CGI Interview Analysis

Interview Questions 1

JOIN
Change Unknown

Result Unknown
Sam had (3, 6, 9) Hot
Wheels. Tom Gave him
(2, 4, 7) more. How
many Hot Wheels does
he have altogether? (5,
10, 16)

Grace had (1, 3, 8) Hot Wheels.

How many more does she need
to have (5, 10, 12)? (4, 7, 4)

SEPARATE
Change Unknown

Result Unknown
Sarah had (5, 10, 15)
dolls. She gave (2, 4, 8)
to Melissa. How many
does she have now? (3,
6, 7)

Katie had (5, 10, 14) dolls. She

gave some to Emily. Now she
has (3, 2, 8) left. How many did
she give to Emily? (2, 8, 6)

Start Unknown
Josh had some Hot Wheels. Will
gave him (2, 5, 9) more Hot
Wheels. Now she has (3, 9, 15)
How many did Josh start with?
(1, 4, 6)

Start Unknown
Samantha has some dolls. She
gave (2, 3, 9) to Amy. Now she
has (3, 7, 4). How many dolls
did Samantha start with? (5, 10,
13)

PART-PART-WHOLE
Whole Unknown

Part Unknown

Will has (2, 4, 7) footballs and (3, 6, 9)

Ryan had (5, 10, 16) footballs, (1, 4, 7)
baseballs. How many balls does he have? (5, baseballs and the rest soccer balls. How many
10, 16)
soccer balls does Ryan have? (4, 6, 9)
COMPARE
Result Unknown
Change Unknown
Start Unknown
Jack has (5, 10, 16)
marbles and Josh has (2,
4, 9) marbles. How
many more marbles does
Jack have than Josh? (3,
6,7)

Interview Questions 2

Tyler has (3, 5, 9) marbles.

Anna has (2, 4, 6) more
marbles than Tyler. How many
marbles does Anna have? (5, 9,
15)

Chris has (5, 10, 13) marbles. He

has (3, 7, 9) more than Erin.
How many marbles does Chris
have? (2, 3, 4)

CGI Interview Analysis

Result Unknown
Sam had (12, 14, 28)
Hot Wheels. Tom Gave
him (17, 18, 82) more.
How many Hot Wheels
does he have altogether?
(29,32, 110)
Result Unknown

JOIN
Change Unknown
Grace had (13, 18, 29) Hot
Wheels. How many more does
she need to have (29, 42, 112)?
(16, 24, 83)

Start Unknown
Josh had some Hot Wheels. Will
gave him (67, 39, 137) more Hot
Wheels. Now he has (79, 81,
232) How many did Josh start
with? ( 12, 42, 95)

SEPARATE
Change Unknown

Sarah had (24, 42, 222)

dolls. She gave (13, 28,
127) to Melissa. How
many does she have
now? (11, 14, 95)

Katie had (19, 84, 120) dolls.

She gave some to Emily. Now
she has (16, 56, 78) left. How
many did she give to Emily?
(13, 28, 42)
PART-PART-WHOLE
Whole Unknown

Start Unknown
Samantha has some dolls. She
gave (12, 17, 43) to Amy. Now
she has (75, 71, 121). How many
dolls did Samantha start with?
(63, 54, 78)
Part Unknown

Will has (16, 19, 83) footballs and (11, 15,

Ryan had (28, 43, 113) footballs, (15, 25, 84)
29) baseballs. How many balls does he have? baseballs and the rest soccer balls. How many
(27, 34, 112)
soccer balls does Ryan have? (13, 18, 29)
COMPARE
Result Unknown
Change Unknown
Start Unknown
Jack has (19, 83, 122)
marbles and Josh has (9,
54, 79) marbles. How
many more marbles does
Jack have than Josh?
(10, 19, 43)

Tyler has (23, 43, 132) marbles.

Anna has (12, 19, 198) more
marbles than Tyler. How many
marbles does Anna have? (35,
72, 330)

Chris has (39, 85, 218) marbles.

