Mapping solutions to an early multiplication word problem

Children’s solutions to a variety of multiplication and division word problems were analysed in a cross-sectional pilot study of 34 children from Grades K to 2. Responses indicated a wide range of strategies used and these were further classified into developmental levels of strategy use. Because these data reflected the SOLO Taxonomy developmental model for classifying responses, a SOLO mapping procedure was used for further analysis. In this paper, the mapping procedure is applied to only one multiplication problem strategy, repeated addition, to exemplify the procedure. The mapping device employed in the analysis isolated three components of the problem-solving procedure: the cues given by the problem, the concepts and processes used by the children, and the responses given by the children. Responses to mathematical problems from children in this age group have not previously been used to elucidate the earlier modes of functioning in the SOLO Taxonomy. In particular this paper considers the Ikonic mode and the transition into the concrete Symbolic mode.