The effect of a numeration learning hierarchy on mathematic attitudes in kindergarten children

Date

1980

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Abstract

The present study examined two research dimensions. First, the study investigated the question of whether kindertarten children who are taught number concepts using a curriculum based on a numeration learning hierarchy have a significantly more positive attitude towards mathematics than kindergarten children who are taught number concepts using curriculum not based on a numeration learning hierarchy. Inherent to this major research focus were two other questions concerning the reliability of measurement and the factors which underlie the attitudes toward mathematics in kindergarten children. Studies and current literature suggest that subject-related attitudes are formed early in children, that attitudes vary, and that attitudes are resistant to change. Positive attitudes toward mathematics have not been adequately studied and ivestigations examining affective variables are similarly scarce in early childhood research.The research hypothesis posited in this study was: Mean mathematics attitude scores will be significantly different in kindergarten students receiving instruction with a curriculum based on a numeration learning hierarchy, than the mean mathematics attitude scores of students not receiving instruction in a curriculum based on a numeration learning hierarchy. This entailed the adaptation and development of scales in a pilot study which lead to the research instrument with a reliability of r = .94, that assessed the two dependent variables. Self Affirmation of Mathematics and Fear of Mathematics in this study. The dual bases for the sdaptation of the instrument were the constructs of the Revised Aiken-Dreger Attitude toward Mathematics Scale (1968) and the concrete response modality of the Student Evaluation of Teachers Instrument by Hoak, Kleiber, and Peck (1972). [...]

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Keywords

Mathematics--Study and teaching (Preschool)

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