Teaching addition and subtraction to first graders: A Chinese perspective

Abstract

Cross-cultural studies on mathematical cognition and education have suggested that curriculum and teaching have contributed to U.S. versus Asian differences in student performance; however, previous discussions of curriculum and teaching practices have been very general and have not focused on a detailed analysis of how mathematics concepts are taught and presented in text-books. To address this limitation, this article focuses on the teaching of addition and subtraction to first-grade students in China. We discuss how curriculum topics are arranged, how concrete and abstract mathematical knowledge are reconciled in learning these concepts, and how teachers facilitate children's conceptual understanding of the logic behind addition and subtraction procedures. Toward this end, we analyze a research-based Chinese mathematics curriculum to highlight the sequencing of topics pertaining to addition and subtraction and the instructional practices used by teachers to help students develop an understanding of these concepts. The purpose of this article is not to suggest that other nations' curriculum and instructional practices ought to follow the Chinese model. Rather, we attempt to provide useful information about developing effective curriculum and instructional practices that could help young children make sense of the mathematics they learn in school. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.