpret STUDY1 Method Subjects Childrenfrom two schools in a small city on the northernborderof Chicago served as subjects. Teachers grouped children by mathematicsachievement in of the previousteacher;children these schools dependingupon recommendations were moved to a differentroom at any time a teacherthoughtthat a move should be made. In each school there were sufficientfirst gradersfor threemathclasses, one each of low, average, and high math achievement.The high-achievingfirstin the study.The teachgradeclasses from both schools were asked to participate first gradersin both schools askedlaterin the year to ers of the average-achieving and were allowed to do so. In one school therewere threesecond-grade participate mathclasses, one each of low, average,and high mathachievement.Many of the as childrenin the high-achievingclass hadreceivedadditionmultidigitinstruction first gradersin the studyreportedin Fuson (1986a), so only the low- and averageIn the otherschool therewere only enough second achieving classes participated. graders to form two classes. The five lowest achieving second graders were groupedwith a low-achieving first-gradeclass, and the remainingchildrenwere groupedinto a high/averageand an average/lowclass. Many of the childrenin the as firstgraders,but high/averageclass hadreceived additionmultidigitinstruction this class was retainedin the presentstudy in orderto study subtraction learning for all childrenand additionlearningfor the new children.All eight classes (N =
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in the additioninstruction,and three second-gradeclasses (N = 169) participated instruction. 75) received the subtraction Teachers in the multidigitinstrucFourteachers(two from each school) had participated tion in the Fuson (1986a) study.The otherteacherswere given a brief overview of the instruction,lesson plans, studentworksheets,and tests. For questionsand furtherhelp, they were to rely on the two teachersin their school who had taughtthe materialsbefore. A researchproject assistant also visited the schools weekly to check on teachingprogress. Instruction All childrenfirst learnedto find sums and differencesto 18 by countingon and counting up with one-handed finger patterns (see Fuson, 1986b, 1987, 1988b; Fuson & Secada, 1986; Fuson & Willis, 1988). These countingprocedurescould be used for any additionand subtractionfacts childrendid not know. They have been found to be efficient and accurateenough for use in the multidigitalgorithms (Fuson, 1986a). Each class had at least one set of base-tenblocks. The first phase of instruction focused on explorationof the relationships betweenthe differentblocks andon use of the blocks words (little cubes, longs, flats, big cubes, or names chosen by children) and English words (ones, tens, hundreds,thousands).Both the consistent one-for-ten and ten-for-one trades between adjacentplaces and the nonadjacent trades(one-for-hundred and one-for-thousand) were discussed and demonstrated. Then the blocks were used to make differentthree- and four-digitnumbers(e.g., 3725), and index cards each containingone numeralwere used to make the baseten versionof the numberbeside the blocks (e.g., fourcardscontainingthe numerals 3, 7, 2, and 5 were selected and were put down in order to the right of the blocks). These cards,andnumeralswrittenon children'sworksheets,were readby base-ten words (e.g., "threeseven two five"). These activities were accompanied by much verbalizationof the block words, the English words, and the base-ten words. Additionand subtraction with the blocks were done on a large cardboard calcusheet Addition was consideredfirst. A writtenproblemwas (see Figure 2). lating given. Blocks for the top number were placed in the top row of the calculating sheet, and then blocks for the bottomnumberwere placed in the second row (see Figure 2). Addition was done column by column, beginning on the right. The blocks in a given column were addedtogether(pulleddown) into the bottomrow. If the sum was nine or less, it was recordedwith the digit cards. Each child also recordedeach step on his or her own worksheet.If the sum was over nine, ten of the smaller pieces were traded for one of the next larger pieces, and the result recordedwith digit cardsandon individualworksheets. Much verbalizationof all three sets of words accompaniedall additionand subtraction, and recordingwith writtenmarkswas done aftereach action with the blocks. The necessity of trading
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Thousands
Hundreds
Tens
Ones
3725
D000D
H Hi
1647
000
Figure 2. Calculatingboardwith an additionproblem.
was raisedby showing what happenswith the digit cards if a two-digit numberis writtenin any column (the other digit cards get moved over to the left, making a bigger number).The fairness of the ten/one trades,and the idea of tradingto get or tradingwhen you had too many (in addition),arose from more (in subtraction) the size of the blocks: ten of the blocks in any columnwereequivalentto one block in the column to the left. Multidigit subtractioncan be shown in various ways with the blocks, and the withineach value can be phrasedin differentways in words.The chilsubtraction of subtractionavailable (as takedren in this study had multiple interpretations and see away, comparison, equalize, Fuson, 1986b, 1988b;Fuson& Willis, 1988). within values as "Seven plus We suggested thatteachersverbalizethe subtraction how many to make twelve?" or "Twelve minus seven is how many?"(because these fit children'suse of counting up to find these differencesbetterthan using and thatthey separatethe blocks for the top numberinto the words "take-away") and the leftover blocks (the those thatmatch the bottomnumber(the subtrahend) move then the difference and difference) nonmatchingblocks to the bottom row as the answer. A simplificationof the usual algorithmwas also used. Childrenfirst checked each column of the top numberto be sure thatit was largerthanthe bottomnumber in that column. If a top digit was not as large, a one-for-ten trade (borrow, regrouping)was made from the column on the left. After all the necessarytrading had been done to the top numberso thateach top numberwas as large as or larger was done columnby column. Both the tradthaneach bottomnumber,subtraction ing and the subtractingcan be done from either direction, but teachers usually This trade-first modeled the typical U.S. right-to-leftapproach. algorithmreduces
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used in the common algorithm the difficult alternationof tradingand subtracting and thus eliminatesthe need for childrento switch repeatedlyfroma named-value representationfor trading to a unitary representationfor subtracting(Fuson & Kwon, in press). The initial sustainedfocus on making all the top columns larger also helps to avoid the common errorof subtracting the top numberfrom the bottom numberwhen the top numberis smaller. Teachersorganizedtheirclassroomsin differentways for this instruction.Some in solving problemswith workedwith the whole class, having childrenparticipate the blocks and the index cards. Othersdivided their class into small groups and either worked with groups simultaneously or serially while the other groups worked on other topics. In the formercase, childrenwho had learned the blocks procedurethe year before or older childrenshown how to use the blocks worked with each group initially to ensure that the blocks and written-marks procedures were correctand that childrenin the group were understanding the relationships involved. In all cases all childrenhad worksheets,and all recordedeach problem as it was workedwith the blocks. Childrenin the average and high-achieving second-gradeclasses were able to do three-andfour-digitadditionand subtraction problemswith the blocks initially. In the low second-gradeclass and first-grade classes, childrenhad difficultyrelating the four columns of blocks to the fourcolumns of writtenmarks.Therefore,in these classes two-digit problems were done first, and then three- and four-digit problems were done with the blocks and writtenmarks.Wheneverchildrensaid they understoodthe written-marksprocedure and did not need the blocks any more, they were allowed to go to their seats to work on worksheets containing three- and four-digitproblems.Their procedurewas checked by someone before they were allowed to leave the blocks. Worksheetswith largerproblems (up to eight digits) were availablefor childrenwho wished to try them. Work on subtractionwas followed by very short units focusing on aspects of meaningful addition (alignment of problems with different numbers of digits, adding 3 two-digit numbersrequiringa trade of 2) and place value (translating frommixed orderwordsto numeralsandvice versawith no trades,doing the same with tradesrequired,and choosing the largerof two multidigitnumbers).The lesson plans describedhow attentioncould be directedwithin the learning/teaching approachto facilitatethe learningof these concepts. The time necessary to complete each unit varied considerably from class to class. The initial introduction/addition unit took from 3 to 6 weeks, and the subtractionunit took from 2 to 4 weeks. Each meaningful addition and place-value concept took abouta day. All of these classes were also participating in an instructional researchproject wordproblems.These topics and the focused on teachingadditionand subtraction multidigit topics went far beyond the districtgoals. Teachershad to meet district goals as well as teaching these extra topics. In some classes teachers also had to cover considerablegroundbefore the multidigitwork could begin (e.g., learning about single-digit sums and differences to 18). Thereforedifferentclasses com-
