Incorporate extensive supports, scaffolds, and explicit strategies to minimize memory load during decimal magnitude assessment¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 4 claims (4 for) · 4 studies (1 causal, 1 quant-synthesis, 1 review, 1 associational), q2–q4 · 1 of 4 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The authors recommend that instruction be designed to incorporate extensive supports, scaffolds, and explicit strategies to minimize the amount of information students have to hold in memory to successfully assess decimal magnitude. This recommendation draws on the finding that working memory predicted decimal magnitude outcomes.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Instruction must include scaffolds that reduce the memory demands of decimal magnitude tasks

Constraints¶

• Very little research exists on improving at-risk students' decimal magnitude understanding; tenability not yet assessed

Target Learners¶

• at-risk fourth-grade students

Target Learning Goals¶

• decimal magnitude understanding
• rational number reasoning

Claims¶

• Minimal guidance is less effective for novices than explicit instruction [+S]
• Numerical working memory predicts decimal number line estimation accuracy [+W]
• Language comprehension and numerical working memory predict comparing decimals to the one-half benchmark [+W]
• Domain-general cognitive abilities predict at-risk fourth graders' decimal magnitude understanding [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Provide explicit comparison of decimals, whole numbers, and fractions with correct and incorrect examples

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Malone Amelia S., Loehr Abbey M., Fuchs Lynn S. (2017). The Role of Domain-General Cognitive Abilities and Decimal Labels in At-Risk Fourth-Grade Students' Decimal Magnitude Understanding. Learning and Individual Differences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2017.05.007