Teaching and learning addition and subtraction bridging through ten using a structural approach

Abstract

An eight-month-long intervention based on the idea of using a structural approach to addition and subtraction, and particularly bridging through ten, was implemented in Swedish Grade 1. A goal was that at the end of Grade 1, students would solve tasks like 15–7= using part-whole relations of numbers. In this paper, we report on learning outcomes from task-based interviews with intervention and control groups before, immediately after and one year after the intervention, to investigate long-term effects and whether students used a structural approach when solving tasks in Grade 2. Results show that students in the intervention group increased their learning outcomes the most and to a larger extent solved tasks in higher number ranges using a structural approach.