He has (11, 36, 56) more than
Erin. How many marbles does
Erin have? (28, 19, 162)

Interview Questions 4

Problem

Multiplication

Measurement

Partitive Division

CGI Interview Analysis

Type
Grouping or
Partitioning

Rate

Price

Multiplicative
Comparison

Area and
Array
(Symmetrical
Problem)
Combination
(Symmetrical
Problem)

Division
Sam made (4, 6, 12)
Tom had (26, 72, 195)
Grace had (12, 108,
gift bags of toys. He
toys. He put (2, 6, 15)
120) toys. She made (6,
put (12, 14, 15) toys
in each gift bag. How
9, 11) gift bags. How
in each bag. How
many gift bags was he
many was she able to
many toys are in all
able to fill? (13, 12, 13) put into each bag?
the bags? (48, 144,
180)
Pinocchio's nose
Pinocchio's nose grows
Pinocchio's nose grew
grows at (4cm, 8cm,
(8 cm, 7cm, 13cm) per
12cm with 6 lies. How
14cm) per lie. How
lie. How many lies will
many centimeters did it
many cm will it have he have to tell for it to
grow per day if it grew
grow with (3, 14, 16) grow 32 cm, 84cm,
the same amount each
days?
221cm)?
day?
A hamburger cost
Hamburgers cost ($5,
(8, 7, 12) hamburgers
($7, $15, $18) each.
$12, $17) each. How
cost ($32, $98, $228).
How much would (4,
many hamburgers
How much does each
6, 12) hamburgers
would total ($30, $108, hamburger cost? ($4,
cost? ($28, $90,
$187)? (6, 9, 11)
$14, $19)
$216)
There was (3, 9, 12)
This year's rainfall was
This year's rainfall was
times as much rain
(32, 98, 228) inches.
(15, 90, 195) inches. It
this spring as there
Last year's rainfall was
was (3, 6, 15) times
was last spring. If
(8, 7, 12) inches. How
greater than last year's
last year had (7, 14,
many times greater
rainfall. How many
13) total inches of
was this year's rainfall
inches of rain fell last
rainfall, how much
compared to last year?
year? (5, 15, 13)
was this year's total
(4, 14, 19) inches
rainfall?
George needed to tile a bathroom.
George needed to tile a bathroom.
The area measured (9, 7, 11) feet
If one row used (7, 8, 11) tiles for
long and (9, 12, 13) feet wide. How one row, how many rows would it
many square feet was the area?
take to use (42, 112, 143) tiles.
(81, 84, 143) square feet
(6,14, 13)
At Subway, you can make your own Subway offers (56, 84, 180)
sandwich with many different
different types of sandwich choices.
ingredients. If Subway offers (3, 5,
It offers (8, 12, 15) types of bread.
13) types of bread and (4, 15, 14)
If you can only choose one typed of
types of sandwich meat. How many meat, how many choices of meat
different types of sandwiches can
do they have? (7, 7, 12)
be made? (12, 75, 182)

CGI Interview Analysis

Both interviews took place in the students home with interviewers sitting across the
table from students. We introduced ourselves and asked general questions to help them
feel comfortable. When asked, the questions were repeated and manipulatives were
provided. Numbers used are reflected in red.
CGI Interview 1
Student: Cole
Grade: 2nd
Join
Problem1-Result Unknown
Sam had (3, 6, 9) Hot Wheels. Tom Gave him (2, 4, 7) more. How many Hot Wheels
does he have altogether? (5, 10, 16)
Answer Given: 5
Analysis: Used mental math and automatically knew the answer without any
computation. He answered without any hesitation or thinking.
Problem 2-Start Unknown
Josh had some Hot Wheels. Will gave him (2, 5, 9) more Hot Wheels. Now she has (3,
9, 15) How many did Josh start with? (1, 4, 6)
Answer Given: 6
Analysis: He used one to one correspondence and counted on using manipulatives to
find the answer. (He used pennies) He counted out 9 pennies and then starting at 9
continued to 15. He then counted the difference between the two piles.

