MENTAL MATHEMATICS: THE TRUE STORIES BEHIND THE CART

Arnel M. Dayame, Lpt

I. Introduction

Have you encountered people, selling in the streets in the middle of the day? They

quickly give you the change from your big amount of money, don’t they? Have you ever thought

how they learn these techniques that they used in their everyday vending transactions? Have you

ever thought what learnings do they get from their experience as vendors?

One factor that can bring change into the life of an individual is education. Unfortunately,

not all are given the opportunity to follow or continue with formal education due to wide

variation of circumstances, such as those who have insufficient income, early marriage, lack of

interest in attending school (Philippine Statistics Authority, 2015).

In modern society, the development of mental computation skills needs to be a goal of

any mathematical program for two important reasons. First of all, in their day-to-day activities,

most people’s calculation needs can be met by having well developed mental computational

processes. Secondly, while technology has replaced paper-and-pencil as the major tool for

complex computations, people still need to have well developed mental strategies to be alert to

the reasonableness of answers generated by technology.

Mental math is a basic tool that is developed progressively from the time basic addition

and subtraction concepts are learned in elementary school. As children advance through grades,

explaining the practical ways mental math can help them will likely motivate them to become

more skillful at the practice.

Besides being the foundation of the development of number and operation sense, fact

learning is critical to the overall development of mathematics. Mathematics is about patterns and
relationships and many of these are numerical. Without a command of the basic facts, it is very

difficult to detect these patterns and relationships. As well, nothing empowers students more

with confidence, and a level of independence in mathematics, than a command of the number

facts. (Mental Math, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7N8: Prince Edward Island 2007)

The Manitoba Association of Mathematics Teachers defines mental math as: A

combination of cognitive strategies that enhances flexible thinking and number sense. It is

calculating mentally without the use of external memory aids. It improves computational fluency

by developing efficiency, accuracy, and flexibility. Or, from students’ perspectives, it’s: Math

done in your head, Math that is done in the mind, quickly and efficiently, Warming up your head

with math, To do math instantly, without the effort put into operations and processes, Math that

you understand so well that you don’t need to write anything down to do calculations/find the

answer.

Over the last thirty years, researchers have investigated how mathematics in everyday

practices differs from what was taught at school and in academic institutions. In this endeavor

Lave (1988) found that mathematics practice in everyday settings is structured in relation to

ongoing activities. Furthermore, Noss, Hoyles and Pozzi, (2000) stated that achievements are

linked to the everyday practices in which individuals participate. Practitioners use mathematics

in unpredictable ways. Hence, their strategies depend on whether or not the activity is routine

and on the material resources at hand”.

Early research in everyday mathematics lent support to diverse and often contradictory

interpretations of the roles of schools in mathematics education. As research has progressed, we

have begun to get a clearer view of the scope and possible contributions of learning out of school

to learning in school. In order to appreciate this view it is necessary to carefully scrutinize

concepts of real (as in “real life”), utility (or usefulness), context, as well as the distinction

between concrete and abstract. These concepts are crucial for determining the relevance of

everyday mathematics to mathematics education; yet each concept is deeply problematic. The

tension between knowledge and experience acquired in and out of school is not a topic of

mathematics. (Carraher, D.W. & Schliemann, A.D. (2002).

In this research study, mental mathematics refers to the abrupt thinking of the people in

computing certain problems in terms of the four basic operations. Mental math refers to the

practice of doing calculations in your head. It is often used as a way to calculate an estimate

quickly through the use of math facts that have been committed to memory, such as

multiplication, division, or subtraction and addition.

The researchers really observe that mental mathematics are certainly use by the ordinary

people like sidewalk vendors. This study aimed to explore the stories of the sidewalk vendors on

mental mathematics that acquire the true essence of life beyond learning.

II. Methods

This study utilized a qualitative research, specifically Narrative Inquiry. By using the the

six-part model, namely The abstract, Orientation, Complicating Action, Evaluation, Resolution,

and Coda, the researcher was able to systematically structure the informants’ stories in a way that

would be easily understood. Furthermore, the researcher used Labov and Waletzky’s analysis. In

using this approach, one can link the individual meaning to cultural meaning by analysing each

element of Labov’s analysis in terms of how it both reaveals and contributes to the development

of a personal identity that is social rather than private (Labov & Waletzky, 1967. Specify the

methodology and specific research design and tradition.

