Explore curricula and interventions that build on or enhance children's non-symbolic numerical knowledge¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 10 claims (7 for, 3 mixed) · 3 studies (2 associational, 1 causal), q3 · 0 of 3 report an effect size · 10 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The authors recommend that, because non-symbolic arithmetic performance predicts kindergarten mathematics success and children find such problems engaging and motivating, training studies should explore the educational benefits of curricula that build explicitly on non-symbolic numerical knowledge and the effectiveness of interventions that enhance children's non-symbolic numerical abilities. They also note that "socio-economic differences in numerical symbol learning can be erased by targeted preschool interventions", suggesting achievement gaps in school mathematics may be eliminable.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Training studies are needed before educational benefits are established

Constraints¶

• The article states the present findings cannot conclusively answer whether non-symbolic abilities enhance mathematics learning across the board or only in some areas

Target Learners¶

• Kindergarten children from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds

Target Learning Goals¶

• Early mathematics achievement and symbolic number learning

Affordances¶

• Two Source Symbolic Math Mastery Account

Claims¶

• Children succeed at non-symbolic approximate addition above chance with a ratio effect, without relying on non-numerical strategies [+W]
• Kindergarten children's non-symbolic addition performance correlates with end-of-year mathematics achievement, independent of literacy (Experiment 1) [+W]
• Non-symbolic addition performance correlates with mathematics achievement in a new sample, surviving controls for verbal intelligence and literacy (Experiment 2) [+W]
• Non-symbolic arithmetic performance correlates with children's mastery of number words and Arabic symbols (Experiment 2) [+W]
• Ratio-effect scores correlated with mathematics achievement in Experiment 1 but not in Experiment 2 with easier ratios [~W]
• ANS acuity correlates with later number sets fluency but does not emerge as a unique predictor once symbolic knowledge is controlled [~W]
• Engaging symbolic number representations does not by itself prime subsequent symbolic arithmetic: second test-set performance declined in both training groups [~W]
• 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]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Gilmore Camilla K., McCarthy Shannon E., Spelke Elizabeth S. (2010). Non-symbolic arithmetic abilities and achievement in the first year of formal schooling in mathematics. Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2010.02.002