CGI Interview Analysis

At this point I realized these problems were simply too easy for him so I skipped down
to separate-start unknown.
Separate
Problem 3-Start Unknown
Samantha has some dolls. She gave (2, 3, 9) to Amy. Now she has (3, 7, 4). How many
dolls did Samantha start with? (5, 10, 13)
Answer Given: 13
Analysis: He again used counting on using his fingers to find the correct answer. Used
fingers to count up. Samantha has 9 and four. Together that is 13.
Again, the answer came quickly so I went to compare-start unknown.
Compare
Problem 4-Start Unknown
Chris has (5, 10, 13) marbles. He has (3, 7, 9) more than Erin. How many marbles does
Chris have now? (2, 3, 4)
Answer Given: 4
Analysis: He used manipulatives (Pennies) by counting down. Chris has 13 gave 9
away now he has four left. He struggled with the concept of not knowing what they
started with. I had to ask him what Chris started with? Once I did this, the answer came
easily. He said he did not know where to start.
Join
Problem 5-Result Unknown
Sam had (12, 14, 28) Hot Wheels. Tom Gave him (17, 18, 82) more. How many Hot
Wheels does he have altogether? (29, 32, 110)
Answer Given: 29
Analysis: He made a pile of 12 pennies and then counting on he added 17 more and
said there are 29.
Problem 5- Change Unknown

CGI Interview Analysis

Grace had (13, 18, 29) Hot Wheels. How many more does she need to have (29, 42,
112)? (16, 24, 83)
Answer Given: 42
Analysis: Cole struggled with this problem. He really used trial and error. First, he tried
counting up by 2's, and then he added the two numbers together by counting on giving
an answer of 42. Then I repeated the question emphasizing that grace had 13 and
asked how many more she needed. When phrased this way he seemed to grasp the
question and found the correct answer. He took pennies and counted out 13. Then he
counted another pile of 29. After that, he looked at both piles for a minute, then took 13
away from the pile of 29, and got 16.
Problem 7-Start Unknown
Josh had some Hot Wheels. Will gave him (67, 39, 137) more Hot Wheels. Now he has
(79, 81, 232) How many did Josh start with? (12, 42, 95)
Answer Given: He did not answer this problem
Analysis: He tried to do this in his head even after I encouraged manipulatives. He could
not figure out the correct answer. He struggles with the start unknown questions. I
repeatedly tried to phrase the question in different ways however; I could tell he was
getting frustrated so I decided to move on.
Separate
Problem 8-Result Unknown
Sarah had (24, 42, 222) dolls. She gave (13, 28, 127) to Melissa. How many does she
have now? (11, 14, 95)
Answer Given: 14
Analysis: Cole again used pencil and paper for this problem. He struggles with
borrowing and sometimes forgets how to do it. I noticed part way through this problem
he starts using the manipulatives. However, instead of counting out 42 pennies he
counted 12 and subtracted 8, finding the answer 4. Then he subtracted 3-2 easily using
mental math. I found this interesting that he found a way around the problem of
borrowing.
Problem 9-Change Unknown
Sarah had (24, 42, 222) dolls. She gave (13, 28, 127) to Melissa. How many does she
have now? (11, 14, 95)
Answer Given: 104 He did not solve this problem.
Analysis: These numbers were too large for him to deal with. He tried to write the
problem out but he made mistakes in his borrowing. I reminded him of the previous