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pleted different topics. The low-achieving second-gradeclass and one average first-gradeclass only completed addition of two- and three-placenumbers.The teacherof the otheraveragefirst-gradeclass only taughtmultidigitadditionto 10 of the 24 childrenin her class, but she did complete the generalization of the algorithmpast four places with the participating children.All otherclasses completed the generalizationof the addition algorithmto problems with as many as seven and the digits. The high and averagesecond-gradeclasses completedsubtraction, average/low second-gradeclass completed ordinarysubtractionand began work on problems with zeros in the minuend. The work on meaningful addition and place-value concepts was completed only by the high- and average-achieving second-gradeclasses. Measuresof Skill and Understanding Additionand subtractioncalculation tests. All childrenwere given two addition pretests.The TimedAdditionTest contained 12 problems,with 2 two-digit, 2 three-digit,3 four-digit, 1 five-digit, 3 six-digit, and 1 seven-digit problem; childrenworkedon these problemsfor 2 minutes.All problemsrequired tradingin one or more places (the numberof tradesrangedfrom one to five). The Ten-DigitAddition Test was a single ten-digitproblem(6385740918 + 8557586736). All problems were writtenaligned in verticalform. These same two tests were also given as posttests.The lower achievingand youngerclasses were also given an Untimed AdditionMinitest of four problems(2 two-digit and 2 three-digitproblems,each tests (TimedSubtraction Test,Ten-Digit requiringone trade).Parallelsubtraction SubtractionTest, Untimed SubtractionMinitest) were made by using inverse problems from the addition tests; children were given 3 minutes for the Timed Test because subtraction had been slower than additionin the earlier Subtraction subtraction test Subtraction A fourth Test)consistedof four problems (Zeros study. with zeros in the top number: 1 two-digit, 2 three-digit,and 1 four-digitproblem with one, one, two, and threezeros, respectively. The tests for each child were first evaluated to determine whether the child showed any evidence of correcttrading;two correctly tradedcolumns were requiredfor the child to be judged as showing some indicationof trading. Each test was then scoredto permita finer evaluationof performance. Scoring was based on each digit in the answer: one point was given for each correctdigit. This procedurewas adoptedbecause scoring each problemonly as corrector incorrectdoes not differentiatea solution in which all columns but one are correct from a solution in which a child demonstrated no notion of multidigitadditionor subtraction. An analysisof the kinds of errorswas made on the ten-digitproblem.The errors identifiedin Fuson (1986a) were classified into fourcategoriesreflectingincreasas follows: ing amountsof knowledge aboutmultidigitadditionor subtraction error:Columns were left blank or filled in with 1. Preaddition/presubtraction random errorsalso included adding. numbers; presubtraction seemingly
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2. Column addition/subtractionerror: Addition/subtractionproblems were approachedcolumn by column: In additionthe sum of each column was written below that column even when the sum was a two-digit number(e.g., 28 + 36 = from the 514); in subtractionthe smallernumberin each column was subtracted largernumber(e.g., 36 - 28 = 12). 3. Tradingerror: Tradingerrorsinvolved some partiallysuccessful attemptto trade(carry, borrow);in additionproblemsthese errorsincludedthe following: the tradewas not writtenor addedin anywhere,a tradewas made when the sum was not over 9, the tens digit ratherthan the ones digit was traded,a tradewas made but ignoredwhen thatcolumn was added(this errormight have been a fact errorsuch errorswere counted as both tradeand fact errors),the tradewas subtracted from ratherthan added to the top number;in subtractionproblems these errors included the following: the left column was not reduced by one even though a trade was recorded in the right column, a trade was made even though the top numberwas alreadylarger,more thanone tradewas made from a given column, 1 than fromthe traded-to was subtracted column,the rightcolumnreceived 11 rather from a left column even thoughno tradewas recordedto the 10, 1 was subtracted right. 4. Fact error: Fact errorsinvolved correcttradingbut incorrectadding or subtractingin a column. Two coders coded all errors.Coder agreementwas 97%. Because not every column in every problemrequireda trade,childrenmaking errorscould get 20% correctdigit scores consistent column addition/subtraction on both Untimed Minitests and 9% on the additionTen-Digit Test, and children makingtradingerrorsthatwere incorrectin only one columncould get digit scores ranging between 36% (on the Ten-Digit Tests) and 60% (on the Untimed Minitests). Place-value and meaningfulmultidigitaddition writtentests. Three aspects of and two aspectsof meaningfulmultidigitadditionwere place-valueunderstanding assessed throughwrittentests. The Mixed Wordsto NumeralsTestrequireda child to write a three- or four-digitnumeralfor numeral/word named-valuecombina4 tens, 5 thousands,and 7 ones). The tions given in mixed order(e.g., 6 hundreds, Test requireda child to write a three-or four-digitnumeral TradedWord/Numeral order(e.g., 2 thoufor numeral/word named-valuecombinationsgiven in standard sands, 16 hundreds,1 ten, and4 ones) or to fill in a numeralblankwhen the threeor four-digitnumeralwas given with the numeral/word named-valuecombination hundreds,14 tens, and 3 ones). All of these items (e.g., 2643 is 2 thousands, hadone numeral/word pairthatexceeded 10 andthushadto be tradedto the left in the formeritems or to the rightin the latteritems to make the correctanswer;these items were modeled after those in Underhill (1984). The Choose the Larger NumberTestrequireda child to choose the largerof a pairof three-throughsevendigit numbersby circling the largernumberand by insertinga < or > between the pairof numbers.The five pairsof numberswere all misleadingin thatall digits in
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the smaller numberexcept one were equal to or greaterthan the corresponding digits in the larger number.The Alignment Test presented horizontally-written problems whose addendshad differentnumbersof digits; children were told to write the problem so that it could be added easily. This tested a combinationof thatone addedand thereplace value and additionunderstanding-understanding fore aligned like places; the differentnumbersof digits were chosen to maximize the frequenterrorof aligningsuchproblemson the left rather thanon the right.The Trading2 Insteadof 1 Testconsistedof problemswith threeaddendsthatrequired a tradeof 2 tens ratherthan 1 ten because the sum in the ones column exceeded 20; the first item had a sum of 21 to maximize the possibility that childrenwould than rotelytradethe 1 as they hadbeen doing for problemswith two addendsrather tradingthe numberof tens (2, in these problems).These tests hadbetween two and six items. Each test item was markedas corrector incorrect,and test means were convertedto percentagesfor ease of comprehensionof the test results. Understanding ofAddition, Subtraction,and Place Value Individual interviews were carried out to assess children's understandingof addition, subtraction,and place value. Eight children from one class at each achievementlevel were randomlyselected to be interviewed(the average-achievTherefore, ing first graderswere fromthe class in which all childrenparticipated). interview the additioninterviewsamplecontained40 children,andthe subtraction 24 consisted of the second in the addition interview graders sample.Intersample views were conductedindividuallyin a roomoutsidethe classroom.Childrenwere shown solved multidigit problems, each written on a separateindex card. Each problem solution was written in a color different from the color of the original problem.Two additionproblemswere solved correctly: a two-digitproblemwith a tradefromthe ones to the tens anda four-digitproblemwith a tradefromthe hundreds to the thousands.Two additionproblemswere solved incorrectly.The two most common additionerrorsbefore instructionwere used: (1) column addition, for example,for 8 + 6 writing 14 in the ones columnand (2) ignoringthe tens digit of a two-digit sum andjust writingthe ones digit. Five subtraction problemswere the solved Two were solved and addition correctly given. correctly paralleled problems,except that differentnumberswere used. A thirdshowed the common errorof column subtraction-subtractingthe smallerfromthe largernumbereven when the smallernumberis on the top. Two three-digit problemswith two zeros in the top numberwere given. One was solved correctly,and the other showed 1 hundredtradedfor 10 ones. Childrenwere told thatthey would be shown problemsthat somebody else had solved andthatsome problemswere correctandsome were wrong.They were then shown an index card with a problemwrittenon it and asked if that problemwas right or wrong.After a judgmentwas made, they were asked why it was right or wrong. The interviewerwrote down verbatimthe child's responsesand any interviewer prompts.Childrenwere randomlyassigned to one of two differentorders of problems.One sequencebeganwith a correctproblem,andthe otherbeganwith
