A connected understanding of decimals has increased in importance since the
introduction of the metric system of measurement and the wider use of calculators and
computers. Results from major studies (e.g., Brown, 1981; Wearne & Kouba, 2000)
indicated that decimals create great confusion for many students and many studies
indicated that much of this difficulty arose because students were treating decimals as
whole numbers. It has also been documented that students rely on procedures to the
detriment of number sense or meaning when computing with decimals (Hiebert & Wearne,
1985).