A study suggests that first graders who understand the meaning of numbers will have better success learning mathematics at least through the fifth grade.
David Geary (University of Missouri) and a team of researchers, monitoring 177 students from a dozen elementary schools, found that first graders who understood the number line and how to place numbers on the line showed faster growth in mathematical skills than counterparts over the next five years.
"Once students fall behind, it's almost impossible to get them back on track," Geary indicated. "We found that understanding numbers and quantity is a necessary foundation for success as the student progresses to more complex math topics. In order to improve basic instruction, we have to know what to instruct. These are the factors that make a difference in the first grade above and beyond intelligence and other abilities."
The study reinforces the idea that the learning of mathematical knowledge is incremental, and that without a solid foundation, students "won't do well because the math gets more complex," Geary said. "The kids that can go back and forth easily and quickly in translating numerals, the number five, for example, into quantities and in breaking complex problems into smaller parts had a very good head start."
The researchers' paper, "Cognitive Predictors of Achievement Growth in Mathematics: A Five Year Longitudinal Study," is slated for publication in Developmental Psychology.
Source: University of Missouri News Bureau
David Geary (University of Missouri) and a team of researchers, monitoring 177 students from a dozen elementary schools, found that first graders who understood the number line and how to place numbers on the line showed faster growth in mathematical skills than counterparts over the next five years.
"Once students fall behind, it's almost impossible to get them back on track," Geary indicated. "We found that understanding numbers and quantity is a necessary foundation for success as the student progresses to more complex math topics. In order to improve basic instruction, we have to know what to instruct. These are the factors that make a difference in the first grade above and beyond intelligence and other abilities."
The study reinforces the idea that the learning of mathematical knowledge is incremental, and that without a solid foundation, students "won't do well because the math gets more complex," Geary said. "The kids that can go back and forth easily and quickly in translating numerals, the number five, for example, into quantities and in breaking complex problems into smaller parts had a very good head start."
The researchers' paper, "Cognitive Predictors of Achievement Growth in Mathematics: A Five Year Longitudinal Study," is slated for publication in Developmental Psychology.
Source: University of Missouri News Bureau
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