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an incorrectproblem.The more difficult problems (the four-digitadditionproblem and the subtractionproblems with zeros) were given in the last half of the interview. The interviewrecordswere classified by the interviewerandone of the authors. The classificationof a problemas corrector incorrectwas evaluatedfirst. If a child changed his or her answer, the last assignmentwas coded. The ratersagreed on 100%of these classifications. The interviews were coded for place-value understandingof the tens or hundredsvalues of writtennumeralswithin an explanation of additionor subtraction; to receive credit, a child had to use the word "ten"or "hundred" to identify a numeralcorrectly sometime during an explanation.The additioninterviewswere coded for two aspects of additionand place-valueunderstanding: (a) explaining the writtenprocedureas trading 10 ones for 1 ten or 10 tens for 1 hundred,and (b) identifyingthe traded1 as a ten or as a hundred.For (a) a child had to explain explicitly the tradingor say that the ten came from the 13 ones or the hundredcame fromthe 16 tens. The subtraction interviewswere coded for threeaspects of subtraction and place value understanding:(a) explainingthe writtenprocedureas trading1 ten for 10 ones or I hundredfor 10 tens; (b) identifying the traded 1 as a ten or as a hundred;and (c) explaining the double trading over two top zeros, i.e., the tradeof 1 hundredfor 10 tens andthe tradeof 1 ten for 10 ones. All of these aspects were evaluatedfor tens and for hundreds.Coderagreement was 95%. Children'sexplanationsdid not always spontaneouslycover all of the A series of promptswas used to tryto ascertainsuch coded aspectsof the interview. These included knowledge. questions about the traded 1 ("What'sthe one?" or "One what?")and a question about the 8 tens in the four-digitadditionproblem ("Eight what?").The most explicit promptwas to ask a child to think about the blocks; this was used when a child failed to give any answer to other prompts. of However, due to the complexity of the interviewand the fact thatthe attributes the responses to be coded were finalized after the interviews were completed, needed prompts were not always given. Thus, the data may underestimate children'sknowledge. Results AdditionMultidigitComputation On the pretestsonly 9 of the 169 childrenshowed any indicationof correcttrading, whereason the posttests 160 of the 169 childrenshowed such evidence, a very large and statistically significant change (McNemar'stest chi-square= 151, p < .0001). Of these 160 children, 156 correctlytradedon a four-digitor largerproblem. Of the 13 childrenfailing to demonstrate correcttradingor doing so only for two- or three-digitproblems,7 were in the average-achieving first-gradeclass and 5 were in the low-achieving second-gradeclass. Pairedt-test analyses of pretestposttest differences on the digit scores for each test for each class separatelyrevealed significantimprovement for every test for every class, p < .001 in all cases.
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Posttestdigit scores are shown in Table 1. These indicateexcellent performance for all classes except the low-achieving second-gradeclass and the averagefirstgrade class in which all childrenparticipatedin the learning/teachingapproach. Even the latter two classes demonstratedsome learning, because their Untimed Minitest scores were well above those obtainableby carryingout column errors (75% and 69% comparedto 20% for column errors). Teachersreportedthatchildren were enthusiasticabout the multidigitinstructionand enjoyed solving large second gradersknew most of their problemsandthatmanyof the higher-achieving additionfacts or used thinkingstrategiesto find sums they did not know andmost to solve sums they of the otherchildrencountedon with one-handed fingerpatterns did not know.
Table 1 AdditionComputation Posttest Digit Score Meansfor Each Class and AchievementLevel in Study1 level Grade/achievement Tests n Percentageof correct digits in answers UntimedMinitest Ten-Digit Test Timed Test Mean numberof correct digits completedin 2 minuteson Timed Test 2 High/av 29 2 Av 23 2 Av/low 21 2 Low 14 75 58 a 74 15 1 High 26 92 88 92 17 1 High 25 98 91 94 24 1 Av 10 92 93 91 12 1 Av 21 69 ng ng ng
ng 99 98 28
ng 93 91 25
ng 90 94 26
Note. Percentageof correctdigits in the answer is out of all digits in the Untimed Minitestand Ten-Digit Test and out of the columns attemptedby a given child in the Timed Test. ng means the test was not given. a The low-achieving second-gradeclass only completed 2- and 3-digit addition.
The errorsmade on the Ten-Digit pretests and posttests are given in Table 2. These analyses show a large reductionin the numberof errorsmade. Few of the andcolumnadditionerrorswere madeon the posttest. There primitivepreaddition was a reductionin the tradingerrorsand no increase in the fact errorsin spite of the fact thatalmostall childrenwere addingandtradingon almost all problemson the posttest.
Table 2 Numberand Kinds of Pretest and Posttest Additionand SubtractionErrors in Study1 Preaddition/ presubtraction Tests AdditionTen-Digit Test Subtraction Ten-Digit Test Pre 527 135 Post 28 4 Column add/sub Pre 837 650 Post 18 14 Trading error Pre 109 0 Post 79 96 Fact error Pre 57 8 Post 45 22
Note. There were a possible 1859 errorsin additionand 825 errorsin subtractioncalculatedby multiplyingthe numberof digits in the answer (11) by the numberof subjects (N = 169 for the Addition Test, N = 75 for the SubtractionTest).
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SubtractionMultidigitComputation On the pretests 2 of the 75 children participatingin the subtractionlearning/ teaching approachshowed some evidence of trading;on the posttests72 of the 75 children showed such evidence, a very large and statistically significant change (McNemar's test chi-square= 70, p < .0001). Five of these 72 childrendemonstratedsuch tradingfor two- or three-digitproblemsbut not for largerproblems. Pairedt-testanalysesof pretest-posttest differenceson the digit scores for each test for each class separatelyrevealedsignificantimprovementfor every test for every class, p < .001 in all cases. Mean digit scores for each test for each class are given in Table 3. Performance by the high/averageclass was excellent on all tests, and for the othertwo classes performancewas good on the TimedTest andthe UntimedMinitest.Scoresfor the average and average/low classes on the Ten-DigitTest and on the Zeros Test revealed weaker performancethat was nevertheless above the level of consistent tradingerrors(36% and 33%, respectively).Teachersreportedthat some children knew subtraction facts or used thinkingstrategiesto determinedifficultdifferences but that most counted up with one-handedfinger patternsto determinefacts they did not know.
Table 3 SubtractionComputation Posttest Class Means by Achievement Level in Study1 Achievementlevel Tests n Percentageof correctdigits in answers Untimed Minitest Ten-Digit Test Timed Test Zeros Test Mean numberof correctdigits completed in 3 minutes on Timed Test High/av 29 ng 95 95 92 22 Av 23 89 72 84 78 15 Av/low 23 87 75 84 (49) 16
Note. Percentageof correctdigits in the answeris out of all digits in the Untimed Minitest, Ten-Digit Test, and Zeros Test and out of the columns attemptedin the Timed Test. The Zeros Test for the Av/low class is in parenthesesbecause this class only began work on zero problems. ng means the test was not given.
The erroranalysespresentedin Table2 indicatean almost completeelimination on the posttest of the large numberof presubtraction and column subtractionerrors made on the pretest.Substantialnumbersof tradingerrorswere made on the posttest,but most posttesttradingwas correct(over 80%of the tradesinvolved no errorin either column). Few fact errorswere made on the posttest, only half as many fact errorsas were made in addition. Place-Valueand MeaningfulMultidigitAdditionWrittenTests Results of the writtentest measures of place-value and meaningfulmultidigit additionaregiven in Table4. Almost all childrentakingthese tests were misled by
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these items on the pretest(except for the Circle the LargerNumberTest). On the posttest, children in both classes showed very considerablegains on the placevalue tests, all children correctly aligned problems, and most children traded2 when they had 20-some ones or tens.
Table 4 Percentage Correcton Place-Value and MeaningfulAdditionWrittenTest in Study1 level Grade/achievement 2 High/av Tests Mixed Wordsto NumeralsTest Test TradedWord/Numeral Choose the LargerNumberTest Circle the largernumber Insert> and < symbols in the numberpairs AlignmentTest Trading2 Insteadof 1 Test Pre Place-valuetests 3 2 50 0 Post 98 90 96 96 100 100 Pre 8 3 34 44 5 12 2 Av Post 83 72 84 98 100 73
Meaningfuladditiontests 0 0
Note. The Class 2 High/av pretestswere given early in the year, and the Class 2 Av pretestswere given midyear.
