Understanding Multiplication: Should We Memorise It or Not?

  • Ernawati University of Bristol
Keywords: Multiplication, Proceptual Understanding, Dynamic Instruction View.

Abstract

Multiplication might be considered as one of the basic mathematical facts that should be mastered as its major role is to help children understanding more advanced concept of mathematics. For example, multiplication could be found in fractions, irrationals, polynomials, vectors, and matrices. Some might suggest memorising multiplication facts may help children to develop their automaticity in computation. However, some others said understanding multiplication should be prioritised over memorisation since it will make the children capable to apply it when they work with complex problems. For this reason, examining whether children should memorise multiplication or not might be useful to  help the learning process. In this article, I synthesise two theories which seem contradictory. The first theory is from Gray and Tall (1991) about proceptual understanding in mathematics and the second theory is dynamic instruction view from Byrnes and Wasik (1991). I found that these two theories can be made to complement each other in learning multiplication.

Published
2022-04-14
How to Cite
Ernawati. (2022). Understanding Multiplication: Should We Memorise It or Not?. International Conference on Elementary Education, 4(1), 190-200. Retrieved from http://proceedings.upi.edu/index.php/icee/article/view/1986