CGI Interview Analysis

problem and encouraged him to use manipulatives. On his paper he broke the problem
apart and using pennies to do the subtraction he eventually found the ones column
however, his frustration level was such that we had to take a break. He says he gets
disappointed with himself when he cannot figure out the problem. I tried to help him
understand that mistakes are how we learn. We decided to continue but we left this
problem with an incorrect answer.
After this problem, I decided to stay with the two digits with carrying/borrowing numbers.
Problem 10-Change Unknown
Katie had (19, 84, 120) dolls. She gave some to Emily. Now she has (16, 56, 78) left.
How many did she give to Emily? (13, 28, 42)
Answer Given: 28
Analysis: He used paper and pencil to solve this problem. At first, he did not know how
to set up the problem. Once I reread the problem to him, he seemed to grasp it and he
seemed to understand the borrowing on this problem and did not struggle solving this at
all.
Problem 11-Start Unknown
Samantha has some dolls. She gave (12, 17, 43) to Amy. Now she has (75, 71, 121).
How many dolls did Samantha start with? (63, 54, 78)
Answer Given: He did not solve this problem.
Analysis: He did not understand these types of problems at all. I tried repeating the
question and he just through his hands up in the air and said, "Well that doesn't give me
anything to work with." At this point, I tried to reread it again emphasizing what
information was there but he just guessed an answer.
Part-Part-Whole
Problem 12-Whole Unknown
Will has (16, 19, 83) footballs and (11, 15, 29) baseballs. How many balls does he
have? (27, 34, 112)
Answer Given: 34
Analysis: With this problem, he went back to using the pennies. He used the joining all
method. He made a pile of 19 and a pile of 15 then he counted on to 34.
Problem 13-Part Unknown
Ryan had (28, 43, 113) footballs, (15, 25, 84) baseballs and the rest soccer balls. How
many soccer balls does Ryan have? (13, 18, 29)

CGI Interview Analysis

Answer Given: He did not solve this problem.

Analysis: He did not understand this problem. Again, he kept saying that doesn't give
me anything to go on.
Compare
Problem 14-Result Unknown
Jack has (19, 83, 122) marbles and Josh has (9, 54, 79) marbles. How many more
marbles does Jack have than Josh? (10, 19, 43)
Answer Given: 13
Analysis: He used pencil and paper to solve this problem. He said this is simple you
subtract 83 from 54 and so 19 has to be the answer.
Problem 15-Change Unknown
Tyler has (23, 43, 132) marbles. Anna has (12, 19, 198) more marbles than Tyler. How
many marbles does Anna have? (35, 62, 330)
Answer Given: 24 more.
Analysis: He used smaller amounts of pennies with the bigger problems to find the
answer. 43-19. He used 13-9 because of the borrowing instead of trying to count out the
larger numbers. I repeated the question with emphasis asking, "How many does Anna
have altogether?" He then added 43+19 to get 62.
Problem 16-Start Unknown
Chris has (39, 85, 218) marbles. He has (11, 36, 56) more than Erin. How many
marbles does Erin have? (28, 19, 162)
Answer Given: He did not solve this problem.
Analysis: Again, he could not solve this problem. I tried to help him set this problem up. I
asked if Chris has 39 and that is 11more than Erin how many do you think she has? It
still did not help.
Summary: Cole demonstrates an overall understanding of simple addition and
subtraction problems. He easily solved all of the join problems using counting on, one to
one correspondence and manipulatives. He had more difficulty with the change
unknown problems. He struggles with borrowing multiple digits, which in turn made
these problems more difficult to solve. When he used manipulatives to break the tens
and ones apart, he had more success and could eventually solve them. In regards to
the start unknown problems, he noticeably struggled and could not always successfully
solve the problems. However, when given smaller numbers he could solve these types

CGI Interview Analysis

of problems. Therefore, I am unsure if this is an issue with the numbers themselves or