Understanding of Place-Value,Addition,and Subtraction Every interviewedchild correctlyclassified all four additionproblemsas having been solved correctlyor incorrectly,94% correctlyclassified the subtraction problems with no zeros, and 94% of the children completing instructionon the subtraction problemswith zeros classified such problemscorrectly.Results of the interviewmeasuresare given in Table5. Every child but one identifieda numeral in the tens place as x tens at least once duringtheirexplanations.Similaridentification of a hundredsnumeralwas done by 92% of the second gradersbut by only 50%of the first graders. Almost every child explainedthe ten-for-onestradingand of three-fourths identifiedthe traded1 as a ten for both additionand subtraction; these explanations were spontaneous without any prompts.The problems with errorswere muchmoreeffective thanwere correctproblemsin eliciting spontaneous explanations,indicatingthat the childrenwere not just repeatingmemorized verbalexplanationsfor correctproblems.Forthe hundreds conceptspromptswere of the responses,but this seemed to stem as much requiredfor aboutthree-fourths from the fact thatonly a correctproblemwas given for the hundredtradeas from hundredsbeing more difficult. Childrenin the second-gradeaverage/low-achieving class and especially in the average-achievingfirst-gradeclass showed more tradethan did the childrenin the other limited understanding of the ten/hundred threeclasses. Most childrenfailing to identifythe traded1 as a hundredidentified it as a ten, and most of these identified that 1 as coming from the "8 tens plus 8 tens is 16 tens." Thus, they had learneda general aspect of multidigittrading,to tradethe tens digit from any two-digit sum, but they could not simultaneouslyfit this generalview of tradingwithin the named-valueplaces to name the new value
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Table 5 Percentage of StudentsDemonstratingUnderstandingof Place Value,Addition,and Subtraction in Studyi level Grade/achievement 2 Hi/av Tests Identifythe tens and hundreds values of writtennumerals 2 Av 2 Av/lo 1 Hi 1 Av
Ten Hun Ten Hun Ten Hun Ten Hun Ten Hun Place-value understanding 100 100 100 100 100 (13) 75 100 75 88 (25) 25
Addition and place-valueunderstanding 100 88 100 100 88 50 Explain writtenprocedureas (13) (25) (50) trading10 ones for 1 ten or 10 tens for 1 hundred 100 88 100 88 100 63 Identifythe traded 1 as a ten or a hundred (38) (25) (38) Subtraction and place-value understanding 100 100 100 100 100 75 Explain writtenprocedureas (13) trading 1 ten for 10 ones or 1 hundredfor 10 tens 100 100 100 100 100 75 Identifythe traded 1 as a ten or a hundred 88 38 38 Explain the double tradingover 100 100 75 two top zeros: hundreds to tens and tens to ones
blocks. ng means the test was not given.
100 100
100 88 (13) (13) 100 88 (13) (25) ng ng ng ng ng ng
13 13
ng ng ng
ng ng ng
in parentheses to think arechildren whoresponded the Note.Percentages about onlyafter theywereprompted
of the traded 1. Not a single interviewedchild identifiedthe traded1 as a one, in instruction. sharpcontrastto childrenreceiving traditional Discussion The second gradersandhigh-abilityfirstgradersshowedmultidigitadditionand above thatshown thatwas very considerably subtraction computation performance by third graders receiving traditionalinstruction (cf. Kouba et al., 1988). The errorthat is so common in multidigitsubtraction subtracting-smaller-from-larger was almost completely eliminated. These children also showed competence far above that usually demonstratedby third gradersin verbally labelling tens and hundredsplaces, in changing words to numeralsand vice versa even when these were given in mixed orderor requiredtrading,in choosing the largernumber,in aligning unevenproblemson the rightratherthanon the left, in showing the quantitative meaning of tens and ones, and in identifyingthe traded 1 in additionand subtraction as a ten or as a hundred rather than as a one (cf. Cauley, 1988; Ginsburg,1977; Kamii, 1985;Kamii & Joseph, 1988; Labinowicz, 1985;Resnick, 1983; Resnick and Omanson, 1987; Ross, 1986, 1989; Tougher,1981). Kamii (1985; Kamii & Joseph, 1988) and Ross (1986, 1989) reportedthat on tasks most second gradersandmanythirdandfourthgraders digit correspondence
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show no understanding instructional thatthe tens digit means receiving traditional ten things (these childrenshow one chip-rather than ten chips-to demonstrate what the 1 in 16 means), or they are misled by nontengroupingsand show only a as threegroupsof four obgroupingface-value meaning (for 13 objects arranged jects and one left-over object, they say thatthe 3 means the threegroupsand the 1 means the one left-over object). These tasks were not available at the time this studywas carriedout, but reviewersraisedthe questionof whetherchildrenin the on these tasks.At that place-valueunderstanding study would have demonstrated time two teacherswere still carryingout reasonablefacsimiles of the instruction with their above-averageand average-achievingsecond-gradeclasses. In an attempt to provide some information on this issue, half the children from each achievement-levelgroupingwithin each class were randomlychosen to be individually interviewed(n = 22). They were given these two tasks and a subtraction problemwith zeros in the top number. On the Kamii task (showing with chips what the 6 and the 1 in 16 mean), 12 children immediately showed ten chips as the meaning of the 1, another4 first showed one chip but showed ten chips when asked to show with the chips "what else could this part(the 1) mean?"anotherchild showed ten chips when given the task again after working the four-digitsubtractionproblem, and 3 children first showed one chip but showed ten chips when asked to "look at the places" in 16 (tens and ones were not mentioned).Thus, more than half of these children had tens andones availableas theirfirst meaningfor a two-digitnumeraland four others had it readilyavailableas a second choice, while four more first showed their unitarymeaningbut showed a tens and ones meaning when a multidigitcontext was elicited for them;overall, 91% of the interviewedchildrenshowed that the 1 meantten objects.Not a single child showeda groupingface-valuemeaningon the was the same as performance on the Kamii task. Thus, on Ross task;performance these tasks also, second gradersusing the base-ten blocks showed performance considerablyabove thatordinarilyshown by second gradersreceiving traditional instruction. STUDY2 Method Subjectsand Teachers Potentialsubjects were all second gradersin the 132 second-gradeclassrooms in-service trainingsession on in the PittsburghPublic School system. A 2V2-hour was offered to using base-ten blocks to teach multidigitadditionand subtraction in This in-service session was all second-gradeteachers August. voluntary;teachers were paid salary to attend.The workshopwent throughthe teacherplans for on using the blocks andlinkthe learning/teaching focusing particularly approach, in the written to on the blocks actions steps multidigitadditionand subtraction ing session focusing more intensely In a procedures. November, follow-up 2V2-hour new trade-first the on subtraction algorithm)was given to these teach(including on addition and subtractionwas given for teacha session both and 2V2-hour ers,
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ers who had not attendedthe August session. These sessions were given by the second author,who is experiencedin using the base-ten blocks to teach the multidigit algorithms.A math supervisorwho had no previous experience with the base-tenblocks gave another2?-hour in-servicesession in Decemberfor those not able to attendearliersessions. Most second-gradeteachers(91%)attendedat least one of these sessions. Teacherswere urged to use the base-ten blocks and lesson plans to teach the multidigitalgorithms.Three elementarymathematicssupervisorswere available as questionsarose, thoughthey also had many otherduties concerningteachersat other grade levels. The supervisorsencouragedteachersto try the approach,but because the goals went considerablybeyond the districtsecond-gradegoals, participation was voluntary.Many teachers startedteaching multidigitadditionand subtraction somewhatlate in the yearandexpresseddoubtsthatthey would be able to finish all of the units. In orderto increase the numberof teachersfinishing at least the additionand subtraction work,the supervisorssuggestednot covering the addition and place-value units but finishing the subtractionwork at meaningful least up to the problems with zeros. The number of teachers and children who in variousaspects of the studyarediscussed in the final section of the participated methods section. Instruction Teacherlesson plans and a class set of studentworksheetsin individualstudent booklets (both as describedin Study 1) were sent to each second-gradeteacherin the district. At the in-service sessions some teachersexpressed a preferencefor using the blocks to show subtractionas take-awayinstead of as comparisonbecause the take-awaymethod fitted bettertheir conception of subtractionas takeaway.Teacherswereallowed to use take-awayif they wished: The top number(the minuend) was made with blocks and blocks were taken away for the bottom number.One class set of base-tenblocks (the EducationalTeachingAids neutralcolored blocks, metric version) was availablein each school. Testing Tests. The addition and subtractioncalculation tests and the place-value and writtentests used in Study 1 were used in this study.All tests meaningful-addition were given as pretestsat the beginning of the year.The same tests were given as posttests as each phase of the learning/teachingapproachwas finished (e.g., the additioncalculationtests were given at the completion of the additionteaching). Teachers graded all tests according to written directions. They returnedto the central district office the pretests accompaniedby a class list containingpretest scores. Posttestsaccompaniedby a class list with posttest scores were returned to the centraloffice as teachersgave them.For both the pretestsand the posttests,the tests of four childrenin each classroom, two boys and two girls, were randomly selected and gradedby researchstaff membersin orderto check the teachergrading. The few teacherswith systematicgradingerrorshad their scores corrected.
