EFFECTS OF DIFFERENTIAL ARITHMETIC PRACTICE ON CHILDREN’S SOLUTIONS OF MATHEMATICAL WORD PROBLEMS

Word problems are difficult. Although children eventually master computational skills, problem solving skills remain poor through adulthood. Two different types of manipulations were attempted to affect rates of successful word problem solution. First we made changes to the word problems themselves to make them more comprehensible for students, and therefore easier to solve. Second, students were given one of two types of arithmetic practice and were compared with a third group of students who received no additional practice to determine whether such practice could assist students with solving arithmetic word problems. First- and second-grade students were tested on three different types of single-step arithmetic word problems: a set of Compare problems, a set of six typically worded Change problems and a set of six Change problems whose wording was clarified with simple temporal, semantic and referential clarifications. These changes were intended to make the action in the problem easier to follow so students could model the problems more successfully. Th