Environment

The environment of this study is in Cebu City. Cebu is a province of the Philippines, in

the country’s Central Visayas region, comprising Cebu Island and more than 150 smaller

surrounding islands and islets. Its prosperous port capital, Cebu City, retains landmarks from its

16th-century Spanish colonial past, including the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño church and

triangular Fort San Pedro. Tops, an observation deck on Mt. Busay, has sweeping views over the

city.

Informants

The informants of this study are those side walk vendors in Colon Street, Cebu City. The

researcher will select 10 side walk vendors by utilizing the convenience sampling technique. A

convenience sample is a type of non-probability sampling method where the sample is taken

from a group of side walk vendors easy to contact or to reach. In selecting of the said informants,

the researchers will set the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria: (1) Informants

must be 18 and above years old, (2) must be a 2 or more years’ experience being a side walk

vendor, and (3) a truly blooded Cebuano, and (4) a residents in and outside Cebu City.

Exclussion criteria: (1) informants below 18 years old, (2) less than 2 years’ experience being a

side walk vendor, (3) not truly blooded Cebuano, and (4) a resident outside Cebu province.

On the event where data saturation is reached, the researcher may choose not to pursue

with the remaining 10 informants. Guest, Bunce and Johnson (2006) further explain that

saturation of data can be achieved by as six interviews depending on the sample size of the

population.
Data Gathering Procedures

The researcher plan a systematic process, primary, permission from the dean of the

University of the Visayas is sought by the researcher. This research study will undergo a research

proposal that there are certain panel members’ critiques of the said research study. They give

some comments and suggestions that the researcher needs to revised according to their

comments. Once done revising the research study, it will be submitted to UV-IRB office for

technical and ethical approval. When notice to proceed issued by the office, the researcher will

start the interview process to the informants of this research study.

To collect the data, the researcher prepares interview guides which will eventually the

guide in managing the data. But before data gathering happen, the researcher creates an Informed

Consent Form to be given to the informants of this study for them to be able to know and

informed about the goal of this research study.

Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted using a pre-prepared interview

guide. Informants are encouraged to talk freely and to tell stories using their own words. Each

interview lasted from 45 minutes to one-hour and all of them are conducted by the main

researcher. At the end of each interview, the researcher reminded the informants about the need

for a second contact with them via telephone calls to discuss the study findings and to make sure

that the study findings reflect their own experiences.

Data Analysis

The researcher used Labov and Waletzky’s narrative analysis in interpreting the data,

since it is easier in structuring the information in a systematic way and has a flow. It was the

narrative choice used to systematically report and order the past events and experiences of the

informants. The purpose of using this analysis is one way to recount the past events, in which
order of the narrative clauses matches the order of events as they occur (Labov & Waletzky,

1967).

In using this narrative structural analysis, the design is strengthen by six structural

elements which includes: Abstract, which means it introduces and summarizes the story,

Orientation, it is the character, time, place and events, Complication, it refers to the critical

events in the story, Evaluation which means it is the implication and meaning of the actions and

events, Results refer to the outcome of the story, and Coda it refers to the links of the story in the

past back to the present of the storyteller’s life.

Enhancement of Trustworthiness

In dealing with informants, trust somehow is very significant. Prior to the doling out of

interview, the researcher will openly talk to the informants in order to reveal the nature of the

research study and to gain the informants’ trust.

Essentially, the qualitative research has to demonstrate trustworthiness in providing rigor

and strength to the study validity and reliability in all stages including data collection, data

analysis and descriptions (Speziale & Carpenter, 2007; Vivar, McQueen, Whyte, & Armayor,

2007).

Researcher faces a numerous conceptual, practical, ethical, and methodologic challenges

in planning a study. The major methodologic challenge is designing a study that is trustworthy.

Trustworthiness in qualitative research encompasses several dimensions or approaches;

credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability were undertaken throughout the

study process.
Credibility

This approach will be achieved to the extent that the research methods engender

confidence in the truth of the data and in the researchers’ interpretations. It measures the

certainty on how qualitative researcher is honest enough with the findings of the study. The

researcher will employed triangulation to reveal that the study results are convincing.

Credibility contributes to a belief in the trustworthiness of data through the following

attributes: (a) prolonged engagement; (b) persistent observations; (c) triangulation; (d) referential

adequacy; (e) peer debriefing; and (f) member checks. Triangulation and member checks are

primary and commonly used methods to address credibility.

