Computational estimation and mental computation are two of the most neglected areas of today's mathematical curriculum. Much has been written about these two concepts, but little instruction has been carried out in the classroom (Johnson, 1979; Reys, 1986). Freeman (cited in Reys & Bestgen, 1981) states that less than 3% of textbooks had estimation lessons. Reys (1987) found that only 4% of lessons in all fourth-grade textbooks of the early 1980's deal with estimation. Also, Buchanan (1978, p. 2) observes that: \"Instruction in. estimation is not something that has been tried and failed; it has not been tried on any sustained or systematic basis.\" Her argument is supported by other researchers who found that good mathematics students are also skilled in estimation (Rubenstein, 1986; Reys & Bestgen, 1981).
Poor performance by all age groups on estimation questions has been found by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) during the past ten years (Reys, 1984). In general, significant gains were made by thirteen year olds between 1978 and 1982 in mathematics. But most of those gains were in lower order skills, such as basic facts and computation (Carpenter, Líndquist, Matthews, & Silver, 1983).
","abstract_html":"<p>Computational estimation and mental computation are two of the most neglected areas of today's mathematical curriculum. Much has been written about these two concepts, but little instruction has been carried out in the classroom (Johnson, 1979; Reys, 1986). Freeman (cited in Reys & Bestgen, 1981) states that less than 3% of textbooks had estimation lessons. Reys (1987) found that only 4% of lessons in all fourth-grade textbooks of the early 1980's deal with estimation. Also, Buchanan (1978, p. 2) observes that: "Instruction in. estimation is not something that has been tried and failed; it has not been tried on any sustained or systematic basis." Her argument is supported by other researchers who found that good mathematics students are also skilled in estimation (Rubenstein, 1986; Reys & Bestgen, 1981).</p> <p>Poor performance by all age groups on estimation questions has been found by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) during the past ten years (Reys, 1984). In general, significant gains were made by thirteen year olds between 1978 and 1982 in mathematics. But most of those gains were in lower order skills, such as basic facts and computation (Carpenter, Líndquist, Matthews, & Silver, 1983).</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Mendenhall, Mary Elizabeth"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Specialist in Education","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Teacher Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Mary M. Lindquist","Dr. James M. Brewbaker","Dr. Carolyn M. Cartledge"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1987,"date_issued":"1987-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"1987-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:45:18Z","subjects":["Computational Estimation","Mental Computation","Mathematics","Instruction","Curriculum","Education","Instructional Media Design","Science and Mathematics Education"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/604","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Mary M. Lindquist","Dr. James M. Brewbaker","Dr. Carolyn M. Cartledge"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Mendenhall, Mary Elizabeth"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Teacher Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Specialist in Education"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Computational Estimation","Mental Computation","Mathematics","Instruction","Curriculum","Education","Instructional Media Design","Science and Mathematics Education"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/604"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Computational estimation and mental computation are two of the most neglected areas of today's mathematical curriculum. Much has been written about these two concepts, but little instruction has been carried out in the classroom (Johnson, 1979; Reys, 1986). Freeman (cited in Reys & Bestgen, 1981) states that less than 3% of textbooks had estimation lessons. Reys (1987) found that only 4% of lessons in all fourth-grade textbooks of the early 1980's deal with estimation. Also, Buchanan (1978, p. 2) observes that: \"Instruction in. estimation is not something that has been tried and failed; it has not been tried on any sustained or systematic basis.\" Her argument is supported by other researchers who found that good mathematics students are also skilled in estimation (Rubenstein, 1986; Reys & Bestgen, 1981).
Poor performance by all age groups on estimation questions has been found by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) during the past ten years (Reys, 1984). In general, significant gains were made by thirteen year olds between 1978 and 1982 in mathematics. But most of those gains were in lower order skills, such as basic facts and computation (Carpenter, Líndquist, Matthews, & Silver, 1983).
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Estimational Abilities and Mathematics Achievement of Seventh Graders"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Mary M. Lindquist","Dr. James M. Brewbaker","Dr. Carolyn M. Cartledge"],"dc:creator":["Mendenhall, Mary Elizabeth"],"dc:description.abstract":["Computational estimation and mental computation are two of the most neglected areas of today's mathematical curriculum. Much has been written about these two concepts, but little instruction has been carried out in the classroom (Johnson, 1979; Reys, 1986). Freeman (cited in Reys & Bestgen, 1981) states that less than 3% of textbooks had estimation lessons. Reys (1987) found that only 4% of lessons in all fourth-grade textbooks of the early 1980's deal with estimation. Also, Buchanan (1978, p. 2) observes that: \"Instruction in. estimation is not something that has been tried and failed; it has not been tried on any sustained or systematic basis.\" Her argument is supported by other researchers who found that good mathematics students are also skilled in estimation (Rubenstein, 1986; Reys & Bestgen, 1981).
Poor performance by all age groups on estimation questions has been found by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) during the past ten years (Reys, 1984). In general, significant gains were made by thirteen year olds between 1978 and 1982 in mathematics. But most of those gains were in lower order skills, such as basic facts and computation (Carpenter, Líndquist, Matthews, & Silver, 1983).
"],"dc:identifier":["https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/604"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["Computational Estimation","Mental Computation","Mathematics","Instruction","Curriculum","Education","Instructional Media Design","Science and Mathematics Education"],"dc:title":["Estimational Abilities and Mathematics Achievement of Seventh Graders"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Teacher Education"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Specialist in Education"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:45:18Z"}