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Criterionscores and errorclassification. Criterionscores were adoptedfor the additionand subtraction UntimedMinitests,the additionand subtraction Ten-Digit Tests, and the subtractionZeros Test. These were based on the digit scores describedfor Study 1. The tradingcriterionscore was 8 or more for the additionand subtraction UntimedMinitestsandthe additionandsubtraction Ten-DigitTestsbecause a child makingtradingerrorsthatwere incorrectin only one column could obtain scores of 6 out of 10 on the UntimedMinitestsand 4 out of 11 on the TenDigit Tests.A score of 8 requireda child to make at least two correcttradeswith no fact errorson the UntimedMinitestsand four correcttradeswith no fact errors on the Ten-DigitTests.For the subtraction ZerosTest,a criterionscore of 9 (of the 12 digits correct)was selectedbecausethis scoremeantthatthe child demonstrated correcttradingfor at least two of the three zero aspects tested. Erroranalyses were carriedout on four Ten-DigitTests drawnat randomfrom each of 30 classroomsrandomlyselected for each test and time (pretest,posttest). Errorswere classified into the four categories used in Study 1. The classification was done by the same two coders used in Study 1; coder agreementwas 96%. The Pretest and Posttest Samples Of the 132 teachers,125 (95%)returned pretestsfor 2723 children.Pretestswere returnedfrom at least one classroom for every school in the district.Across all of the tests the numberof completed pretests ranged between 2531 and 2378. To ascertainwhetherthe pretestsrepresentedthe whole sample of childrenwith one or more returnedpretests,on each test the scores of children who had complete dataon all tests were comparedto scores of childrenwho hadone or moremissing scores on other tests. Therewere no significantdifferencesbetween these groups on any tests. Only part of the potential sample of classrooms completed the work with the the posttests.The numberof childrenwith andreturned learning/teaching approach returnedposttests is given for each test in Table 6. The numberof teachers who additioncalculation,subtraction returned calculation,andplace-value/meaningful additionposttests was 42, 35, and 16, respectively.These teacherscame from 18, 18, and 9 different schools, respectively. This partialreturnraised the obvious questionof whetherthe childrenfor whom posttests were returneddifferedfrom the childrenwithoutreturned posttests.The additioncalculationpretestswere the focus of the difference analyses because all other pretests showed floor effects. Several aspects of the additionpretestsfor the childrenwith no returned posttests were comparedto pretestsfor the childrenwith returned posttests.The percentage of childrenwith pretestscores on the UntimedMinitestat or above criterionwas a bit higherfor the childrenwith no postteststhanfor those with posttests,the mean digit scores on the UntimedMinitestand the Timed Test were aboutthe same for both groups, and children with no posttests showed somewhat more advanced errorsthan did the childrenwith posttests (more of the formermade at least one or column additionerrors). tradingerrorwhile moreof the lattermadepreaddition Thus, the posttest sample childrenwere, if anything,initially a bit worse at multi-
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digit addition calculation than the children not participating, and all children showed floor effects on the multidigitsubtraction calculationand place-valueand meaningfuladditionpretests;thatis, both groupshad the same low level of initial knowledge. Most (90%)of the posttestteacherscame from a school in which all the secondgrade teachersreturnedposttests. Teacherswithin a given school almost always returnedexactly the same posttests. Thus, the performancedata to be reported come from all achievementlevels of second graders.The schools with all teachers participatingwere distributedacross the whole range of schools in the city with teachersdid respect to location, ethnicity,and socioeconomic level. Participating teachersin theirrate of attendance not seem to differ much from nonparticipating at the in-service sessions: 76%, 15%, and 10% of the participatingteachers attended two, one, and zero sessions, respectively,while these percentagesfor the teacherswere 68%, 23%, and 9%. nonparticipating Two classes from a magnet school were droppedfrom the additionsample because more than half the children were above criterionon the pretest, indicating previous addition instruction. One of these classes was also dropped from the subtractionsample for the same reason. Results AdditionMultidigitCalculationPerformance On the pretest 10%of the instructedsample met the criterionon the Untimed Minitest, and on the posttest 96% of the childrenmet this criterion.This shift for the Ten-Digit Test was from 5% on the pretest to 90% meeting criterion on the posttest. Both of these changes were significant, McNemar's test of correlated proportions chi-square= 674 and 659, p < .0001. The childrenwere quite accurate adders,with digit scores on the threetests showing thatthey solved between 89% and 96% of the columns correctly(Table6), and they solved a mean of 24.3 columns of multidigitproblemscorrectlyin 2 minutes. These children showed the same large reduction in preaddition and column additionerrorsfrom the pretestto the posttestas shown by the childrenin Study 1 (see Table7). Tradingerrorswere also reducedconsiderably,even thoughalmost all childrenwere tradingon the posttest. SubtractionMultidigitCalculationPerformance Hardlyany childrenmet the tradingcriteriaon the subtraction pretests(2%, 1%, and 0.4% on the Untimed Minitest,Ten-DigitTest, and Zeros Test, respectively), but 84%, 70%, and 81%of the instructedchildrenmet the criterionon the respective posttests. These changes were all significant, McNemar's chi-square= 580, 487, 486, p < .001. Children obtained digit scores on the various tests ranging between 80%and90%correct(see Table6). Childrensolved subtraction problems more slowly than addition problems, solving a mean correct 18.4 columns in 3 minutes.
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Table 6 Posttests and the Place-Value Percentage Correcton the Additionand SubtractionComputation and MeaningfulAdditionPosttests in Study2 n Additioncomputationtests Untimed Minitest Ten-Digit Test Timed Test Subtraction computationtests Untimed Minitest Ten-Digit Test Timed Test Zeros Test Place-valuetests Mixed Wordsto NumeralsTest Test TradedWord/Numeral Choose the LargerNumberTest Circle the largernumber Insert> and < symbols in the numberpairs Meaningfuladditiontests AlignmentTest Trading2 Insteadof 1 Test 783 776 780 707 705 669 602 360 360 360 363 300 278 % Correct 96 89 92 90 80 85 85 88 53 67 65 85 80
Note. The %correctfor the additionand subtraction computationtests are the percentageof correctdigits out of the total digits in the UntimedMinitests,Ten-Digit Tests, and Zeros Test and out of the digits attemptedby a given child in the Timed Tests.
Table 7
Numberand Kinds of Pretest and Posttest Additionand SubtractionErrors in Study2 Preaddition/ presubtraction Pre AdditionTen-Digit Test Subtraction Ten-Digit Test 341 282 Post 7 8 Column add/sub Pre 798 984 Post 3 26 Trading error Pre 79 6 Post 45 187 Fact error Pre 11 1 Post 83 58
thenumber of digitsin the foreachtestcalculated werea possible1320errors Note.There bymultiplying of subjects answer (11)by thenumber (N = 120).
The subtraction-error analyses indicateda substantialmovementfrom the preerrorsto the more advancedtradingand fact subtractionand column subtraction errors(see Table 7). The percentagesof posttest errorsfalling within each error categoryare similarfor Study 1 and Study 2. Place-Valueand MeaningfulAdditionTests The pretestscores on most of the place-valueandmeaningfuladditiontests were very low, indicatingthatchildrenwere respondingto the misleadingnatureof the items. For example, on the AlignmentTest, most childrenaligned the numberson the left, recopied the problems horizontally,or treated each digit as a separate numberand formednew problems(e.g., 67 + 1385 was writtenverticallyas 67 + 13 + 85). On the test giving mixed orderwords, 38% ignoredthe words andwrote the numeralsin theirgiven orderand 39% left blanksor wrote seemingly random
