Number Knowledge and Young Children’s Ability to Measure Length

Research Findings: In this research we explore the relationship between young children’s number knowledge and their measurement of length. First, we examined 4- to 5-year-olds’ (kindergartners’) understanding of and preference for using standard or nonstandard units to measure length. Second, we investigated whether the following tasks were related to children’s understanding of using standard (i.e., rulers) and nonstandard (i.e., blocks) units to measure length: (a) counting and written number identification knowledge, (b) symbolic or nonsymbolic number magnitude comparison ability, and (c) approximate number line estimation ability. Third, we examined whether understanding these number tasks predicted understanding how to measure length for both standard and nonstandard units. Our results show that young children prefer to use standard units of measurement when given a choice, and some of these children use a ruler correctly. Our results also show an important relationship between children’s understandings of numbers and measurement. Practice or Policy: Given children’s preference for rulers, introducing both nonstandard and standard units in early learning settings concurrently rather than consecutively is recommended for practice.     

Cabinetmakers’ Workplace Mathematics and Problem Solving

This study explored what kind of mathematics is needed in cabinetmakers’ everyday work and how problem solving is intertwined in it. The informants of the study were four Finnish cabinetmakers and the data consisted of workshop observations, interviews, photos, pictures and sketches made by the participants during the interviews. The data was analysed using different qualitative techniques. Even though the participants identified many areas of mathematics that could be used in their daily work, they used mathematics only if they were able to. The cabinetmakers’ different mathematical skills and knowledge were utilized to their skill limit. Cabinetmakers were found to constantly face problem solving situations along with the creative processes. Being able to use more advanced mathematics helped them to solve those problems more efficiently, without wasting time and materials. Based on the findings, the paper discusses the similarities and differences between problem solving and creative processes. It is suggested that the combination of craftsmanship, creativity, and efficient problem solving skills together with more than basic mathematical knowledge will help cabinetmakers in adapting and surviving in future unstable labour markets.     

Children Explain the Rainbow: Using Young Children’s Ideas to Guide Science Curricula

This study examines young children’s ideas about natural science phenomena and explores possibilities in starting investigations in kindergarten from their ideas. Given the possibilities inherent in how young children make sense of their experiences, we believe it is critical to take children’s perspectives into consideration when designing any activities, and ideally, to design activities from their perspectives and understandings. Specifically, this research focuses on 5- and 6-year old children’s explanations of rainbows, and there are three main findings. First, our analysis demonstrates that opportunities to discuss their ideas revealed children’s different perceptions of the phenomena of rainbows. Secondly, this research emphasizes that peer-to-peer interaction in the co-construction of science concepts provided support to the children to learn from, and with, each other. Third, children’s initial explanations provided the teacher-researcher (second author) with a starting point to scaffold her teaching from. Although rainbows are quite an abstract topic to try to reproduce in the classroom, the children demonstrated their often sophisticated understandings of natural science phenomena, as well as their creative ideas as related to rainbows. In order to foster an appreciation of themes in natural science, it is crucial to build from what children already know and can do, and to use these emergent theories and considerations in designing curriculum. Thus, we draw implications for the importance of teaching science at the early childhood level and for using children’s ideas as starting points in planning instruction.     

Using Scaffolding Strategies to Promote Young Children’s Scientific Understandings of Floating and Sinking

The purposes of this study are to examine young children’s explanations of floating and sinking and to investigate how scaffolding strategies provided by a tutor could promote their scientific understandings. Fifteen 4-year-olds and fifteen 5-year-olds from a public kindergarten in northern Taiwan participated in this study. The children were interviewed before and after an instructional intervention to examine their understandings about how the weight, volume, and material of an object are related to sinking and floating. During the intervention, children manipulated objects made of different materials and were assigned to one of the three groups: scaffolding-material (provided with teaching scaffolding and allowed to see the materials of the objects), scaffolding (teaching scaffolding only), and material groups (seeing the materials only). In the first two groups, 16 teaching strategies based on six scaffolding principles were employed. Analyses of interviews showed that before the intervention, the 4-year-olds seemed to have a variety of explanations for sinking and floating and a majority of the 5-year-olds used weight as an explanation for floatation. After the intervention, both 4- and 5-year-olds in the scaffolding-material and scaffolding groups improved their understandings of floating and sinking. Particularly, three out of five 5-years-olds in the scaffolding-material group related the material of an object to its buoyancy and generalized their explanations to the objects made of the same material. The findings suggest that manipulative experiences alone might not be enough for children to further their understandings about floatation and that combining teaching scaffolding with children’s perceiving of the materials of objects is more effective. This study provides insight into how to support young children to learn science through effective teaching strategies.     

