ABSTRACT
Three observations can be made from a review of the existing literature on the relationship between concepts and procedures in children’s mathematics learning. First, most research in this area has tried to determine the optimum developmental relationship between concept and procedure learning. In other words, most studies have sought to answer the question, “Which comes first?” Second, almost all research in this area has been limited to learning of topics in elementary school mathematics. Notably absent are studies of the development of procedural and conceptual knowledge in algebra, geometry, and calculus. Third, knowledge of concepts and knowledge of procedures are assessed in very different ways. Knowledge of concepts is often assessed verbally and through a variety of tasks. It appears that conceptual knowledge is viewed to be complex and multi-faceted. By contrast, procedural knowledge is assessed non-verbally by observing the execution of a procedure. Procedural knowledge is viewed as an entity that a student either has or does not have.
