Fluency in subtraction compared with addition

Does the use of Information and Communication Technology through the use of Realistic Mathematics Education help kindergarten students to enhance their effectiveness in addition and subtraction?

“…Subtraction is difficult for kindergarten students (Kamii, Lewis, & Kirkland, 2001) and as a result computers assist students of all levels of general mathematical achievement equally. On the contrary, addition is simpler for kindergarten students to understand and computers help students with a medium level of mathematical achievement more than the others.…”

Preschoolers’ nonsymbolic arithmetic with large sets: Is addition more accurate than subtraction?

“…In symbolic arithmetic, children's addition performance often exceeds their subtraction performance for both small and large sets. For example, 5-to 7-year-olds master subtractive relations after additive relations (Canobi, 2005), and 6-to 10-year-olds are less accurate and slower on subtraction problems than on addition problems (Kamii et al, 2001). But although knowledge of addition has long been thought to facilitate learning about subtraction (Baroody, 1999), the difference could be due to greater environmental support for addition than for subtraction rather than inherent differences in difficulty.…”

“…First, with nonsymbolic operations on large sets, adults and kindergarteners are more accurate with addition than with subtraction (Barth et al, 2006;Kamii, Lewis, & Kirkland, 2001). Second, with nonsymbolic operations on small sets, preschoolers perform better at addition than at subtraction.…”

“…Likewise, with sets of up to 6 items, 4-to 6-yearolds' estimates of subtraction outcomes are more variable than their estimates of addition outcomes (Levine, Jordan, & Huttenlocher, 1992). Third, with symbolic operations on large sets, schoolchildren comprehend addition before subtraction and make fewer errors with addition than with subtraction (Baroody, 1999;Canobi, 2005;Fuson, 1984;Kamii et al, 2001). Thus, across nonsymbolic and symbolic tasks, as well as across small sets and large sets, evidence suggests that representations of addition may be more accurate than those of subtraction.…”

One-step ‘change’ and ‘compare’ word problems: Focusing on eye-movements

“…The students' thinking about simple arithmetic problems has been widely researched (Bebout, 1990;Carpenter, Moser & Romberg, 1982;Carpenter, Ansell, Franke, Fennema, & Weisbeck, 1993;Christou & Philippou, 1998;De Corte & Verschaffel, 1993;Fuson & Briars, 1990;Kamii, Lewis & Kirkland, 2001;Nesher, Greeno, & Riley, 1982;Siegler & Booth, 2004;Vergnaud, 1982). Moreover, researchers have stressed that the students' ability to successfully cope with one-strep arithmetic word problems is affected by various factors, including the wording of the problems and the way information is presented, the students' familiarity with mathematical language, their ability to execute an operation and their short-term memory (Geary, 1994;López, 2014;Reed, 1999;Riley, Greeno & Heller, 1983;Stern, 1993).…”