Master of Arts, Wittenberg University, 2022, Education

Mathematical fluency is important to students' foundational math development. Based on Ohio's state math standards, students should be fluent with their multiplication facts by third grade. However, many fifth grade students are entering the classroom not meeting those standards. For many years, educators relied on procedural strategies to teach and assess numerical fluency. In recent years the theoretical approach to teaching shifted from procedural to a more conceptual method. This shift moves from rote memorization and timed-tests to more meaningful activities such as fluency games, rich problems, and number talks. The theoretical foundation for this study is constructivism and the interventions provided students opportunities to communicate and construct their own thinking. This action research reports the effect that providing multiple strategies for solving problems had on fifth-grade students' numerical fluency. A multi-methods design was used which included a Multiplication Fluency Assessment, a Beliefs Questionnaire, and student interviews. Overall students reported that they did not enjoy using models or find them beneficial, however many used models in their work. Students did show growth in their computational accuracy as well as in the strategies they used to solve problems.

Committee: Michael Daiga (Advisor); Melanie Moss-Lenz (Committee Member); Hilllary Libnoch (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Elementary Education; Mathematics Education

Specialist in Education, Miami University, 2019, Educational Psychology

Today professions and post-secondary opportunities in the United States in the areas of science, technology, and engineering are continuously growing and requiring students to have complex understandings of mathematical concepts. As the demand for these professions continues to grow, mathematic achievement scores in the U.S. continue to decline. The current study seeks to examine if an alternative to explicit instruction, such as play, through a multiplication fluency game, can improve mathematic motivation and multiplicative fluency. Students in two third grade classrooms were given pre and posttest curriculum-based fluency tests and surveys focused on their attitude toward math to compare results between the treatment and control classrooms. The treatment classroom played a multiplication fluency game for three days a week for four weeks while the control classroom engaged in traditional instruction. Results were examined qualitatively and quantitatively to conclude that the play intervention appears to have no significance when compared to instruction without a fluency game on mathematical fluency scores.

Committee: Sarah Watt (Committee Chair); Doris Bergen (Committee Member); Brooke Spangler-Cropenbaker (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Psychology; Mathematics; Mathematics Education

MAE, Otterbein University, 2019, Education

In order to complete higher level math tasks, fluency of multiplication and division is crucial. Based on state standards, third grade students are expected to become fluent with multiplication and division facts from 0-100 by the end of the year. Throughout history many educators have relied on timed tests to teach and assess math fact fluency. Best practices for helping students become fluent with math facts is now highly debated. The purpose of this teacher action research study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using math fact games and visual math cards as means of distributed practice in order to achieve fluency with multiplication and division facts among a group of forty-seven, third-grade students in a suburban school district in Central Ohio. A mixed-method design was framed within a cycle of inquiry used in teacher action research, including a pre-assessment, student interviews, and summative assessments for data collection. The focus of the study was to implement research-based instructional strategies for boosting fluency of math facts, then assessing, student fluency. Data from the Post-Assessment, verbal assessment, rating scales, and interviews showed that students did in fact learn to multiply and divide when taught these strategies. Students reported that learning strategies were crucial, math games were helpful as well as enjoyable, and timed tests would cause anxiety. Moreover, the assessment used in this study was a more valid measure of what fluency in mathematics really encompasses. Regardless of the sequence in which the two strategies were introduced, all students demonstrated growth in strategy usage and efficiency over the two-week period.

Committee: Susan Constable Ph.D. (Advisor); Jeff Smith Ph.D. (Committee Member); Diane Ross Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Theory; Mathematics Education