For 100 Percent Subtraction, What Method? A New Approach

Wilson, Guy M.

doi:10.1080/00220671.1934.10880432

Cited by 2 publications

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“…It is interesting to note that in spite of all the early studies, a nationwide survey conducted by Guy M. Wilson (1934) found that the decomposition algorithm was used two and a half times as often as the equal additions algorithm. When Brownell began his study using the crutch, the decomposition algorithm became the predominant algorithm, to the point that, today, other algorithms are rarely presented in textbooks.…”

Section: Controversymentioning

confidence: 99%

Subtraction From a Historical Perspective

Ross

Pratt-Cotter

1999

School Sci & Mathematics

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The algorithms used for subtraction vary. In the United States, three different algorithms were used almost equally until the 1940s: the equal additions, the decomposition, and the Austrian method. After William Brownell modified the decomposition algorithm, the use of other algorithms was practically eliminated in mathematics textbooks. Today, some texts introduce the equal additions algorithm, but the decomposition is still the predominant algorithm. This article reviews the historical use of each of the three algorithms in the United States, discusses the modification to the decomposition algorithm, and gives a brief overview of the current status of subtraction algorithms.Although the algorithms used to teach subtraction changed very little before the 1940s, there were significant changes after the 1940s. The algorithms developed and used then have had a major impact on the way subtraction is taught today. This article is a review of the historical development of subtraction algorithms used in the United States.

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Section: Controversymentioning

confidence: 99%