• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2014

Instructions for the commutative property of multiplication at elementary schools tend to be based on checking the equality between the quantities of 'a times b 'and b' times a, ' for example, $3{\times}4=12$ and $4{\times}3=12$. This article critically examined the approaches to teach the commutative property of multiplication from Kant's perspective of mathematical knowledge. According to Kant, mathematical knowledge is a priori. Yet, the numeric exploration by checking the equality between the amounts of 'a groups of b' and 'b groups of a' does not reflect the nature of apriority of mathematical knowledge. I suggest we teach the commutative property of multiplication in a way that it helps reveal the operational schema that is necessarily and generally involved in the transformation from the structure of 'a times b' to the structure of 'b times a.' Distributive reasoning is the mental operation that enables children to perform the structural transformation for the commutative property of multiplication by distributing a unit of one quantity across the other quantity. For example, 3 times 4 is transformed into 4 times 3 by distributing each unit of the quantity 3, which results in $3{\times}4=(1+1+1){\times}4=(1{\times}4)+(1{\times}4)+(1{\times}4)+(1{\times}4)=4+4+4=4{\times}3$. It is argued that the distributive reasoning is also critical in learning the subsequent mathematics concepts, such as (a whole number)${\times}10$ or 100 and fraction concept and fraction multiplication.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.143-168
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• 2019

Along with the significance of algebraic thinking in elementary school, it has been recently emphasized that the properties of number and operations need to be explored in a meaningful way rather than in an implicit way. Given this, the purpose of this study was to analyze how third graders could understand the properties of operations in multiplication after they were taught such properties through a reconstructed unit of multiplication. For this purpose, the students from three classes participated in this study and they completed pre-test and post-test of the properties of operations in multiplication. The results of this study showed that in the post-test most students were able to employ the associative property, commutative property, and distributive property of multiplication in (two digits) × (one digit) and were successful in applying such properties in (two digits) × (two digits). Some students also refined their explanation by generalizing computational properties. This paper closes with some implications on how to teach computational properties in elementary mathematics.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.181-203
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• 2019

Even though the properties of operations in multiplication serve a fundamental basis of conceptual understanding the multiplication with whole numbers for elementary students, there has been lack of research in this field. Given this, the purpose of this study was to analyze instructional methods related to the properties of operations in multiplication (i.e., commutative property of multiplication, associative property of multiplication, distributive property of multiplication over addition) in a series of mathematics textbooks of Korea, Japan, and the US. The overall analysis was conducted in the following two aspects: (a) when and how to deal with the properties of multiplication in three instructional context (i.e., introduction, application, generalization), and (b) what models use to represent the properties of multiplication. The results of this showed that overall similarities in introducing the properties of multiplication .in (one digit) ${\times}$ (one digit) as well as emphasizing the divers representation. However, subtle but meaningful differences were analyzed in applying and generalizing the properties of multiplication. Based on these results, this paper closes with some implications on how to teach the properties of operations in multiplication properties in elementary mathematics.

• Kyungpook Mathematical Journal
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.101-107
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• 2010

A module M is said to satisfy the $EC_{11}$ condition if every ec-submodule of M has a complement which is a direct summand. We show that for a multiplication module over a commutative ring the $EC_{11}$ and P-extending conditions are equivalent. It is shown that the $EC_{11}$ property is not inherited by direct summands. Moreover, we prove that if M is an $EC_{11}$-module where SocM is an ec-submodule, then it is a direct sum of a module with essential socle and a module with zero socle. An example is given to show that the reverse of the last result does not hold.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.419-442
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• 2023

This study investigated fifth graders' understanding of variables from a generalized arithmetic and a functional perspectives of early algebra. Specifically, regarding a generalized perspective, we included the property of 1, the commutative property of addition, the associative property of multiplication, and a problem context with indeterminate quantities. Regarding the functional perspective, we covered additive, multiplicative, squaring, and linear relationships. A total of 246 students from 11 schools participated in this study. The results showed that most students could find specific values for variables and understood that equations involving variables could be rewritten using different symbols. However, they struggled to generalize problem situations involving indeterminate quantities to equations with variables. They also tended to think that variables used in representing the property of 1 and the commutative property of addition could only be natural numbers, and about 25% of the students thought that variables were fixed to a single number. Based on these findings, this paper suggests implications for elementary school students' understanding and teaching of variables.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
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• v.20 no.3 s.27
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• pp.443-467
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to study the 2nd grade elementary students' common thinking and differences of additive and multiplicative thinking. For meaningful discussion of the above, we have established the following research questions. 1. What are the properties of the multiplicative thinking of 2nd grade elementary students? - What are the common properties of the multiplicative thinking of 2nd grade elementary students? - What are the properties of the various multiplicative thinking levels? 2. How is multiplicative thinking presented in Korean math textbooks? The conclusions of this study were followings: First, the 2nd grade elementary students in the multiplicative thinking learnt used by translating multiplication into specific situations. And they often used different models of multiplication. Second, additive thinking developed into the multiplicative thinking. After being helped by their teachers, students who thought additively were then able to think multiplicatively. Whereas after being helped by their teachers, students who were already competent at multiplicative thinking gained a deeper understanding. Third, they learned the commutative property of multiplication after their understanding of the 'repeated addition approach' and the multiplicative approach was sufficiently reinforced. Last, students should be taught using different models based on the repeated addition approach.