Young Children’s Knowledge About the Moon: A Complex Dynamic System

The purpose of this research was to use a multidimensional theoretical framework to examine young children??s knowledge about the Moon. The research was conducted in the interpretive paradigm and the design was a multiple case study of ten children between the ages of three and eight from the USA and Australia. A detailed, semi-structured interview was conducted with each child. In addition, each child??s parents were interviewed to determine possible social and cultural influences on the child??s knowledge. We sought evidence about how the social and cultural experiences of the children might have influenced the development of their ideas. From a cognitive perspective we were interested in whether the children??s ideas were constructed in a theory like form or whether the knowledge was the result of gradual accumulation of fragments of isolated cultural information. Findings reflected the strong and complex relationship between individual children, their social and cultural milieu, and the way they construct ideas about the Moon and astronomy. Findings are presented around four themes including ontology, creatures and artefacts, animism, and permanence. The findings support a complex dynamic system view of students?? knowledge that integrates the framework theory perspective and the knowledge in fragments perspective. An initial model of a complex dynamic system of young children??s knowledge about the Moon is presented.     

Examining Educators’ Knowledge,Beliefs, and Practices About Using Technology With Young Children

Technology has been shown to foster children’s motivation and interest in instructional materials. In addition, researchers have found that technology results in higher levels of student engagement and greater levels of comprehension. Researchers have also found that educators must have the knowledge and skills in technology necessary to effectively support their students. Much of the research examining educator knowledge and skills has centered at the K–12 level. The current study examines the technological knowledge, beliefs, and practices of educators in early childhood settings. Findings indicate that educators believe that it is important to integrate technology into daily lessons. However, findings also indicate that many teachers do not feel adequately prepared to use technology in early childhood settings; that there is a lack of technology currently available in early childhood settings; and that early childhood educators want more professional development on using technology that also reflects their varying levels of knowledge and experience. An analysis of study results is provided through a discussion of implications, limitations, and next steps.     

Reform of Mathematics Curriculum and Open-ended Problem Solving

The basic assumption of reform mathematics is that ＂no one can teach mathematics＂. Therefore, the important teachers＇ role is to stimulate students to learn mathematics and support their development. Open-ended problem solving is an instructional strategy that creates interest and stimulates creative mathematical activity in the classroom through students＇ collaborative work. Lessons using openended problem solving problem solving activities result. emphasize the process of rather than focusing on the     

Young Children’s Ability to Produce Valid and Relevant Counter-Arguments

In collaborative problem solving, children produce and evaluate arguments for proposals. We investigated whether 3- and 5-year-olds (N = 192) can produce and evaluate arguments against those arguments (i.e., counter-arguments). In Study 1, each child within a peer dyad was privately given a reason to prefer one over another solution to a task. One child, however, was given further information that would refute the reasoning of their partner. Five-year-olds, but not 3-year-olds, identified and produced valid and relevant counter-arguments. In Study 2, 3-year-olds were given discourse training (discourse that contrasted valid and invalid counter-arguments) and then given the same problem-solving tasks. After training, 3-year-olds could also identify and produce valid and relevant counter-arguments. Thus, participating in discourse about reasons facilitates children’s counter-argumentation.     

Solution Stories: A Narrative Study of How Teachers Support Children’s Problem Solving

Young children’s self-regulation and problem-solving skills are significant predictors of school success. While early childhood educators shape the development of these skills, providing effective and timely assistance can be challenging. Drawing on complementary theories of Vygotsky, Pekrun, and Lerner, this article chronicles the instructional approaches and strategies employed by one team of teachers to support preschool children’s solutions to complex functional and social problems in the classroom. Findings from this narrative study highlight the focal teachers’ use of modeling, mindful language, and other proactive strategies to develop students’ problem-solving skills and foster independence. In an age of results-focused education, this article argues for the importance of cultivating intentional teacher pedagogies that build young children’s autonomy and efficacy by working through problems, as opposed to seeking resolution only. In so doing, this study elucidates the value of these intuitive and often nuanced aspects of early childhood educators’ classroom practices.     

Mothers’ Job Loss and Their Sensitivity to Young Children’s Development

As the economy diversifies and stratifies, more mothers of young children experience job instability. To advance understanding of the implications of this trend, this study examines the role of job instability in maternal sensitivity, an important component of child development, during their children’s first 3 years of life. Structural equation models with longitudinal multimethod data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 1,211; 1991–1994) revealed that mothers’ involuntary job loss, but not other job transitions, was negatively associated with sensitivity. This association was most pronounced among mothers with less education. Mediation analyses found that the association was explained by changes in family income and maternal depression, pointing to policy-relevant mechanisms for reducing inequalities among children.     

