Date of Award

4-1981

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Galen J. Alessi

Second Advisor

Dr. Wayne Fuqua

Third Advisor

Dr. Cheryl Poche

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

An A-B-A-C counterbalanced reversal design was used with two groups to analyze the two components of Hutching's Low-Stress addition algorithm. Fourth grade students achieving 96% accuracy on a pretest of basic math facts were subjects of this study. Subjects were taught two new methods of computation; Hutchings' Low-Stress and the Conventional algorithm with a written record, along with reviewing the Conventional algorithm. Students were given worksheets containing fixed size addition problems and asked to complete as many as possible with a five-minute times session. Accuracy and speed were monitored across the three methods of computation. The results showed superior performance with the algorithm using a full record versus no record. A similar but less profound effect was seen with the algorithm that utilized only basic math facts versus complex facts. A most important finding was that all subjects had higher performances with the Low-Stress algorithm when compared with the Conventional algorithm.

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