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responses; only 23% showed even any partialknowledge. About a sixth of the childrendid get three of the five items correcton the Choose the LargerNumber Test and anothersixth got four or five items correct,indicatingsome pretestability to comparemultidigitnumbers. Performance on the posttestMixed Wordsto Symbols Test,the AlignmentTest, andthe Trading2 Insteadof 1 Testwas good, rangingfrom 80%to 88%(see Table 6). Individualclass means on these tests rangedfrom lows of 59%to 66%to highs of 100%.Performanceon the Choose the LargerNumberTest improvedto moderatelevels of accuracy,with little differencebetween scores obtainedby circling the largernumberor inserting< or > between the numbers(67% and 65%). Class Test were extremely variable,rangingfrom means on the TradedWord/Numeral 3% to 88%, with an overall mean performanceof 53% of the items correct. Discussion Informalteacherreportsvia the supervisors and direct communicationto the districtmathematicsdirectorindicatedconsiderableenthusiasmandenjoymentof the learning/teaching approachby both teachersand children.Being able to solve seemed to empowerchildrenandmakethemfeel good aboutthemlargeproblems selves and about mathematics. Children learned multidigit addition quite well, thoughthey still made some additionfact errorsandoccasionaltradingerrors.The subtraction test scores and erroranalyses indicatedthatmost childrencould trade that few continued to make the presubtractionand the subtractand correctly errorsso commonon the pretests.However,manychildrendid smaller-from-larger not completely mastersubtraction computationand continuedto make some tradon the and fact errors, ten-digitproblem.Both additionand subtracing especially tion performancewas considerablyabove that ordinarilyreportedfor thirdgradon the AlignmentTest,the Mixed Wordsto Symbols Test, ers, as was performance and the Choose the LargerNumberTest. Childrenshowed more limited ability to Test. generalize tradingto the new TradedWord/Numeral There were obvious limitations to this study. Because systematic classroom observationswere not made, it is not clear how closely the work with the blocks followed the lesson plans. Thus, no inferencescan be made aboutwhich features of the learning/teaching approachmight be crucial and whether any might be while those expendable.It is not clear why teachersin some schools participated in other schools did not. Informalreportsto field supervisorsindicatedthat the school-baseddecisions to participate were sometimesinitiatedby the principaland sometimes by the teachers.The field supervisorsreportedthat some teachersexpressed skepticismthat second graderscould learnmaterialso much above grade level even though the success of the approachwith the children in Study 1 was discussed in the in-service sessions; this skepticismmay have contributed to decisions not to use the approach.The partialparticipation by teachersdid not seem to bias the samplewith respectto initialknowledgeof the participating children.The teacherassignmentandtransfer policies of the districtmakeit unlikelythatthe best teachersare heavily concentratedin certainschools (i.e., only in the participating
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schools), but there still might have been some bias towardparticipationby the better teachers in the district. Finally, although the scores on the addition and subtraction computationtests and the shifts in errorsfrom pretestto posttest were similarin Study 1 and Study 2, the lack of interviewdatain Study 2 means thatit andcould explainmultidigit is not clearwhetherthe childrenin Study2 understood as well as could the childrenin Study 1. additionand subtraction GENERAL DISCUSSION On all tests and interview measures, performance by second graders of all for third achievementlevels considerablyexceeded thatreportedin the literature Most childrenlearnedto tradein four-digitadgradersreceivingusualinstruction. dition and subtraction problems,columnerrorsfrequentlyresultingfrom usual instructionwere virtuallyeliminated,and childrenshowed considerablegeneralizato multidigitproblemslargerthanfour tion of multidigitadditionand subtraction digits. Most childrenaligned uneven additionproblemson the right, traded2 insteadof 1 when necessary,and could translatefrom mixed words and numeralsto multidigit numerals. Children in Study 1 showed in the interview quantitative to exof writtenmultidigitnumeralsand used this understanding understanding tradingproceduresin both additionand subtraction. plain one/tenandten/hundred These results indicatethat second-gradeclassroom teacherscan use the learneffectively to supporthigh levels of meaningfullearningin ing/teachingapproach heterogeneouspopumany of theirchildren.Childrenfrom a small city/suburban lation and childrenfrom a wide range of schools in a large urbanschool district demonstratedsuch learning,so the learning/teaching approachcan be used successfully with a fairlywide rangeof children.The successful learningin both studcould be implementedon a broad ies indicatedthatthe learning/teaching approach scale with a moderateamountof in-service time, materials,and teachersupport. teachersin Study 2 did ask for their own set of blocks for the Many participating so one set of blocks per building is clearly not ideal. In particular, coming year, more sets of blocks may facilitatethe use of place-valueunits in the crowdedendof-the-yearschedule. The approachdid not result in maximal learning in all areas by all children. Some childrencontinuedto make occasional tradingand fact errors,particularly with the ten-digitproblem.Some childrenwere not able consistently in subtraction to choose the largerof two three-digitthroughseven-digit pairs of numbers,and manychildrenin Study2 did not generalizetradingto all of the items on the Traded or are Test.Whetherthese limitationsare inherentin this approach Word/Numeral of certainfeaturesof the approachor simply to due to inadequateimplementation for some childrenis not clear.In the first study insufficienttime with the approach of the approach(Fuson, 1986a), telling childrento "thinkabout the blocks" was sufficient for most of them to self-correcterrorsthey were still making after the initial learningor to self-correcterrorsthat began to appearon delayed posttests after correct initial learning. Thus, the blocks can be a powerful support for children's thinking, but many children do not seem spontaneously to use their
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knowledgeof the blocks to monitortheirwrittenmultidigitadditionor subtraction. This suggests thatfrequentsolving of one multidigitadditionor subtraction problem accompanied by children's thinking about the blocks and evaluating their written-marks proceduremightbe a powerfulmeansto reducethe occasionaltrading errorsmade by children. A limitationof both of these studiesis thattheirdesigns did not permitan evaluation of any of the specific features of the learning/teachingapproach.The approach had many features, not all of which may be crucial to its success. These features stemmed from the need to provide children an opportunityto construct conceptual structuresfor the mathematicallydifferentEnglish named-valuesystem of numberwords and the positionalbase-ten system of writtenmarksand to think about how these systems work in multidigitaddition and subtraction; how the featuresrelateto children'slearningare discussed in Fuson (in press a). These studies are also limited because they were not intended to provide a complete addition and subtractionor place-value experience. Obviously importanttopics were omittedthatrelateto the goals of understanding multidigitadditionand subtraction(e.g., estimation,alternativemethods of adding and subtracting).Future work might explore how well the learning/teaching approachcould supportthese more extensive goals. These two studies raise several issues for futureresearchconcerningthe use of and place value (see embodimentsin learningmultidigitadditionand subtraction also Baroody,in press; Fuson, in press b). First, we took no position concerning whether the teacher or the children moved the blocks or whether learning proceeded within a total class approach,within simultaneoussmall groups,or within serial small groups. In Study 1 differentteachers used all of these, and they all seemed to be effective. Otherpossible outcomes of these differentapproaches(for andcoopexample, beliefs thatsuccess dependson effort,attemptsto understand, eration with peers as reportedin Nicholls, Cobb, Wood, Yackel, & Patashnick, 1990, for a small-group problem-solving classroom organization)might be explored. Second, relative benefits of using the learning/teaching approachto supand addition subtraction port prechosen multidigit procedures,as in the present studies, versus using the approachto supportproceduresinvented by children, might be examined. Thus, the focus of the present studies on computation as multidigit additionand subtractionand place value) meaning (on understanding with be contrasted as problemsolving (Labinowicz,1985). The computation might latterdoes not necessarily result in more competence (for example, only 34% of the third graderswho had reinvented arithmetic without traditionalinstruction solved 43 - 16 correctly,Kamii, 1989), but the supportof the learning/teaching approachin Figure 1 might help childreninvent multidigitadditionand subtraction procedures. Third,several aspectsof a more gradualuse of base-tenblocks as proposedelsewhere do not seem to be necessaryfor high levels of skill andunderThese includeprostanding,because they were not implementedin our approach. longed work with two-digit numbers,followed considerablylater by work with three-digitand even laterby four-digitnumbers;ratherextensive experiencewith
