期刊名称：Journal of Educational, Cultural and Psychological Studies (ECPS Journal)
印刷版ISSN：2037-7924
出版年度：2021
期号：23
页码：49-69
DOI：10.7358/ecps-2021-023-bimo
出版社：LED Edizioni Universitarie
摘要：The Number Worlds (NW) program is based on Case’s theory of cognitive development and conceptual learning, and it promotes the learning of mathematical concepts through playful-manipulative activities and respecting children’s level of development. This five years-research is meant to develop an Italian adaptation of the program, compare it with traditional teaching, and determine the impact of working memory (WM) on math learning. 56 primary school children participated in the research. Since grade I, 13 pupils (controls) followed traditional teaching of math; 43 children worked with NW, 3 hours a week for 7 months. The pupils were assessed with two WM tests, the Number Knowledge Test (NKT), and the Number Line Estimation Task (NLET) at the beginning of Grade I and at the end of each Grade. At the end of Grade V, the AC-MT battery was also administered. The experimental group improved more than controls on the NKT and NLET from Grade I to IV. At the end of Grade V, both groups showed a «ceiling effect» in the NKT and NLET performance. However, a difference in favour of the experimental group was found in some AC-MT tasks. WM, together with the curriculum, was predictive of mathematics performance up to class IV.
其他摘要：The Number Worlds (NW) program is based on Case’s theory of cognitive development and conceptual learning, and it promotes the learning of mathematical concepts through playful-manipulative activities and respecting children’s level of development. This five years-research is meant to develop an Italian adaptation of the program, compare it with traditional teaching, and determine the impact of working memory (WM) on math learning. 56 primary school children participated in the research. Since grade I, 13 pupils (controls) followed traditional teaching of math; 43 children worked with NW, 3 hours a week for 7 months. The pupils were assessed with two WM tests, the Number Knowledge Test (NKT), and the Number Line Estimation Task (NLET) at the beginning of Grade I and at the end of each Grade. At the end of Grade V, the AC-MT battery was also administered. The experimental group improved more than controls on the NKT and NLET from Grade I to IV. At the end of Grade V, both groups showed a «ceiling effect» in the NKT and NLET performance. However, a difference in favour of the experimental group was found in some AC-MT tasks. WM, together with the curriculum, was predictive of mathematics performance up to class IV.
关键词：Central Conceptual Structures; Math learning; Primary school; Working memory.
