Exploring how students with learning disorders engage with open arithmetic tasks using a mathematical creativity lens

Abstract Students with learning disorders are often seen primarily through their challenges, with less focus on their strengths, divergent thinking, or mathematical insight. The current study seeks to offer a different view by exploring the arithmetic abilities of third-grade students with learning disorders through the lens of mathematical creativity. Twenty-six third-grade students worked in pairs on open-ended and multiple-strategies tasks. Four components of mathematical creativity were evaluated—fluency, flexibility, elaboration, and originality—which then shed light on students’ use of numbers and arithmetic operations. The variability in collaboration among student pairs was also examined, revealing different ways in which their mathematical knowledge came to the fore individually and during interactions.