MULTIPLYING INTEGERS: MATHEMATISING TO

MAKE SENSE
Usha Menon
Jodo Gyan (India)

[email protected]

This paper presents a trajectory for teaching multiplication of integers using the context of
assets and loans. This context provides an experiential basis to understand all the sign rules,
including ‘minus times minus’ without having to resort to distributive property. The paper
also extends the argument for making a distinction between operation and number to
multiplication of integers, in order to support sense-making by children.
INTRODUCTION
If the sign rules for operating with integers have been for many the point when mathematics
stopped making sense, the rules for multiplication have been the apogee. Many different real-
life or otherwise contexts such as temperature, debt-asset, distance and micro-worlds and
didactical tools such as tiles and number lines are used to help children make sense of
negative numbers or integers. Usually they are successful in giving an intuitive sense to the
idea of negative numbers and for addition involving negative numbers. Subtraction is usually
not that intuitive or obvious. The real difficulty emerges with multiplication.
A review done by Arcavi and Bruckheimer a few decades ago, categorized the different
strategies used to teach the sign rules of multiplication into five – rote, induction, deduction,
models and axiomatic presentation (Arcavi & Bruckheimer, 1981). He suggested that no
contexts have been found which could model convincingly all the aspects of integers
including that of multiplication. This absence of an adequate context to model integers and
integer multiplication appears to continue even now. In the case of multiplication, usually
researchers resort to the use of distributive property and consistency with the laws of
arithmetic to make sense of the sign rules (Hayes & Stacey, 1999, Sfard, 2007). This difficulty
with making sense of the sign rules for multiplication have led many to even advocate the
abandonment of the efforts to develop an adequate model for making sense of negative
numbers as a whole itself (Fischbein, 2002). The fact that efforts continue to find an effective
real life context for teaching integers, can be considered to indicate the felt need of real-life
contexts for making sense to children.
Making Sense
The use of contexts and activities to help children make sense of a mathematical concept can
be divided into two broad classes. In one type, which we can call as rule focused method, the
context is used to explain the basis for the sign rules – in this case the starting point of the
activities are the sign rules. In the other type which we can call as situation-based sense-
making method, a problem is presented within a particular context or situation which makes
sense to children and the sign rules emerge from a visualization of the new mathematical
object of negative number and its relationships within a system.
The method which we have chosen belongs to the second type and has been influenced by
insights from Activity Theory of Leontyev and Vygotsky as well as from Freudenthal. In

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Activity Theory human activities are analyzed in terms of motives, objectives and operations.
Sense-making happens when connections are established with the motive of an activity.
Motives are objectives of an activity that fulfil a need – the need can be biological, emotional,
intellectual or aesthetic.
One of the way in which sense connections are established is when the operations and tools of
an activity which were unconscious earlier becomes the focus of attention.
Vygotksy and Leontyev consider that the meaning structures of society emerge through
historical time, through the linkages objectively (in actual practice) established between
different practices (Leontyev, 1981). We can consider that for example, the meaning
structures for the concept of number have developed historically when the unconscious
operations in one action/activity became the conscious object for investigations. This process
of reification has been commented upon by many others also (Sfard, 1991). The challenge for
the teacher in this perspective becomes finding ways of establishing sense connections that
approach the meaning structures of society for a concept, through designed range of activities
according to the learner’s motivational structure.
Vygotsky has pointed out the role that words used with a functional purpose, (‘function in
communication, reasoning, understanding, or problem solving’ (Vygotksy, 1987, p 123)) can
play in this process of making sense and concept formation. To begin with, the word is not a
concept for the child, but later through its function of ‘directing and mastering mental
processes’ it supports the development of the concept and then becomes its sign.
This general sense-making approach to concept formation has considerable resonations with
the RME approach of mathematisation, which considers how conceptual understanding is
reached through a series of level-raisings (Treffers, 1991; Gravemeijer, 1997). One of the
important areas of agreement which distinguish them from constructivist approaches is the
role of the teacher in the process of didactisation (Menon, 2013). According to Treffers
(1991), apart from providing a concrete orientation basis ‘the provision of models, schemes
and symbols’ from the outside are also part of the task of the teacher. This is on the same lines
as the method of double stimulation suggested by Vygotsky where the tools for problem
solving are also made available to the children.
Integer Trajectory Development
In this paper we present the approach taken in a curriculum intervention going on for the last
few years, in which the multiplication of integers was built on the activities used for making
sense of negative numbers and addition and subtraction. The first steps for the trajectory for
teaching integers involving loan and asset emerged between 2005 and 2007 and the first part
of the trajectory was implemented in 2009 with children of Grade 6 (11 year olds) by sharing
it with the teachers. This was followed in 2011 by a series of 15 classes which I took with the
children. Outline of this developmental work and approach were shared during ICME-12 and
this paper builds on that (Menon, 2012).
During July 2012 the earlier context used for addition was extended to multiplication and it
was consolidated during 2014, both while working with children of Class VII.
Key Features of the Trajectory
1. Activities embedded within a narrative with a central character called Bunty/Baiju
involving loan and assets.

