Grounding the Symbols for Place Value: Evidence From Training and Long-Term Exposure to Base-10 Models. Issue 1 (1st January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mix, Kelly S.; Smith, Linda B.; Stockton, Jerri DaSha; Cheng, Yi-Ling; Barterian, Justin A.
• Is Part Of: Journal of cognition and development. Volume 18:Issue 1(2017)
• Page Start: 129
• Page End: 151
• Publication Date: 2017-01-01
• Subjects: Cognition -- Periodicals; Child development -- Periodicals; Concepts -- Periodicals; Visual perception -- Periodicals; 155.413
• DOI: 10.1080/15248372.2016.1180296
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1524-8372

Abstract

Abstract : Two experiments examined whether concrete models support place value learning. In Experiment 1 ( N = 149), 7-year-olds were trained with either a) symbols alone or b) symbols and base-10 blocks. Children in both groups showed significant growth overall, but there were specific effects favoring one training type over another. Symbols-only training led to higher scores on a number line estimation task and was particularly effective among high-ability students, whereas blocks training led to better understanding of base-10 structure and was particularly effective among low-ability learners. In Experiment 2 ( N = 68), Montessori students, for whom concrete models play a major role in mathematics instruction, also demonstrated better understanding of base-10 structure than did their matched peers enrolled in mainstream elementary schools.