Research Article

Examining Elementary School Students’ Flexibility in Operations

Volume: 59 Number: 2 August 6, 2026
TR EN

Examining Elementary School Students’ Flexibility in Operations

Abstract

Strategy flexibility in operations can be defined as students' tendency to solve any operation using different strategies and to select and apply these strategies appropriately depending on the given operation. Flexibility also requires thinking about numbers in a flexible and part-whole relation, and flexibility in operations is also considered a component of number sense. The main aim of this study is to reveal how 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade primary school students perceive and interpret different strategies that can be used for addition, subtraction, and multiplication operations and to examine their flexibility in operations in this context. A qualitative descriptive study was conducted for this purpose. A total of 135 students attending an primary school in the Çankaya district of Ankara participated in the study. During the data collection process, a three-question strategy assessment form covering addition, subtraction, and multiplication operations, prepared separately for each grade level, was used. When all grade levels and strategies were examined together, the strategy that students accepted as correct at the highest level was the standard algorithm, while the strategy accepted as correct at the lowest level was the strategy involving the verbal description of the mental process. In general, students found the solution confusing and incomprehensible when the number of operations in the given strategy increased or when other forms of representation besides symbolic representation were included in the strategy.

Keywords

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Science and Mathematics Education (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

August 6, 2026

Submission Date

January 10, 2026

Acceptance Date

June 2, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 59 Number: 2

APA
Aylar Çankaya, E. (2026). Examining Elementary School Students’ Flexibility in Operations. Ankara University Journal of Faculty of Educational Sciences (JFES), 59(2), 639-684. https://doi.org/10.30964/auebfd.1860372
AMA
1.Aylar Çankaya E. Examining Elementary School Students’ Flexibility in Operations. JFES. 2026;59(2):639-684. doi:10.30964/auebfd.1860372
Chicago
Aylar Çankaya, Ebru. 2026. “Examining Elementary School Students’ Flexibility in Operations”. Ankara University Journal of Faculty of Educational Sciences (JFES) 59 (2): 639-84. https://doi.org/10.30964/auebfd.1860372.
EndNote
Aylar Çankaya E (August 1, 2026) Examining Elementary School Students’ Flexibility in Operations. Ankara University Journal of Faculty of Educational Sciences (JFES) 59 2 639–684.
IEEE
[1]E. Aylar Çankaya, “Examining Elementary School Students’ Flexibility in Operations”, JFES, vol. 59, no. 2, pp. 639–684, Aug. 2026, doi: 10.30964/auebfd.1860372.
ISNAD
Aylar Çankaya, Ebru. “Examining Elementary School Students’ Flexibility in Operations”. Ankara University Journal of Faculty of Educational Sciences (JFES) 59/2 (August 1, 2026): 639-684. https://doi.org/10.30964/auebfd.1860372.
JAMA
1.Aylar Çankaya E. Examining Elementary School Students’ Flexibility in Operations. JFES. 2026;59:639–684.
MLA
Aylar Çankaya, Ebru. “Examining Elementary School Students’ Flexibility in Operations”. Ankara University Journal of Faculty of Educational Sciences (JFES), vol. 59, no. 2, Aug. 2026, pp. 639-84, doi:10.30964/auebfd.1860372.
Vancouver
1.Ebru Aylar Çankaya. Examining Elementary School Students’ Flexibility in Operations. JFES. 2026 Aug. 1;59(2):639-84. doi:10.30964/auebfd.1860372

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