Triangulation is accomplished by asking the same research questions of different study

informants and by collecting data from different sources and by using different methods to

answer these research questions. Member checks occur when the researcher asks informants to

review both the data collected by the interviewer and the researchers' interpretation of that

interview data. Informants are generally appreciative of the member check process, and knowing

that they will have a chance to verify their statements tends to cause study informants to

willingly fill in any gaps from earlier interviews. Trust is an important aspect of the member

check process.

Dependability

It refers to evidence that is believable, consistent, and stable over time. According to

Bitsch (2005), dependability refers to “the stability of findings over time” (p. 86). Dependability

involves participants evaluating the findings and the interpretation and recommendations of the

study to make sure that they are all supported by the data received from the informants of the

study (Cohen et al., 2011; Tobin & Begley, 2004).

 Dependability is established using an audit trail, a code-recode strategy, stepwise

replication, triangulation and peer examination or iterator comparisons (Ary et al., 2010; Chilisa

& Preece, 2005; Krefting, 1991; Schwandt et al., 2007).

Confirmability

It refers to evidence of the researchers’ objectivity. Confirmability refers to the degree to

which the results of an inquiry could be confirmed or corroborated by other researchers (Baxter

& Eyles, 1997). Confirmability is “concerned with establishing that data and interpretations of

the findings are not figments of the inquirer’s imagination, but are clearly derived from the data”

(Tobin & Begley, 2004, p. 392). Studies suggest that confirmability of qualitative inquiry is

achieved through an audit trial, reflexive journal and triangulation(Bowen, 2009; Koch, 2006;

Lincoln & Guba, 1985).According to Bowen (2009) an “audit trail offers visible evidence from

process and product that the researcher did not simply find what he or she set out to find” (p.

307).

Transferability

Refers to the extent to which qualitative findings are meaningful and can be transferred to

other settings. Transferability is the generalization of the study findings to other situations and

contexts. Transferability is not considered a viable naturalistic research objective. The context in

which qualitative data collection occurs defines the data and contributes to the interpretation of

the data. For these reasons, generalization in qualitative research is limited.

Ethical Consideration.

Ethical considerations in research are critical. Ethics are the norms or standards for

conduct that distinguish between right and wrong. They help to determine the difference
between acceptable and unacceptable behaviors on the part of the researcher. The integrity,

reliability and validity of the research findings rely heavily on adherence to ethical principles.

Ethical issues are important in all types of research. Regardless of the type of research,

the researcher should take into consideration both general research principles and those that are

more specific to the type of research. In qualitative research, ethical principles are primarily

centered on protecting research participants and the guiding foundation of "do no harm".

Following is a list of core ethical principles that are important in qualitative research:

Beneficence. The researcher make sure to minimize harm and maximize harm benefits.

The researcher will make sure that the informants of this study will have a higher benefit

compare to the risk that might encounter during and after the data gathering. Researcher will

make sure the risk-benefit ratio in conducting this study towards to the informants.

Respect. Researcher gives respect to each informant in this research study. They will be

given an assurance that proper confidentiality procedure will do to prevent them to be directly

link to their individual responses during the interview. Informants’ participation is entirely

voluntary and they can easily withdraw if they wish to stop participating of the said interview.

Justice. The informants are fairly selected in this research study. The researcher will set

the inclusion and exclusion criteria in selecting the desire informants. The researcher will protect

and respect the values and interests of the community as a whole and protect the community

from harm.

Confidentiality Pledge. Prospective participants should be assured that their privacy will

at all times be protected. No names will be ask during the interview and the researcher will

provide a convenient place during the interview.

Confidentiality Procedures. Study informants have the right to expect that data they

provide will be kept in strict confidence. Informants ‘right to privacy is protected through

various confidentiality procedures. Anonymity, the most secure means of protecting

confidentiality, occurs when the researcher cannot link participants to their data.

The researcher promise of confidentiality that any information informants provide

will not be publicly reported in a manner that identifies them, and will not be accessible

to others. This means that research information should not be shared with strangers nor

with people known to informants, unless informants give explicit permission to do so.

Researchers can take a number of steps to ensure that a breach of confidentiality does not

occur, including the following: • Assign an identification (ID) number to each informant

and attach the ID number rather than other identifiers to the actual data. • Maintain the

recorder in a locked file and permanently destroy after the data analysis. • Restrict access

to identifying information to only a few people on a need-to-know basis. • Enter no

identifying information onto computer files. • Destroy identifying information as quickly

as practical. • Make research personnel sign confidentiality pledges if they have access to

data or identifying information. • Report research information in the aggregate; if

information for an individual is reported, disguise the person’s identity, such as through

the use of a fictitious name.