Conceptual and Procedural Knowledge in Mathematical Cognition

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When faced with a mathematical problem, do children think about the problem conceptually, or do they instead work through a procedure to generate the “right answer”? This program of research is aimed at better understanding this question in three different ways. First, I aim to further explore whether there are distinct groups of students who rely differently on conceptual knowledge or procedural knowledge. In other words, I want to see if there are some students who rely more on conceptual knowledge, some who rely on procedural knowledge, or some who rely equally on both. Previous research in my lab has demonstrated these differences exist in regard to fraction and algebra understanding. The aim here is to extend these findings and test whether these individual differences are temporary stops in the learning trajectory or reflect more entrenched learning biases. Second, I will explore what exactly is meant by procedural knowledge. Some characterize it as the simple memorization of algorithms, others emphasize that is needs to be executed fluently, and still others maintain that good procedures are ones that include conceptual understanding. This research will tease out these differences and see which are most related to math performance. Third, I plan to investigate the specific aspects of conceptual knowledge related to the different ways in which we represent magnitude, and how other math abilities, like the memorization of math facts, are related both to this and to overall math performance. In sum, the research program proposed here seeks to extend our understanding of conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, and math fact automaticity in the field of mathematical cognition. Although any advancement in our understanding of mathematical cognition has implications for improving our education system, the three factors listed above have been identified as being key to better mathematical understanding. This program of research will enhance our understanding of these key aspects of mathematical cognition, which will not only lead to a better understanding of how mathematical and numerical information is represented in the human brain, but could also have implications about how to improve people's mathematical understanding. It will also train Highly Qualified Personnel with the statistical, programing and research expertise to contribute to the field of mathematical cognition.