From Noticing to Incorporating Negatives: Second Graders' Use of Prior Knowledge on Integer Addition Problems

• In Event: 77.052 - New Research on Children's Learning of Number and Operations, Pre-K to Grade 3

Abstract

In this study, we explored second graders’ noticing of negative signs and incorporation of them into their strategies when solving integer addition problems. Fifty-one out of 102 students read or used the negative numbers at least once across 11 problems. One of their most common strategies was subtracting numbers using their absolute values, which aligned with students’ traditional perceptual pattern for whole number subtraction. They sometimes preserved the order of numbers and changed the placement of the negative sign (e.g., -9+2 as 9–2) and sometimes did the opposite (e.g., -1+8 as 8–1). Students’ solution strategies were not only informed by number order and negative placement; they sometimes added numbers and made the total negative.

Authors

• Mahtob Aqazade, Purdue University

• Laura Bofferding, Purdue University

• Lizhen Chen, Purdue University