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 2. Combining the opposites of loan and assets with the number line through the use of
the arithmetic string or specially designed Ganit Mala
3. Most importantly establishing a clear demarcation between operations and numbers by
using raised notation to indicate numbers along with the use of the language of
‘positive’ and ‘negative’ for number and plus and minus for operations.
4. Use of the words ‘bigger’ and ‘smaller’ to indicate only size or absolute value
relationships and the words ‘greater’ and ‘lesser’ to indicate order or value
relationships among numbers.
5. Establishment of numbers as reflecting the status (or net worth) of the character,
balancing the amount of cash and loan and therefore orderable in terms of the net
position of wealth (value).
6. A strong focus on activities to help children visualize movements along the number
line.
TOWARDS MULTIPLICATION
Multiplication of integers was built on the same context as what was used for addition and
subtraction. It involved a story of a boy who started a small vegetable business to support his
mother by buying Rs.200 worth of vegetables every day. He decided to collect Rs.100 before
giving it to his mother and puts a clip on a bead string to show how much money he has in the
box. Through a series of events the clip on the string is seen to represent the net amount of
cash in the box and loan from samosewale uncle who supports him (See Menon 2012 for
details of the trajectory).
We had found that children responded very easily to addition and subtraction through
activities within this context which also used number line extensively. The method also made
a distinction between operations and numbers. Thus for example, a question such as ‘+2 - 5’
was mostly answered by children by saying ‘It is +7 because subtracting a loan is the same as
adding cash’. Strong identification with Baiju and participating in classroom discussions and
activities about where Baiju should put the clip to show his current situation can be
considered to have led to this understanding. The problem during an incident in the narrative
about where Baiju should put the clip to show his position, when Baiju had a loan of Rs.80
and was at position 80 and samosewale uncle forgave ( ) half the loan, was easily
solved by the children.
Other Explorations
While children were quite comfortable with addition and subtraction which made sense to
them, the challenge was about how to go further to include multiplication. Earlier, before
using this context for teaching integers, I had tried out another story context involving
movement along a line with the sign and the number representing direction and magnitude
respectively, as has been also done by various others. But the new trajectory based on loans
and assets was much more satisfactory, both based on the response of children and the fact
that it combined both quantity and number line aspects (See Menon, 2012).
Normally when people consider multiplication, all the four instances do not pose the same
level of difficulty in making sense. Let us for example, consider multiplication involving the
following
A. 3 x 2 = 6

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 B. 3 x -2 = - 6
C. -2 x 3 = - 6
D. -2 x -3 = 6
Of these, the first two do not generally create any difficulties. B is usually interpreted to say
that 3 times -2 is -6 using the idea of repeated addition. Normally for C, the same argument is
used while invoking commutativity to find the answer as – 6. The real problem lies with D,
and often it is assumed that this can be only solved by using distributive property and using
the laws of arithmetic with the tacit assumption that they would apply. In fact this
‘permanence principle’ was used in the nineteenth century to finally establish the sign rules.
The Problem and a Solution from History
The challenge within the context we had chosen was to find a plausible method by which all
the sign rules could be derived consistent with the framework used for addition and
subtraction. The children, with whom the classes were being taken, had learnt multiplication
with Jodo Gyan curriculum and were used to thinking about multiplication as multiplier times
multiplicand. In this format A and B would be presented as
3 x +2 = +6 (spoken as 3 times positive 2 equal to positive 6)
3 x 2 = 6 (spoken as 3 times negative 2 equal to negative 6)
So far, as in other approaches, there was no problem. The problem arose when the multiplier
was a negative number. One did not want to resort to the logic of commutativity (although
that was kept as a last resort) but to build it within the situational logic itself. At that stage,
there was also lack of clarity about how the multiplier should be presented, whether with the
raised or unraised sign. It was at this juncture that I happened to read the words of John Wallis
from his Treatise on Algebra written in 1685. There he wrote
But in case the Multiplier be a Deficit or Negative quantity: suppose 1; then instead of
Putting the Multiplicand so many times, it will signify so many times to Take away the
Multiplicand…so that + by  makes ; But to Multiply –A by 2 is twice to take away a
Defect or Negative. Now to take away a Defect is the same as to supply it; and twice to
take away the Defect of A is the same as twice to add A or to put 2A …: So that – by – (as
well as + by +) makes +. (Quoted in Mumford, 2010, p 137.)
Suddenly there was in front of me the solution that I had been searching for years!
Repeated Addition?
Questions have been raised in the last few decades about considering multiplication as
repeated addition. It has been argued that the metaphor of dilation and shrinking is better for
teaching multiplication, especially in order to prevent the development of the misconception
related to ‘multiplication makes bigger’. It has been our experience, even before dealing with
integers that multiplication is better taught first through the experience of repeated addition.
Although space does not permit for details, it is important to mention that the response of
children made us change the earlier approach and take to a trajectory using repeated addition.
The approach taken during the teaching of fractions seems to have taken care of the problem
of thinking that ‘multiplication makes bigger’.

