CHILDREN´S DRAWINGS – RESOURCE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND OBSERVATION OF PERCEPTION OF NUMBERS OF CHILDREN

Children´s drawing is one of the most appropriate approach to knowing children, their individuality and also their perceptions. Child is not always able to express their thoughts precisely, because their vocabulary is still incomplete and is gained just lately. In our paper we concentrate on drawing as a communication means, with which we can obtain primary numerical conceptions of children. We deal with observation of children’s perceptions of number. We investigate process in which to numerical information the conceptions of numbers are assigned. The numerical information is word three and the child’s drawing is used to mediate the numerical conceptions of children. The activity was realized with the children in the kindergarten. We analyzed draw children’s conceptions of number 3 and created concept map from those drawings

Concept maps in the teaching of mathematics at the primary level of elemntary school level

summary:Článok sa zaoberá možnosťami rozvoja tvorivosti žiakov mladšieho školského veku na hodinách matematiky prostredníctvom využívania pojmových máp. Kreativita predstavuje v súčasnom výchovno-vzdelávacom procese dôležitý zdroj rozvoja osobnostného potenciálu žiaka. V článku poukazujeme na pojmové mapy ako didaktický prostriedok na primárnom stupni základnej školy, analyzujeme ich vlastnosti, možnosti v edukačnom procese. Zameriavame sa na tvorbu pojmových máp jednak z hľadiska práce s matematickými pojmami, obrázkami ako aj na tvorbu pojmových máp v programe FreeMind. V závere uvádzame hodnotenie pojmových máp z hľadiska tvorivosti ako aj vyhodnotenie štruktúry pojmových máp dataminingovou metódou asociačných pravidiel.summary:The article deals with possibilities of developing the creativity of pupils at primary level in mathematics classes using concept maps. Creativity is an important source of the pupil's personal potential in the current educational process. In the article, we point out concept maps as a didactic means at the primary level of elementary school, we analyse their properties, possibilities in the educational process. We focus on the creation of conceptual maps, both in terms of working with mathematical concepts, images, and the creation of conceptual maps in FreeMind. In conclusion, we present the evaluation of conceptual maps in terms of creativity as well as the evaluation of the conceptual map structure by the datamining method of the association rules

Knowledge of Fractions of Learners in Slovakia

In this research, we set two main goals: to provide empirical data that point to the knowledge of fractions among fifth-grade primary school pupils on a national scale; and to determine the level of knowledge about fractions among university students, including future primary school teachers. We used two tests—the national-wide test T5 for the fifth-graders (a research sample of approximately 45,000 pupils), and the modified fraction test based on Sfard’s theory of reification, for the university students (162 students). At the end of the study, we focused on a content analysis of the university students’ solutions. We identified persistent difficulties with concepts of fractions not only by fifth graders but also by future primary school teachers