Investigating mathematics in Scotland and the United States

This paper presents the results of an initial investigation on how educators from two different educational systems engaged in mathematics calculations. The study explored the nature of the educators' solution strategies and the extent to which these strategies adhered to standard taught algorithms or more non-traditional procedures. Our future studies hope to provide more evidence of our beliefs that teachers who only know or use traditional algorithms are not readily able to assist students with developing more sense-making strategies that not only are more efficient but also reflect flexible thinking.