College of Education
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Item THE CONTRIBUTION OF INHIBITORY CONTROL ON CHILDREN’S GESTURE USE IN AN EARLY MATHEMATICAL ENVIRONMENT(2023) Barkin, Raychel; Ramani, Geetha; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Early academic scores are strong and robust predictors of children’s later school and career performance (Duncan et al., 2007; Rose, 2006). However, the USA ranks well below other countries on math scores (27th out of 34; OECD, 2013), and have been marked as particularly inadequate at “mathematics tasks with higher cognitive demand(s)”. Thus, it is important to focus on the mechanisms which may contribute to differences in early mathematics problem solving and find tools that are uniquely suited to addressing this issue. One advantageous strategy young children use during math problem solving are hand gestures. Gestures are one of several overtly observable strategies in math contexts(e.g., counting on fingers vs. counting out loud without gestures), but have been specifically recognized as useful given their ability to reduce the user's working memory load during math contexts (Goldin-Meadow & Wagner, 2005). As children get older, the type and frequency of strategies used are reported to shift from basic to more advanced and efficient (Siegler, 1987). This pattern is often seen as younger children using more overtly observable strategies (e.g., finger counting), whereas older children rely on more implicit strategies (e.g., memory retrieval of math facts, Geary et al., 1991). However, less is known about how differences in children’s concurrent domain-general abilities (e.g., working memory, inhibitory control) and domain-specific knowledge (e.g., math specific) contribute to strategic use of gesture during arithmetic problem solving. This line of research is vital given that gestures may be especially advantageous based on their capacity to bolster mental resources needed for problem solving. Using the Gestures in Math Environments model (GME model; Gordon & Ramani, 2021) as a framework, the current study provides a comprehensive assessment of the factors underlying children’s domain-general and specific abilities, and provides evidence as to their relation to children’s use of gesture as a strategy during arithmetic problem solving. Furthermore, it tests a newly proposed adaptation to the GME model where inhibitory control plays a moderating role on the relation between children’s working memory and use of gesture. One-hundred-thirty-seven 4- to 7-year-old children and their parents participated in this study. All children completed two sessions; an autonomous online-game based assessment and a video recorded zoom session regulated by a trained research assistant. At each session, children completed measures of inhibitory control, early mathematical knowledge, and working memory. Their gesture use was video recorded during one measure where children partake in arithmetic problem solving. Parents completed a standardized measure assessing their child’s inhibitory control and working memory abilities. Using structural equation modeling, the relations between all measures and a consideration of how each corresponded to a set of comprehensible latent factors (one factor each for inhibitory control, working memory, and math) were examined. Further examination of how each factor related to children’s use of gesture was investigated. In line with the original GME model, working memory ability was a unique predictor of children’s use of gesture above and beyond impacts of age, math knowledge, inhibitory control, and gender. While there is not any evidence from the current study to support the proposed moderation between inhibitory control and working memory on gesture use, a modification to the GME model with the addition of gender is subsequently recommended.Item Knowing to Ask and Asking to Know: The Reciprocal Nature of Inquiry and Selectivity(2021) Gibbs, Hailey Margaret; Butler, Lucas P.; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Children are resourceful learners, capable of learning about the world both through hands-on experience and by engaging with other members of their communities. Questions play a particularly central role in children’s early learning, allowing them targeted, direct access to what others know. In this study, children aged 4-7 were presented with animations of puppet characters playing a Question Game in which one character reliably asks more efficient questions than the other. In three generalization trials, children were asked to extend their judgments of the characters’ questioning abilities to determine which character would be more reliable, which would be a better teacher, and which would be a more competent problem-solver. Children as young as 4 were able to identify the more efficient questioner and could generate their own overall assessment of a character’s questioning ability given previous experience with their use of strategy. Children did not generalize questioning strategy to reliability, but they did appear to view better questioners as broadly more knowledgeable and more competent. The extent to which children justified their choices by referencing relative information gain did not predict their identification of a better questioner in the generalization trials, though it did increase significantly with age and was significantly predicted by their scores in the Question Game. This suggests that, with age, children become more adept both at identifying better questions and in providing cogent explanations for their reasoning. Future work is needed to explore older age groups and develop strategies to help children make direct connections between questioning strategy and relative information gain.Item Integrative Learning as a Developmental Process: A Grounded Theory of College Students' Experiences in Integrative Studies(2007-05-16) Brown Leonard, Bonne Jean; McEwen, Marylu K.; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this grounded theory study was to learn how students in an explicitly integrative learning environment make meaning of and understand integrative learning. The research questions that guided this study included: Do students experience integrative learning? If so, how do students experience integrative learning, and which experiences do students identify as contributing to their ability to integrate? What challenges and successes do students experience with integrative learning? Consistent with constructivist grounded theory methodology (Charmaz, 2000, 2006). I developed an emerging theory about students' experiences with integrative learning that is grounded in the data. I interviewed 10 students enrolled in an Integrative Studies program at a university in the greater Washington, DC region. Students in this study defined integrative learning very broadly. To capture the range of learning described by students, I created a continuum of different forms of integration that vary by complexity: application, comparison, understanding context, and synthesis. A developmental theory of integrative learning emerged from this study. Students engaged in the least complex form of integration, application, by finding their coursework personally relevant and applying what they learn to their own lives. Through class discussion and reading students identified multiple perspectives, which led to integration as comparison. When different perspectives are in conflict, students began to engage in integration as understanding context. Context is an important consideration when evaluating competing claims and evaluating arguments. By reconciling conflict, students may reach the most complex form of integration: synthesis. Students needed to wrestle with the ambiguity and complexity and resist automatically adopting an externally provided solution from a trusted authority figure. Students in this study rarely if ever reached synthesis, but they agreed that it was an ideal. Students' level of cognitive complexity as well as their pattern of Integrative Studies course work affected students' progress with integrative learning. By listening to student voices, I learned about the Integrative Studies program as students experience it and compared it to faculty expectations. This study both celebrates program strengths and offers recommendations for improvement. I discuss the implications of this for future research and higher education practice.