| Educators, at one time, emphasized basic facts and computation in the mathematics curriculum. However, when the focus of the mathematics curriculum changed from computation to problem solving in the 1980s, confusion arose about the role of mastery of basic facts in the curriculum. Curriculum developers and teachers need to understand the impact of students' knowledge of basic facts on learning higher level mathematical topics.; This study established strong relationships among basic fact mastery and better performance in basic computation, estimation, and numerical pattern recognition. Two path models were constructed based on previous research studies and recommendations from the NCTM concerning the relationships among the four mathematical areas. An author-written test was given to 420 seventh-grade students. Univariate statistics based on their test performance showed that seventh graders in this study did not have mastery of their basic facts. The relationships among the mathematical areas were best shown by a just-identified model that was selected over an alternative model (χ2 (1, N = 420) = 4.44, p = .033, CFI = .995, RMSEA = .09). The indirect and total effects of basic facts were significant in the accepted model, and thirty-eight percent of the variance in numerical pattern recognition was explained by basic facts alone. This study did not support any gender differences. At the school and classroom levels, intraclass correlations were found which indicated that the effects of different classroom settings needed to be further investigated. The path coefficients were decreased when the between class effects were removed from the model. However, only 24 classrooms were sampled when 30 or more would have provided sufficient power.; An author-written survey was given to the teachers of the participating students. The teachers agreed that students should not be allowed to use a calculator at all times and that parents should be informed if their children have not mastered the basic facts. They believed that middle school teachers should address basic facts in the classroom by using traditional drill-and-practice methods, computer software, and group teaching strategies. |
