Proceedings of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education · Volume 1
Georgia Pitta, Xenia Vamvakoussi
University of Ioannina
⬇ Download PDFThis paper reports findings from a design research study aimed at fostering early multiplicative reasoning. Kindergarten children were introduced to an estimate-and measure procedure (indirect partitioning) for identifying submultiples of discrete and continuous quantities. Pre- and post-interviews examined children’s performance, appropriation of the taught procedure, and the emergence of their own strategies. Results showed improvement across quantity and submultiple types for all children who completed the posttest. Analysis of video-recorded solution processes revealed a range of indirect and direct partitioning strategies. The findings suggest that parallel work with discrete and continuous quantities is feasible for young children and can substantially support early multiplicative reasoning.
Early multiplicative reasoningKindergartenPartitioningDiscrete and continuous quantitiies