Human Development & Quantitative Methodology
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2248
The departments within the College of Education were reorganized and renamed as of July 1, 2011. This department incorporates the former departments of Measurement, Statistics & Evaluation; Human Development; and the Institute for Child Study.
Browse
2 results
Search Results
Item The influence of home environmental factors on kindergarten children’s addition strategy use(Frontiers, 2023-01-11) DePascale, Mary; Jaeggi, Susanne M.; Ramani, Geetha B.Young children vary widely in their levels of math knowledge, their abilities to solve math problems, and the strategies they use to solve math problems. As much of later math builds on children’s early understanding of basic math facts and problem-solving strategies, understanding influences on children’s early problem solving is important. Few studies, however, have examined the home environment in relation to children’s strategy use during arithmetic problems. We examined how both structural characteristics of children’s home environments, such as socioeconomic status (SES), as well as the learning environment, such as engagement in math and literacy activities at home, related to their use of problem-solving strategies for numerical addition problems. Kindergarten children from diverse backgrounds completed a measure of addition problem solving and strategy use, including simple and complex numerical problems. Strategies were coded based on a combination of accuracy and strategy sophistication, with higher scores indicating problems solved correctly with more sophisticated strategies. Parents completed a home activities questionnaire, reporting the frequency with which they and their child had engaged in math and literacy activities at home over the past month. An exploratory factor analysis identified three components of the home activities - a basic activities factor, an advanced math activities factor, and a literacy activities factor. Findings indicated that SES related to children’s strategy sophistication, and frequency of engaging in advanced math and literacy activities at home predicted strategy sophistication, however, engaging in activities at home did not moderate the relations between SES and strategy sophistication. This suggests that family engagement in activities at home may promote early arithmetic skills, and that the role of home environmental characteristics should be considered in children’s arithmetic strategy use and performance over development.Item Promoting Children's Early Mathematical and Statistical Understanding Through Parent-Child Math Games(2022) DePascale, Mary; Ramani, Geetha; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Basic statistical literacy is essential for understanding and making inferences from information received from external sources and for developing critical thinking skills necessary for engagement in real-world contexts. However, many children and adults struggle with understanding and interpreting data and graphs. Therefore, it is critical to develop engaging, effective methods for teaching early graphing and data analysis, as they have the potential to enhance children’s development of statistical understanding, math, and higher-order thinking skills that remain essential throughout their lifespan. Math games are a common method for teaching math in a way that is engaging and effective for young children. However, few studies have examined games for math content beyond numerical skills. The current study examined the effectiveness of a home-based, experimental graphing game intervention for children’s statistical understanding and math skills. One-hundred-forty-eight 5- to 6-year-old children and their parent were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: graphing board game, graphing card game, or literacy board game, and completed a pretest, 4-week intervention, and posttest. At each test session, children completed statistical understanding and math ability measures. During the intervention, parents and children played games together in their home. Game materials were mailed to families, and families video recorded a session of gameplay at the midpoint of the intervention. Parent and child use of numerical, mathematical, and statistical talk during play were examined. Children in the graphing game conditions improved more than children in the literacy game condition on measures of statistical understanding and arithmetic. Families who played graphing games used more number and math talk during play than families who played literacy games. Talk during play did not relate to gains in statistical understanding or math abilities. These findings provide initial evidence on the effectiveness of games for promoting children’s early statistical understanding, as well as descriptive information about children’s early graphing skills and parent and child engagement in graphing games at home. Results also support the development of play-based interventions and materials to promote children’s early mathematical and statistical skills, with implications for children’s later development and achievement.