Knowledge and Technique in Statistical Problem‐Solving

Summaries

English

Subjects’ knowledge and technique in statistical problem‐solving, as well as their ability to detect their own problem‐solving errors, were studied. Twenty subjects were asked to solve two statistical problems, and then to explain their solutions to the experimenter. Finally, each subject was asked successively more detailed questions about his/her solution, particularly in reference to its erroneous parts. The results showed that subjects tended to describe rather than explain their solutions. Subjects eliminated three errors (4%) when accounting for their solutions and another 20 errors (24%) in the following interview. About one‐third of all errors were analysed as being due to deficiencies in subjects’ problem‐solving techniques. For 62% of the errors where subjects showed knowledge deficiencies, there were deficiencies in propositional knowledge, i.e. in subjects’ understanding of statistical concepts and their interrelations. The results showed that misunderstandings of concepts and methods of solution were much more common than lack of conceptions as such. In addition, the results suggest that deficiencies in subjects’ problem‐solving are related to motivational factors, such as a tendency to minimize cognitive strain. Pedagogical implications of the results are discussed.     

The Factors Related to Preschool Children and Their Mothers on Children’s Intuitional Mathematics Abilities

The aim of this study is to assess the factors that are related to preschool children and their mothers on children’s’ intuitional mathematics abilities. Results of the study showed that there were significant differences in children’s intuitional mathematics abilities when children are given the opportunity to think intuitionally and to make estimations, and when their mothers believe in the importance of providing such opportunities in the home setting. Children who tended to think fast and to examine details of objects had significantly higher scores. Also, the working mothers aimed to give opportunities to their children more often than non-working mothers. The mothers whose children received preschool education tended to give more opportunities to their children to think intuitionally and to make estimations. When incorrect intuitional answers or estimations were made by children, lower-educated mothers tended to scold their children much more than higher educated mothers. Mothers having at least a university degree explained more often to the children why they were in error than did the less-educated mothers.     

Mapping Children’s Discussions of Evidence in Science to Assess Collaboration and Argumentation

The research reported in this paper concerns the development of children’s skills of interpreting and evaluating evidence in science. Previous studies have shown that school teaching often places limited emphasis on the development of these skills, which are necessary for children to engage in scientific debate and decision‐making. The research, undertaken in the United Kingdom, involved four collaborative decision‐making activities to stimulate group discussion, each carried out with five groups of four children (10–11 years old). The research shows how the children evaluated evidence for possible choices and judged whether their evidence was sufficient to support a particular conclusion or the rejection of alternative conclusions. A mapping technique was developed to analyse the discussions and identify different “levels” of argumentation. The authors conclude that suitable collaborative activities that focus on the discussion of evidence can be developed to exercise children’s ability to argue effectively in making decisions.     

The Effect of Test Anxiety,Intelligence, and Sex on Children’s Problem Solving Ability

Little experimental research has been done on the relationship between test anxiety, intelligence, sex, and problem solving ability. Thirty-seven third grade children were selected on the basis of average or superior intelligence and high or low test anxiety. The children were placed in small groups, and under normal and anxiety provoking instructions were asked to solve simple and complex problem solving tasks. Problem solving ability was measured by an anagram test. The results of the 3-factor ANOVA indicated that the anxiety treatment was not significantly related to level of intelligence. The 2-factor design indicated a significant Sex by Anxiety interaction for both simple and complex problem solving.     

Young Children’s Mathematical Learning From Intelligent Characters

Children’s math learning (N = 217; M_age = 4.87 years; 63% European American, 96% college-educated families) from an intelligent character game was examined via social meaningfulness (parasocial relationships [PSRs]) and social contingency (parasocial interactions, e.g., math talk). In three studies (data collected in the DC area: 12/2015–10/2017), children’s parasocial relationships and math talk with the intelligent character predicted quicker, more accurate math responses during virtual game play. Children performed better on a math transfer task with physical objects when exposed to an embodied character (Study 2), and when the character used socially contingent replies, which was mediated by math talk (Study 3). Results suggest that children’s parasocial relationships and parasocial interactions with intelligent characters provide new frontiers for 21st century learning.     

A Phonetic Study of Young Children’s Speech

Abstract. The author examined the effectiveness of training in symbolic logic for improving students' deductive reasoning. A total of 116 undergraduate students (approximately equal numbers of men and women) enrolled in 1st-year university philosophy courses in symbolic logic participated in 2 studies. In both studies, students completed booklets of categorical and conditional syllogisms at the beginning of the course and again at the end of the course. In Study 2, students also specified their reasoning strategies. Results indicated that students' strategies changed with training (students increased their use of mental models and mental rules with categorical and conditional syllogisms, respectively), but their reasoning performance improved only moderately. The educational implications of these results are explored.