Close message Due to scheduled maintenance on Friday 19th April 2024 between 7:00PM and 9:00PM AEST, the Scootle website may face disruption in service. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Back to search results
Improving mental computation skills in middle years students

Teacher guide Improving mental computation skills in middle years students

TLF ID S7053

This teacher resource describes a strategy to build the pedagogy of teachers to support the numeracy skills of students in years 3-8 in selected schools in the ACT. The resource describes the Middle Years Mental Computation (MYMC) strategy, including the MYMC assessment tool and professional learning modules. It explains that the strategy is based on a development cycle for each concept, starting with manipulatives, then spending time working with mental images and their manipulation before moving on to written methods. Outcomes included improved numeracy results. The resource discusses the lessons learned, outlines the research base and provides relevant references.

View resource


Educational details

Educational value
  • This resource may be useful in supporting the mathematics learning area. It describes the MYMC strategy, which was found to improve teacher pedagogical content knowledge and student numeracy outcomes. The strategy encourages students to manipulate mental images before using written methods when learning new number concepts. The strategy has several useful components including professional learning modules and resources, and a diagnostic tool.
  • This resource might assist teachers in addressing the aspects of the Numeracy general capability relating to number, particularly the ability to use efficient mental strategies to solve problems involving fractions and decimals. It is useful in describing a mental computation development cycle using the MYMC strategy and discussing the research base informing the initiative. It also provides references to readings relevant to development of skills in mental computation.
Year level

3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8

Topics Number (Mathematics) Information and communication technologies Teacher professional learning Scaffolding (Teaching methods) Teaching methods (Numeracy)
Learning area
  • Mathematics

Other details

Contributors
  • Contributor
  • Name: Education Services Australia
  • Organization: Education Services Australia
  • Description: Data manager
  • Copyright Holder
  • Name: Commonwealth of Australia
  • Organization: Commonwealth of Australia
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.australia.gov.au
  • Publisher
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organization: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Description: Publisher
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.esa.edu.au
  • Resource metadata contributed by
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organisation: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: www.esa.edu.au
Access profile
  • Generic
Learning Resource Type
  • Online
  • Text
Rights
  • © 2014 Commonwealth of Australia, unless otherwise indicated. This material is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike licence (CC BY-SA 3.0 AU) unless otherwise indicated. You may distribute, remix and build upon this material, provided that you include the acknowledgement '© Commonwealth of Australia 2014' and license under the same terms any new creations you have based on the material.