the types of problems.
Recommendations: I would recommend that Cole have more practice with place value.
His lack of comprehension in regards to borrowing is most likely because he does not
have a grasp on the concept of place value and how they each place value affects the
other. David Fielker says, "Place value is a concept that is notoriously badly understood
and is often badly taught." He believes this is because there are never enough activities
done with place value before rushing into the procedure to borrow and carry (American
Psychological Association 1). This concept needs to be assimilated as part of Cole's
schema so he can understand why borrowing works rather than just the procedure to
borrowing. Cole like many other students in our classrooms are filled with students who
think math is just about rules and procedures that need to be memorized. However
understanding the relationships with these numbers will provide a foundation as to why
the rules and procedures work (Burns)
CGI Interview 2
Student: Emily
Grade: 5th
Grouping or Partitioning
Problem 1-Multiplication
Billy has (2, 7, 11) pizzas, each pizza has (4, 6, 12) slices. How many slices are in all
the pizzas? (8, 42, 132)
Answer Given: 132
Analysis: She knew the answer right away, using the pencil and paper method. I
multiplied 12X11 multiplied by 12 because there were 12 pizzas. It is clear that she has
quick recall of her multiplication facts.
Problem 2-Measurement Division
Billy has (8, 42, 132) slices of pizza. Each pizza has (4, 6, 12) slices. How many does
Billy have? (2, 7, 11)
Answer Given: 11
Analysis: She used pencil and paper method and she divided 132 by 12 and easily
found the answer. She used a standard algorithm to divide the numbers. When asked
why she divided she said she knew that each pizza had 12 slices and to find how many
pizzas you needed to know how many groups.

CGI Interview Analysis

Problem 3-Partitive Division

Billy has (8, 42, 132) slices of pizza. He ordered (2, 7, 11) pizzas. How many slices
does each pizza have? (4, 6, 12)
Answer Given: 1452
Analysis: She multiplied instead of dividing. She read the problem several times before
arriving at this answer. Joe asked her to read the answer again aloud. As she read it
aloud she said, "Oh you divide." After that, she arrived at the correct answer.
Rate
Problem 4-Multiplication
A garden hose can fill (2, 5, 13) buckets in a minute, How many buckets can be filled in
(3, 7, 14) minutes? (6, 35, 182)
Answer Given: 182
Analysis: She used a standard algorithm and multiplied. She used pencil and paper and
arrived at the correct answer.
Problem 5-Measurement Division
A garden hose can fill (2, 5, 13) buckets in a minute. How many minutes will it take to fill
(6, 35, 182) buckets? (3, 7, 14)
Answer Given: 2, 366
Analysis: She multiplied, reread the question, thought, and looked confused. Finally, she
decided to divide and wrote out her 13 multiplication tables because she said those
were facts she did not know automatically. Then Joe asked her to read the problem
aloud. After she did that, she realized she needed to divide. Using the standard
algorithm, she divides and found the correct answer.
Problem 6-Partitive Division
A garden hose can fill (6, 35, 182) buckets in (2, 5, 13) minutes. How many buckets are
filled per minute? (3, 7, 14)
Answer Given: 14
Analysis: Using pencil and paper, she began this problem by multiplying. She crossed
answers out; multiplied again, reread the question aloud. Then she recalled the other
problems and decided to divide. At this point, she arrived at the correct answer.

CGI Interview Analysis

Price
Problem 7-Multiplication
Video games cost $(2.00, 6.00, 19.00) each. How much would (4, 12, 14) video games
cost? $(8.00, 72.00, 266.00)
Answer Given: 266.00
Analysis: She quickly multiplied and arrived at the correct answer.
Problem 8-Measurement Division
Video games cost $(2.00, 6.00, 19.00) each. How many video games would total
$(8.00, 72.00, 266.00)? (4, 12, 14)
Answer given: 14
Analysis: You could see her trying to mental picture the problem. She tried several
multiplication facts. 19x8=152 she knew that was too high. She explained that she was
trying to get to 76. She counted by 2's to see how high or low she could get. She then
said, "19 only goes into 26 once and that is how I got the one." Then I got 76 and 19x 4
is 76 and then I got a four.
Problem 9-Partitive Division
(4, 12, 14) video games cost $(8.00, 72.00, 266.00). How much does each video game
cost if each game is the same price? $(2.00, 6.00, 19.00)
Answer given: 3724
Analysis: First Joe asked her to reread the question to see if her answer made any
sense. She multiplied, then Joe had her reread the question aloud. After that, she went
back, divided, and arrived at the correct answer.
Multiplicative Comparison
Problem 10-Multiplication
The Cardinals scored (3, 6, 11) times as many points as the Cubs. If the Cubs scored
(2, 9, 10) points, how many runs did the Cardinals score? (6, 54, 110)
Answer given: 110
Analysis: She said she multiplied because the problem said the Cardinals score was 11
times the Cubs 10 points so she knew it was multiplication.

