Explaining the relationship between number line estimation and mathematical achievement: the role of visuomotor integration and visuospatial skills

Performance on number line tasks, typically used as a measure of numerical representations, are reliably related to children's mathematical achievement. However, recent debate has questioned what precisely performance on the number line estimation task measures. Specifically, there has been a suggestion that this task may measure not only numerical representations but also proportional judgment skills; if this is the case, then individual differences in visuospatial skills, not just the precision of numerical representations, may explain the relationship between number line estimation and mathematical achievement. The current study investigated the relationships among visuospatial skills, visuomotor integration, number line estimation, and mathematical achievement. In total, 77 children were assessed using a number line estimation task, a standardized measure of mathematical achievement, and tests of visuospatial skills and visuomotor integration. The majority of measures were significantly correlated. In addition, the relationship between one metric from the number line estimation task (R2 LIN) and mathematical achievement was fully explained by visuomotor integration and visuospatial skill competency. These results have important implications for understanding what the number line task measures as well as the choice of number line metric for research purposes

Mathematics difficulties in children born very preterm: current research and future directions

Children born very preterm have poorer attainment in all school subjects, and a markedly greater reliance on special educational support than their term-born peers. In particular, difficulties with mathematics are especially common and account for the vast majority of learning difficulties in this population. In this paper, we review research relating to the causes of mathematics learning difficulties in typically developing children, and the impact of very preterm birth on attainment in mathematics. Research is needed to understand the specific nature and origins of mathematics difficulties in very preterm children to target the development of effective intervention strategies

Understanding arithmetic concepts: the role of domain-specific and domain-general skills

A large body of research has identified cognitive skills associated with overall mathematics achievement, focusing primarily on identifying associates of procedural skills. Conceptual understanding, however, has received less attention, despite its importance for the development of mathematics proficiency. Consequently, we know little about the quantitative and domain-general skills associated with conceptual understanding. Here we investigated 8 – 10-year-old children’s conceptual understanding of arithmetic, as well as a wide range of basic quantitative skills, numerical representations and domain-general skills. We found that conceptual understanding was most strongly associated with performance on a number line task. This relationship was not explained by the use of particular strategies on the number line task, and may instead reflect children’s knowledge of the structure of the number system. Understanding the skills involved in conceptual learning is important to support efforts by educators to improve children’s conceptual understanding of mathematics

Challenges in mathematical cognition: a collaboratively-derived research agenda

This paper reports on a collaborative exercise designed to generate a coherent agenda for research on mathematical cognition. Following an established method, the exercise brought together 16 mathematical cognition researchers from across the fields of mathematics education, psychology and neuroscience. These participants engaged in a process in which they generated an initial list of research questions with the potential to significantly advance understanding of mathematical cognition, winnowed this list to a smaller set of priority questions, and refined the eventual questions to meet criteria related to clarity, specificity and practicability. The resulting list comprises 26 questions divided into six broad topic areas: elucidating the nature of mathematical thinking, mapping predictors and processes of competence development, charting developmental trajectories and their interactions, fostering conceptual understanding and procedural skill, designing effective interventions, and developing valid and reliable measures. In presenting these questions in this paper, we intend to support greater coherence in both investigation and reporting, to build a stronger base of information for consideration by policymakers, and to encourage researchers to take a consilient approach to addressing important challenges in mathematical cognition

Developmental pathways of early numerical skills during the preschool to school transition

Most longitudinal evidence explores the average level of development, suggesting that the relationships between a limited number of variables applies to all learners in the same way. This is the first longitudinal study that investigates multiple component numeric skills within a preschool population using a person-centered approach (i.e., a latent transition analysis), thus allowing for an investigation of different subgroup learning pathways of mathematical skills over time. 128 children aged 43 to 54 months (at Time 1) were tracked at three time points over 8 months encompassing the transition from preschool through to their first year of primary education. Findings suggest that there are five developmental pathways of mathematical learning with some groups of children making more rapid progress on entry to school than other groups. Those children in the low number skill pathway have a lower rate of growth than more advanced pathways, possibly due to a lack of understanding in cardinality. Findings highlighted the potential importance of language and working memory abilities on mathematical skills development over time

Protocol_Interventions to improve MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT in PRIMARY SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN A Systematic Review.pdf

This is a protocol for a systematic review investigating the types and effectiveness of student directed mathematical interventions for primary school-aged children across the ability spectrum

Musculoskeletal impairments caused by genocide-related violence in Rwanda.

<p>Musculoskeletal impairments caused by genocide-related violence in Rwanda.</p

1990–1994 war-related trauma by age group and gender.

<p>1990–1994 war-related trauma by age group and gender.</p

Higher level domain specific skills in mathematics; the relationship between algebra, geometry, executive function skills and mathematics achievement

Algebra and geometry are important components of mathematics that are often considered gatekeepers for future success. However, most studies that have researched the cognitive skills required for success in mathematics have only considered the domain of arithmetic. We extended models of mathematical skills to consider how executive function skills play both a direct role in secondary-school-level mathematical achievement as well as an indirect role via algebra and geometry, alongside arithmetic. We found that verbal and visuospatial working memory were indirectly associated with mathematical achievement via number fact knowledge, procedural arithmetic, algebra and geometry. Inhibition was also indirectly associated with mathematical achievement via number fact knowledge and procedural arithmetic. These findings highlight that there are multiple mechanisms by which executive function skills may be involved in mathematics outcomes. Therefore, using specific measures of mathematical processes as well as context-rich assessments of mathematical achievement is important to understand these mechanisms.</p

Higher level domain specific skills in mathematics; the relationship between algebra, geometry, executive function skills and mathematics achievement

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