Clock reading: an underestimated topic in children with mathematics difficulties

Recent studies have shown that children with mathematics difficulties (MD) have weaknesses in multiple areas of mathematics. Andersson (2008), for example, recently found that children with MD perform significantly worse than other children on clock reading tasks. The present study builds on this recent finding and aims at a more profound understanding of the difficulties that children with MD experience with telling time. Therefore, clock reading abilities of 154 children with MD were compared to the ability of 571 average achieving children and a qualitative error analysis was performed. The results of this study confirm the earlier finding of Andersson (2008) that children with MD perform worse on clock reading than average achieving children, and additionally shows that children with MD are especially struggling the combination of procedural and retrieval strategies that are needed to read complex five minute and one minute clock times. Children with MD make more errors that reflect immature counting strategies and deficits in memory retrieval. This finding is in line with Geary’s (2005) theory of subtypes in MD, that argues that children with MD have problems with mathematical procedures and semantic memory retrieval

Curriculum sequencing and the acquisition of clock reading skills among Chinese and Flemish children

The present study reexamines the adoption of clock reading skills in the primary mathematics curriculum. In many Western countries, the mathematics curriculum adopts a number of age-related stages for teaching clock reading skills, that were defined by early research (e.g., Friedman & laycock, 1989; Piaget, 1969). Through a comparison of Flemish and Chinese student’s clock reading abilities, the current study examines whether these age-related stages are a solid base for teaching clock reading skills. By means of both quantitative (ANOVA’s) and qualitative (textbook analysis) methods, the present study indicates that the alternative way of teaching clock reading skills in China, i.e., at the age of six instead of staggered out over several grades, results in a two years earlier acquisition of clock reading skills. This indicates that the previously age-related stages in children’s acquisition of clock reading are not universal, nor the most effective way to teach these skills to young children

Illuminating the complexity of time: the development of time-related competences in primary school children.

The present study focuses on the development and evaluation of a path model describing and explaining the impact of mathematical skills, visuospatial abilities and linguistic capabilities on the development of time-related competences. Empirical validation of the model underpins the assumption that mathematical and linguistic abilities contribute to the development of children’s time-related competences. No evidence was found for a direct or indirect impact of visuospatial abilities. The research results also illuminate a developmental process in relation to the development of time-related skills, suggesting that children initially rely heavily on basic mathematical skills. Once they have automated these skills, solving time-related problems seems to have become an autonomous body of knowledge

How to teach the clock? Primary school teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and beliefs on the teaching of time-related competences

Research on the development of children’s temporal concepts concludes that the concept of time is complex and difficult to teach to children (Fraisse 1984, Kelly, Miller, Fang & Feng, 1999; Piaget 1969; Zakay 1989). As there is no evidence-based practice in the teaching of time-related competences - such as clock reading and using a calendar - primary school teachers have developed their own methods for teaching this subject, based on their own experience, beliefs and knowledge. The present study examines the current teaching practice adopted in Flemish primary education and the role of teachers’ beliefs and pedagogical content knowledge in the teachers’ choice for a specific instructional approach by means of qualitative interviews of 75 primary school teachers. Analysis of the acquired data shows that the current teaching practice with regard to clock reading is characterized by the use of teaching materials such as clocks and calendars. The majority of the teachers in the sample adopts a moderate to explicit constructivist approach, which is reflected in a general adoption of active learning strategies in which children are stimulated to construct meaningful knowledge. The current data showed no clear impact of teacher beliefs on their teaching practice. Yet, it revealed that teachers with strong pedagogical content knowledge are more likely to adopt a constructivist teaching approach, in which children are activated to learn and discover than teachers with weak pedagogical content knowledg

Differences between Flemish and Chinese primary students' mastery of basic arithmetic operations

The present paper investigates differences in the process of mastering the four basic arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) between Flemish and Chinese children from Grade 3 till Grade 6 (i.e. from 8 to 11years old). The results showed, firstly, that Chinese students outperformed Flemish students in each grade but that difference in addition, subtraction and division skills between the groups decreased as grade increased. Secondly, the levels of mastery of the four skills varied between Chinese and Flemish students. Multiplication was relatively easier for Chinese students than for their Flemish peers as compared to the other skills (that is, the gap was larger). Third, low achievers experienced comparable learning difficulties in both countries, and higher achievers demonstrated their greater ability early on