CGI Interview Analysis

Problem 11-Measurement Division

The Cardinals scored (6, 54, 110) points. The Cubs scored (2, 9, 10) points. How many
times greater was the Cardinals' point total than the Cubs? (3, 6, 11)
Answer: 11
Analysis: She divided using a standard algorithm. She knew that there were 110 points
and the Cub's scored 10 of those points. Therefore, she needed to divide to find what
was left.
Problem 12-Partitive Division
The Cardinals' point total was (6, 5, 110). It was (3, 6, 11) times the point total of the
Cubs. What was the Cubs' point total? (2, 9, 10)
Answer: 1
Analysis: She divided 110 by 11. Joe asked her, "Is that one?" Then she looked at the
problem a second time and said, "I divided 11 by 11 and got one." Then she realized her
mistake. With encouragement, she realized she forgot the zero on the end.
Area and Array
Problem 13-Multiplication
Dan needs to paint his ceiling. His ceiling is (3, 8, 15) feet wide and (3, 7, 12) feet long.
How many square feet is the ceiling? (9, 56, 180)
Answer: 180
Analysis: It is clear that she has recall of her multiplication facts. She found this answer
easily with a standard multiplication algorithm.
Problem 14-Measurement Division/Partitive Division
Dan needed to paint his ceiling. If a quart of paint covers (3, 8, 15) square feet, how
many quarts would it take to cover (9, 56, 180) square feet? (3, 7, 12)
Answer: 12
Analysis: Again, she easily found the answer using a standard algorithm she divided.
Combination
Problem 15-Multiplication

CGI Interview Analysis

The grocery store has (4, 7, 14) different types of soda. It has (2, 5, 13) different types
of candy bars. How many combinations of sodas and candy bars are available if you
can choose only one candy bar and one soda at a time? (8, 35, 182)
Answer: 182
Analysis: She created a model that looked like the problem and then counted. Once she
could see the problem and she could see that she needed to multiply. Therefore, she
took 13 and 14 and multiplied them.
Problem 16-Measurement Division/Partitive Division
The grocery store offers (8, 35, 182) different combinations of candy bars and sodas to
their customers. If there are (4, 7, 14) different types of sodas available, how many
different types of candy bars do they offer? (2, 5, 13)
Answer: 13
Analysis: She quickly realized she needed to divide. So, she did and found the correct
answer.
Summary: Emily did not miss any problems presented to her. It is clear that she has a
firm grasp of her multiplication and division facts and knows how to apply them in a
variety of situations. She can use mental math, as is evident in her recall of
multiplication facts and standard algorithms. She can also use pencil and paper to solve
the problems and can model and explain how she arrived at these answers. Her only
difficult was in misreading the problem and multiplying instead of dividing. Emily used
the same standard algorithm in each problem to multiply and divide and while her
overall mathematical knowledge is vast, she did not use a variety of strategies. I do not
feel like this fact hindered her ability to solve the problems in any way.
Recommendations: The only recommendation I have is that Emily use more variance
when solving problems. Using this standard algorithm is probably more a reflection of
what she has been taught rather than her ability. Algorithms are a product of a very
traditional teaching style and the convince exist for teachers who expect memorization
(American Psychological Association 2). However, flexibility in solving problems in a
number of ways will make her more able to solve many types of problems regardless of
the way they are presented this will enable her to use her mathematical abilities in real
world situations. This will allow her to solve with accuracy but with efficiency as well.

References:
Burns, M. Number talks: what is a classroom number talk? Retrieved from
http://www.mathsolutions.com/documents/9781935099116_Ch1.pdf

CGI Interview Analysis

Fielker, D. (2007, September). ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION, AND

ALGORITHMS IN GENERAL. Mathematics Teaching. pp. 3-5.