Pupils' Understanding of Multiplication and Division in Multiple Contexts

Abstract

The concepts of multiplication and division are building blocks for the learning of nearly all mathematics topics. Yet pupils, particularly those in lower primary and the starting point of the upper primary level find these concepts difficult to handle. This paper reports on a month-long study carried out in four primary schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis, which was a study of the impact on Teaching multiplication and division in multiple contextson pupils' understanding of multiplication and division and their ability to solve problems in these areas. Multiplication has always been treated as repeated addition, whereas division has been seen by many teachers only as equal grouping of given quantities despite the different practical situations and contexts that make use of these operations. The quasi experimental design involving experimental and control groups was used. The study involved 137 pupils from primary four intact classes. The main instruments used in the study were a pre-test and a post-test. The results indicate a significant difference in the performance of pupils in the experimental and control groups in their: a) ability to distinguish between multiplication and division concepts; b) understanding of multiplication; and c) understanding of division.