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THE TRANSACTION
We present here the core instructional sequences of the trajectory for multiplication of
integers which is based on the teaching experiences. It follows broadly the class as it
happened with some modifications.
The teacher revisits the context of Baiju and is happy to note that children still remember the
context after a lapse of one year. She continues and says that Baiju meets an old
friend…pauses and asks the children what the name of the friend should be and the suggestion
Suraj comes in. The teacher goes on to say that Suraj tells Baiju of new work that he can do to
earn money to support his mother. He talks of the shop keeper who buys cloth bags with
embroidery. This job has more flexibility and less risk – no need to be afraid of cows eating
vegetables or rain spoiling them! Baiju agrees and is happy to be introduced to the shop
keeper who sells the raw materials for making embroidery on the bags. The shopkeeper also
provides the material for bags on loan. Baiju decides to take material for four bags on loan.
At this stage, the teacher draws an empty number line (ENL) on the blackboard and represents
the transaction as shown here, pausing to interact with the children, recalling the convention
that since it is an addition we shall show it above the number line. Children concur that since
he has taken a loan, his wealth position would worsen and that it would move towards the left.
A separate jump is shown for the loan for each bag taken and children say that his wealth
position would be now at -160. (The wealth position is a net position reflecting the cash in the
box and the outstanding loans).

Figure 1: First representation

Then the teacher takes a new step and in conversation with the children writes what happened
as ‘added 4 times 40’ saying as she writes ‘four times negative 40’. The class agrees that this
is the same as adding a loan of 160 or adding negative 160, which is written as = +160.
Similarly the sale of the embroidered bags is shown on the number line, showing movements
to the right from -160 to reach +80. This time a child comes forward to do it and also writes in
words ‘added 4 times +60 which is the same as adding positive 240 = ++240.
The same format of representation is used for the transaction later when Baiju goes to buy
material for making 6 bags. But in this case there are two types of transactions. First Baiju
spends Rs.40 for the materials for two bags and then takes loan for the material for the other 4
bags. Children do not have much difficulty in showing these transactions on the ENL as well
as in words. The first part involves subtracting two times +40 and the second part 4 times
taking a loan of 40.
Short Form and Two Types of Multiplication
The next major step is that of writing these events in a short form. To begin with teacher goes
on to write the transaction in a ‘short form’. The first two transactions involve addition and
are written easily and without any sign before the multiplier. The teacher writes the first
transaction in conversation with the children and the second one could be written by a student
who volunteers.

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Before writing the third one involving subtraction, the teacher pauses with the question, “How
shall we write this in short form?”, sharing the dilemma that “if we write simply 2 x 40, then
it would look as if we added 2 times negative 40. But we did not add negative 40. We
subtracted!” It was seen in the class that children readily saw the point that we cannot just
write 2 x 40. When the teacher suggested they distinguish between these two ways of
multiplying, the children agreed. A new norm was being established in the classroom. The
class agrees that when we repeatedly add, we will write a ‘plus’ + before the number
(multiplier) and when we repeatedly subtract we will write a ‘minus’ , before the number.
This introduction went much smoother than I anticipated. It was as if children and John
Wallis were on the same plane! Table 1 gives the final short form after this convention was
introduced and also the later abbreviated form.
Incident and change in Long form Short form final First
net wealth position Abbreviated
short form*
1.Took loan for 4 bag Added 4 times -40 = +160 +4 x -40 =+160 4 x 40 = 160
materials = +160 = +160

Added 4 times +60 =+ +240 +4 x +

60=+ 4 x +60 = +240
+
=240 240
=240
2.Got cash for 4 bags
3. Bought 6 bag materials Subtracted 2 times +40 = 2 x +40 = +80 2 x +40 = 80
+
paying for two with cash  80 = +80
and taking 4 on loan 
= + 80
Also added 4 times 40
(similar to earlier
transaction)

