Long multiplication/division

11 Plus Maths – Preparation and Information

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Guest55
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Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Long multiplication/division

Post by Guest55 »

This is a HUGE retrograde step - all the research shows the newer methods have been more successful in getting pupils to understand what they are doing.

Long multiplication is a complete 'dead-end' whereas the grid method links beautifully to algebra ..
Last edited by Guest55 on Thu Jan 17, 2013 7:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
yoyo123
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Location: East Kent

Re: Long multiplication/division

Post by yoyo123 »

I'm really annoyed, just as we were getting pupils who thought mathematically we've gone back to rote learning and 'sums', it's undone all those years of good work with the numeracy strategy
moved
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Re: Long multiplication/division

Post by moved »

Interestingly, in the international test TIMMS, the UK had a huge rise in attainment after the introduction of the numeracy strategy.

Methods should be there to suit both the problem and the child. Children think in different ways and what is appropriate in one situation is inappropriate in another.

A number line method, i.e. counting on is much more appropriate for the sum 1000 - 18, rather than a columnar method.
Tinkers
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Re: Long multiplication/division

Post by Tinkers »

moved wrote:
Methods should be there to suit both the problem and the child. Children think in different ways and what is appropriate in one situation is inappropriate in another.
I was a volunteer maths tutor for some years before DD came along, teaching adults maths from basic adding up etc to A level, depending on their needs.
I'm a great believer in that maths is like reading, what suits one person's style of learning doesn't suit another. I had to 'learn' various methods of, say, multiplication, so that when I was working with an individual I could help them remember the method they learnt at school, rather than confuse them with a different one. However, if they struggled with it, it was time to try a new tack. Quite often you could see that lightbulb moment when all of a sudden it all made sense.
moved
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Re: Long multiplication/division

Post by moved »

Teaching a 15 yr old the grid method was his epiphany moment. He was bottom set with no hope of passing his gcse.

He understood the grid, told all of his friends, gained a huge amount of confidence and went on to get a C!

The 'old' methods work well with the high attainers, but hamper both the dyslexic and the less academic.
Guest55
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Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Long multiplication/division

Post by Guest55 »

Grid method is brilliant for everyone - I use it for teaching expanding brackets, completing the square and it's fantastic for teaching the factorisation of polynomials at A level.
Tinkers
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Re: Long multiplication/division

Post by Tinkers »

I also think the grid system is great. I hadn't come across it until DD did it at school. I really wish I'd known it years before. I'm sure some of the adults I taught would have benefited a lot and it wouldn't have confused them because it is so different
A lot of other parents complain its difficult compared to traditional long multiplication but I think it is just because they have never used it. When my Dd started doing long multiplication she noticed the numbers where the same as the rows from doing the grid method and it made more sense to her as a result.
mystery
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Re: Long multiplication/division

Post by mystery »

I still don't see the problem - no-one's telling us that the grid method can't be taught.
moved
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Re: Long multiplication/division

Post by moved »

The grid system can be taught, but it won't be awarded any marks. If a child is borderline the a single mark can count.
mystery
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Re: Long multiplication/division

Post by mystery »

Has there really been anything official which says that?
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