Make Math Moments Academy › Forums › Mini-Course Reflections › The Concept Holding Your Students Back › Lesson 5-3: Notice & Name – Absolute vs. Relative Thinking – Discussion › Reply To: Lesson 5-3: Notice & Name – Absolute vs. Relative Thinking – Discussion
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Additive thinking is based on addition and subtraction while multiplicative thinking is based on multiplication and division.
Students who are trying to make the leap to multiplicative thinking might being trying to use repeated addition or subtraction. I find many students struggle with breaking away from just additive thinking and they want to stay with addition as it is a comfort zone for them.