Table 1: Level-raising in representations 1

Minus Times Minus?
The next situation was a little unusual but in fact it dealt with the ill-famed ‘minus times
minus’. Baiju had taken on loan material for ten bags. But a jug of water fell on the
embroidered bags before he could sell them. The shopkeeper refused to take the bags since
the colours of the thread had spread. The shopkeeper who
had given the bag material on loan said, “It is your
mistake! Who asked you to pour a bucket of water over
the embroidered bags?” But after some time the
shopkeeper felt bad. He felt that he was also a little
responsible for the accident. He told Baiju that he will
reduce the loan for 5 bags. Children responded to this
incident very comfortably and were able to use the
different formats.
Figure 2: Short form - subtracting 5 times a negative

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 Incident and change in net Long form Short form final First Abbreviated
wealth position short form*

4.Reduced loan for 5 bags Subtracted 5 x 40 = 5 x 40 = +200
200
5 times 40 = 200
= ++200 = ++200

Table 2: Level-raising in representations

*In this first abbreviated short form only addition based answer is presented. Also the addition or plus
symbol is not shown. In the second abbreviated short form the symbol for positive number (raised +
symbol) would not also be shown. This second form becomes the same as the normal conventional
practice.
We can also see that in fact when we talk about ‘minus times minus is plus’, we are in fact
ignoring the signs for positive numbers and for addition operation and ignoring the two
different meanings for the negative sign. It has been argued that this conflation might
contribute to the difficulties that children have with algebra. (Vlassis, 2004)
The classroom interventions and follow-up assessments were done essentially as part of an
ongoing programme of curriculum support to teachers. The responses of children to questions
about integers indicate a very good sense of the order of numbers. While there is more data on
the response of children to addition and subtraction, multiplication as such was not a focal
point on these assessments. Yet the results of one question indicate that children have an
understanding of the sign rules which they are able to combine with their sense of direction on
the number line to compare numbers. About 5 months after the classroom intervention
children were given a series of numbers to compare. One set involved comparing the
following to identify the greater number.
+
17 x 19 and 179 x 25

Of the 172 children, 153 children or 89 % answered correctly.

SENSE MAKING AND MATHEMATISATION
All along this trajectory, we see the engagement of children with a situation and a problem
which emerges from the situation, which gets resolved with the means at hand. Later the
means used or the operation which was not the focus of conscious attention itself becomes the
focus. This also happens through a word or sign being used with functional purpose to solve
the problem. To begin with, in the earlier part of the trajectory the objective for children was
to support Baiju (I found that children remembered Baiju even years later) and participate to
distinguish between two types of situations in which Baiju finds himself which leads to the
use of the integer Ganitmala (Menon, 2012). Later while reflecting on the operations done
using this tool, the words ‘positive number’ and ‘negative number’ get used with the
functional purpose of organising that experience.
These processes are also evident in the case of multiplication. Subtracting two times a cash
amount of Rs.40 is easily solved by children in the context, where the motive is connected to
the story context. When attention is focused on the nature of the operation that was used, the

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need emerges to distinguish between two types of multiplication and leads to the use of a new
sign with a functional purpose. This in turn leads to different equivalence relationships
involving the usage of minus sign in different ways. The concepts that develop evolve further.
When children have started solving problems using the distinction between numbers and
operations for some time, later by reflecting on the relationships, they can reach the standard
format of the mathematics community which now makes sense to the children. This process
of sense-making also concurs with the process of mathematisation that Freudenthal put
forward which involves organising a field of experience.
This approach differs from learning through association and programmed instruction of
components of a concept or through the use of examples and non-examples for concept
attainment. Rather than the components, even at the outset a sense of the concept is grasped
although rooted in a situation which then further evolves.
TO CONCLUDE
The experiences with this trajectory have indicated that it is possible to continue the effort to
make sense of integers by continuing along the same lines as what was done in the case of
addition and subtraction, also in the case of multiplication. We see that the representational
tools get used for problem solving and as the trajectory develops the attention shifts to the
tools itself through various stages of level-raisings. Some happen within the same period
while some happen over the grades.
It is proposed that we need to extend the approach of making a distinction between operations
and numbers to multiplication also. An evolutionary approach to concept development with
the signs also evolving would give the possibility of supporting the sense-making efforts of
children. There are also intimations that the separation between quantity and number which
was established in the nineteenth century need to be reviewed, at least in the case of school
mathematics.
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