Facilitating Multiplicative Reasoning Among Third-Grade Students With or at Risk for Mathematics Difficulties: A...

Area of Science:

• Mathematics Education
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Students at risk for mathematics difficulties (MD) often struggle with conceptual understanding, particularly in multiplicative reasoning (MR).
• Effective interventions are needed to support the development of MR skills in early elementary grades.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficacy of a Tier 2 multiplicative reasoning (MR) intervention for third-grade students with MD.
• To determine if the MR intervention enhances conceptual understanding and reasoning abilities compared to standard instruction.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 86 third-grade students identified with MD.
• Teachers were assigned to either the MR intervention or a business-as-usual (BAU) control group for 6 weeks.
• The MR intervention incorporated critical thinking, classroom discourse, and multiple representations of multiplicative relationships.

Main Results:

• Students in the MR intervention group showed statistically significant improvements on a researcher-developed MR assessment compared to the BAU group.
• The intervention demonstrated non-negligible differences favoring the treatment classrooms in multiplicative reasoning.
• No significant difference was found on the Group Mathematics Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation posttest scores between the groups.

Conclusions:

• The MR intervention effectively improved third-grade students' ability to reason with multiplicative concepts and procedures compared to BAU.
• Targeted interventions focusing on conceptual understanding and diverse representations are beneficial for students with MD.
• Further research may explore the impact on broader mathematics assessments.