Use brief non-symbolic approximate number activities immediately before symbolic arithmetic practice with young children¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 5 claims (5 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q3 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 5 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article's results motivate a classroom strategy: a short bout of game-like non-symbolic approximate number practice (adding or comparing dot arrays) immediately before symbolic arithmetic work. The authors conclude that "the exercise of non-symbolic numerical processes can enhance children's performance of symbolic mathematics." The demonstrated paradigm used roughly 60 training trials interleaved with test problems in a computer-animated game format.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Tasks must engage approximate, non-symbolic numerical quantities rather than non-numerical magnitudes; large addends unable to be enumerated exactly were used to discourage symbolic strategies

Constraints¶

• Effects were demonstrated under brief exercise with immediate testing; the durability and classroom-scale generalization of the effect were not tested

Target Learners¶

• first-grade children (6-7 years old)

Target Learning Goals¶

• exact symbolic addition speed and accuracy

Affordances¶

• Ans Specialized Link Symbolic Arithmetic Children

Claims¶

• Non-symbolic numerical addition practice improves accuracy on symbolic arithmetic but not sentence completion, showing the practice effect is specific to mathematics [+W]
• Brief practice on non-symbolic approximate numerical addition or comparison tasks speeds subsequent exact symbolic arithmetic in first graders compared with non-numerical magnitude tasks [+W]
• In Experiment 1, the numerical comparison group was more accurate on symbolic arithmetic than the line-length addition group, the only pairwise accuracy difference [+W]
• Engaging symbolic number representations does not by itself prime subsequent symbolic arithmetic: second test-set performance declined in both training groups [+W]
• The training-condition effect on symbolic arithmetic speed persists after controlling for training task reaction time and accuracy [+W]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• Hyde, D. C., Khanum, S., & Spelke, E. S. (2014). Brief non-symbolic, approximate number practice enhances subsequent exact symbolic arithmetic in children. Cognition, 131(1), 92-107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2013.12.007