Developing Automaticity in Multiplication Facts: Integrating Strategy Instruction with Timed Practice Drills

Automaticity in math facts has been of considerable interest to special educators for decades. A review of the intervention literature suggests at least two common approaches to developing automaticity in facts. One is grounded in the use of strategies for teaching facts, the other emphasizes the use of timed practice drills. Recent research indicates that students might benefit from an integration of these two approaches. This experimental study contrasted an integrated approach (i.e., strategies and timed practice drills) with timed practice drills only for teaching multiplication facts. Participants were 58 fourth-grade students with a range of academic abilities. Fifteen of the students in the study had IEPs in math. Results indicated that both approaches were effective in helping students achieve automaticity in multiplication facts. However, students in the integrated approach generally performed better on posttest and maintenance test measures that assessed the application of facts to extended facts and approximation tasks. These results have implications for teaching a range of skills and concepts that are considered important to overall mathematical competence in the elementary grades.