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Semantic characteristics that make arithmetic word problems difficult
Citation
Kaur, B., & Yeap, B. H. (2001). Semantic characteristics that make arithmetic word problems difficult. In Numeracy and Beyond: Proceedings of the 24th Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia Incorporated (pp. 555-562). University of Sydney.
Abstract
This paper describes an investigation on semantic characteristics that make an arithmetic word problem difficult for children. Five semantic characteristics were delineated for investigation. They are (1) type of semantic relations, (2) number of semantic relations, (3) number of types of semantic relations, (4) presence of simultaneous unknowns, and (5) nature of unknowns. 436 year three and 116 year five children were given pairs of word problems that differ in one of the five semantic characteristics. It was found that the presence more types of semantic relations and of simultaneous unknowns significantly increases the difficulty of arithmetic word problems.
Date Issued
June 2001
ISBN
1864873868
Description
This paper was published in the 2001 Proceedings of the 24th Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia Incorporated held at University of Sydney, Australia from 30 June-4 July, 2001