Applying Psychological Theory to Helping Students Overcome Learned Difficulties in Mathematics

Abstract

The appearance of systematic errors in computation suggests relatively unlinked computational knowledge to conceptual knowledge, and hence difficulties with forward learning of mathematics. The provision of programs of good teaching, where concrete materials are used to exemplify and thus legitimize algorithmic processes, frequently are not effective for use with upper primary students: systematic errors often resurface. A novel and quite alternate approach to intervention is the Old Way/New Way (O/N) strategy (Lyndon, 1989) based on psychological principles of memory, forgetting and interference. In this article, issues associated with intervention, systematic errors and upper primary students are addressed through a discussion of results of previous research into seventh graders' subtraction knowledge development by overcoming error patterns in subtraction computation. By comparing re-teaching strategies and O/N, it is proposed that both good teaching and effective intervention strategies should be integral to the craft of teaching, particulary in the middle school.