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Base-Ten Blocks Learning/Teaching Approach
tradingbefore tradingis set within additionproblems;extensive practicejust with the blocks with no recording;pictorialrecordingbefore recordingwith base-ten written marks; and use of the blocks to count on by tens and hundreds (e.g., Baroody, 1987; Davis, 1984; Labinowicz, 1985; Wynroth,1980). Futureresearch benefits, but it seems wise to may establishthat these aspects do bringparticular undertake such researchratherthanmerely to assertthese benefits. The resultssuggesta gradeplacementfor multidigitadditionandsubtraction and place-value concepts with this approach.Even though many average-achieving first graderswere able to learn the multidigitadditionalgorithm,their relatively poorerperformanceon some aspects of the interview suggests that the approach in these studies risks pushing childrenbeyond their comfortablelearningrange. Some of these childrenmay still requireperceptualunit items for thinkingabout single-digit numbers and thus may have trouble using the blocks to construct and thousand-unit items made out of collected conceptualten-unit,hundred-unit, ones. Therefore, for first graders of average and below-average mathematics achievement and perhapseven for many high-achievingfirst graders,it may be betterto concentratein the first grade on helping childrento build and use their for addingandsubtracting unitarysequence/counting conceptualstructures singledigit numbers(i.e., sums and differences to 18). Trying to build simultaneously these unitaryconceptualstructuresand the multiunitnamed-value/base-ten conneededfor multidigitadditionand subtraction, ceptual structures especially given the interferencethe irregular Englishnumberwords createfor this task (cf. Fuson & Kwon, in press), may be too difficultfor manyfirst graders.The learning/teachfor ing activitiestested in these studiesdo seem to be developmentallyappropriate second-gradechildrenof all achievementlevels except perhapsthose with special difficulties. Teachersreportedthat second-gradechildrenin both studies enjoyed the learningactivities and felt good aboutthemselves and their ability to do such Thus, the typical textbook extension of multidigit problems with understanding. additionandsubtraction problemsover Grades2 through4 or 5, addingone or two each what our childrencan learn. digits year (Fuson, in press c), underestimates The conceptualbases for generalmultidigitadditionandsubtraction algorithmsare well within the capacity of most second gradersif they are learnedwith the supportof physical materialsthatembody the relative size of the base-tenplaces and demonstrate the positional natureof the multidigitwrittenmarksand if the focus of such learningis understanding and not just procedural competence.
REFERENCES Baroody,A. J. (1987). Children'smathematicalthinking: A developmental framework for preschool, primary,and special educationteachers. New York: TeachersCollege Press. Baroody,A. (in press). How and when shouldplace-valueconcepts and skills be taught? Journalfor Research in MathematicsEducation. Bell, M. S., Fuson, K. C., & Lesh, R. A. (1976). Algebraic and arithmeticstructures: A concreteapproachfor elementaryschool teachers. New York: The Free Press. of logical knowledge: Studyof borrowingin subtraction. Journal Cauley,K. M. (1988). Construction of EducationalPsychology, 80, 202-205.
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of ten. Focus on LearningProbCobb, P:, & Wheatley,G. (1988). Children'sinitial understandings lems in Mathematics,10, 1-28. Thecognitivescience approachto mathematicseducation. Davis, R. B. (1984). Learningmathematics: Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Davis, R. B., & McKnight,C. C. (1980). The influence of semanticcontenton algorithmicbehavior. Journal of Children'sMathematicalBehavior, 3, 39-87. Dienes, Z. P. (1960). Building up mathematics.London:HutchinsonEducationalLtd. and verbalizationin the teachingof multi-digitaddition Fuson, K. C. (1986a). Roles of representation and subtraction. EuropeanJournal of Psychology of Education,1, 35-56. Fuson, K. C. (1986b). Teaching childrento subtractby countingup. Journalfor Research in Mathematics Education,17, 172-189. Fuson, K. C. (1987). Researchinto practice: Adding by countingon with one-handedfinger patterns. ArithmeticTeacher, 35(1), 38-41. Fuson, K. C. (1988a). Children'scountingand concepts of number.New York: Springer-Verlag. Fuson, K. C. (1988b). Research into practice: Subtractingby counting up with one-handedfinger patterns.ArithmeticTeacher,35(5), 29-31. Fuson, K. C. (in press a). Children'sconceptual structuresfor multidigitnumbers: Implicationsfor and place-value learningand teaching.Cognitionand Instruction. additionand subtraction Fuson, K. C. (in press b). Issues in place-valueand multidigitadditionand subtraction learning.Journalfor Research in MathematicsEducation. In G. Leinhardt Fuson, K. C. (in press c). Researchon learningand teachingadditionand subtraction. & R. T. Putnam(Eds.), Cognitiveresearch: Mathematicslearningand instruction. Fuson, K. C., & Kwon, Y. (in press). Chinese-basedregularandEuropeanirregular systems of number words: The disadvantagesfor English-speakingchildren.In K. Durkin& B. Shire (Eds.),Language and MathematicalEducation.Milton Keynes, GreatBritain:Open UniversityPress. Fuson, K. C., Richards,J., & Briars,D. J. (1982). The acquisitionand elaborationof the numberword sequence. In C. Brainerd(Ed.), Progress in cognitive development: Children'slogical and mathematical cognition, Vol. 1 (pp. 33-92). New York: Springer-Verlag. Fuson, K. C., & Secada, W. G. (1986). Teachingchildrento add by countingon with finger patterns. Cognitionand Instruction,3, 229-260. Fuson, K. C., Stigler, J. W., & Bartsch,K. (1988). Gradeplacementof additionand subtraction topics in China,Japan,the Soviet Union, Taiwan, and the United States.Journalfor Research in Mathematics Education,19, 449-458. Fuson,K. C., & Willis, G. B. (1988). Subtracting by countingup: Moreevidence.Journalfor Research in MathematicsEducation,19, 402-420. Ginsburg,H. (1977). Children'sarithmetic: How they learn it and how you teach it. Austin, TX: ProEd. Kamii, C. (1985). Youngchildrenreinventarithmetic.New York: TeachersCollege Press. Kamii, C. (1986). Place value: An explanationof its difficulty and educationalimplicationsfor the primarygrades.Journal of Research in ChildhoodEducation,1, 75-86. Kamii,C. (1989). Youngchildrencontinueto reinventarithmetic-2nd grade: ImplicationsofPiaget's theory.New York: TeachersCollege Press. Kamii,C., & Joseph,L. (1988). Teachingplace value anddouble-columnaddition.Arithmetic Teacher, 35(6), 48-52. T. P., Lindquist,M. M., Silver, E. A., & Swafford,J. O. (1988). Kouba,V. L., Brown,C. A., Carpenter, ArithmeticTeacher,35(8), 14-19. Labinowicz, E. (1985). Learningfrom children: New beginningsfor teaching numerical thinking. Menlo Park,CA: Addison-WesleyPublishingCompany. Miura,I. (1987). Mathematicsachievementas a functionof language.Journalof EducationalPsychology, 79, 79-82. Miura, I. T., Kim, C. C., Chang, C., & Okamoto, Y. (1988). Effects of language characteristicson of number:Cross-national children'scognitive representation comparisons.ChildDevelopment,59, 1445-1450.
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Miura,I. T., & Okamoto,Y. (1989). Comparisonsof Americanand Japanesefirst graders'cognitive of numberandunderstanding of place value.Journalof EducationalPsychology,81, representation 109-113. Nicholls, J. G., Cobb, P., Wood, T., Yackel, E., & Patashnick,M. (1990). Assessing students'theories of success in mathematics:Individualand classroomdifferences. Journalfor Research in Mathematics Education,21, 109-122. In H. P. Ginsburg(Ed.), The Resnick, L. B. (1983). A developmentaltheoryof numberunderstanding. developmentof mathematicalthinking.New York: Academic. arithmetic.In R. Glaser (Ed.), AdResnick, L. B., & Omanson,S. F. (1987). Learningto understand vances in instructional psychology (Vol. 3). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Ross, S. H. (1986, April). The developmentof children'splace-value numerationconcepts in grades two throughfive. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American EducationalResearch Association, San Francisco. Teacher,36(6), Ross, S. H. (1989). Parts,wholes, and place value: A developmentalview. Arithmetic 47-51. Song, M., & Ginsburg,H. P. (1987). The developmentof informaland formalmathematical thinking in Koreanand U.S. children.Child Development,57, 1286-1296. Steffe, L. P., & Cobb, P. (1988). Constructionof arithmeticalmeanings and strategies. New York: Springer-Verlag. Steffe, L. P., von Glasersfeld,E., Richards,J., & Cobb,P. (1983). Children'scountingtypes: Philosophy, theory,and application.New York: PraegerScientific. Tougher,H. E. (1981). Too many blanks! What workbooksdon't teach. ArithmeticTeacher,28(6), 67. Underhill,R. (1984). Externalretentionand transfereffects of special place value curriculumactivities. Focus on LearningProblemsin Mathematics,1 & 2, 108-130. Wynroth, L. (1969/1980). Wynrothmath program: The natural numberssequence. Ithaca, NY: WynrothMath Program.
AUTHORS KAREN C. FUSON, Professor,School of Educationand Social Policy, 2003 SheridanRoad, NorthwesternUniversity,Evanston,IL 60208-2610 DIANE J. BRIARS, Directorof the Division of Mathematics,PittsburghPublic Schools, 850 Boggs PA 15211 Avenue, Pittsburgh,

