Danish third, sixth and eighth grade students’ strategy adaptivity, strategy fexibility and accuracy when solving multidigit arithmetic tasks

In this paper, the multidigit arithmetic-related strategy adaptivity, strategy fexibility and solution accuracy of Danish compulsory school students is examined. Participants, 749 grade three, 731 grade six and 818 grade eight, were drawn from twenty demographically diferent schools. Drawing on a tri-phase assessment tool, each student completed a series of tasks designed to elicit shortcut strategies. First, students solved each task by means of their preferred strategy; those using shortcut strategies were construed as adaptive for that
task. Second, students solved the same tasks by means of whatever alternative strategies they had available; those ofering at least two strategies were construed as fexible for that task. Third, for each task, students were asked to indicate which of their strategies they believed was optimal. Across all grades, students were more fexible than adaptive. Overall, sixth graders exhibited higher levels of fexibility than third graders and marginally lower levels than eighth graders. Sixth graders exhibited higher levels of adaptivity than those in either grade three or grade eight. Students’ accuracy, which improved with maturation, was infuenced positively by both adaptivity and fexibility, with fexibility having the greatest infuence in grade three and adaptivity in grade six. The fndings raise further
questions concerning, inter alia, culture’s infuence on students’ strategy choices and the interaction of adaptivity, fexibility and maturity on accuracy