Fig 1.
The balance method and inverse method to solve a one-step equation.
Fig 2.
General procedure across three experiments.
Day 1: Experiment 1 (one-step equations). Day 3: Experiment 2 (two-step equations). Day 8: Experiment 3 (one-step and two-step equations). The concept test comprised three questions (10 min). Applied the inverse operation concurrently.
Fig 3.
For One-step Equations in Experiment 1, the Effects of Method (balance vs. inverse) on: (a) Practice Equations, (b) Post-test, and (c) Concept Test. Error Bars are Standard Errors.
Table 1.
Performance outcomes of pre-test.
Practice Equations, Post-test, and Concept Test for One-Step and Two-Step Equations in Experiments 1 and 2.
Fig 4.
For Two-step Equations in Experiment 2, the Effects of Method (balance vs. inverse) on: (a) Practice Equations, (b) Post-test, and (c) Concept Test. Error Bars are Standard Errors.
Fig 5.
For One-step and Two-step Equations with a Positive and a Negative Pronumeral in Experiment 3, the Effects of Method (balance vs. inverse) on: (a) Practice Equations, (b) Post-test, (c) Concept Test, and (d) Mental Effort. Error Bars are Standard Errors.
Table 2.
Performance outcomes of pre-test, practice equations, post-test, concept test and mental effort for equations with a positive and a negative pronumeral in Experiment 3.
Fig 6.
The balance method and inverse method to solve an algebra transformation equation.