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Using a Base-Ten Blocks Learning/Teaching Approach for First- and Second-Grade Place-Value and Multidigit Addition and Subtraction

Journalfor Researchin MathematicsEducation 1990, Vol. 21, No. 3, 180-206

Base-TenBlocks Learning/Teaching Approach

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Karen C. Fuson and Diane J. Briars

KarenC. Fuson and Diane J. Briars

Base-TenBlocks Learning/Teaching Approach

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KarenC. Fuson and Diane J. Briars

Base-TenBlocks Learning/Teaching Approach

Karen C. Fuson and Diane J. Briars

Base-TenBlocks Learning/Teaching Approach

KarenC. Fuson and Diane J. Briars

Base-Ten Blocks Learning/Teaching Approach

Karen C. FusonandDianeJ. Briars

Base-TenBlocks Learning/Teaching Approach

KarenC. Fuson and Diane J. Briars

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Base-TenBlocks Learning/Teaching Approach

KarenC. Fuson and Diane J. Briars

Base-TenBlocks Learning/Teaching Approach

Karen C. FusonandDianeJ. Briars

Base-TenBlocks Learning/Teaching Approach

Karen C. Fuson and Diane J. Briars

Base-TenBlocks Learning/Teaching Approach

KarenC. Fuson and Diane J. Briars

Base-Ten Blocks Learning/Teaching Approach

KarenC. Fuson and Diane J. Briars

Base-TenBlocks Learning/Teaching Approach

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