Collaborative Research: RAPID: Evaluating the Cognitive and Educational Benefits of Mental Abacus Training

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Mental Abacus is a popular mathematics technique practices primarily in Asian countries in elementary school contexts. Mental abacus students begin by learning to make rapid arithmetic computations on a physical abacus and then learn to imagine moving the beads without the physical device. Young children can then rapidly add, subtract, multiply and divide large numbers. This project will compare mental abacus teaching to two other teaching methods in order to understand how it helps first and second grade students learn to compute and learn conceptual understanding of place value. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development.Prior work indicates the mental abacus computations are connected to visuo-spatial working memory. The project is a randomized experiment to compare the effectiveness of Mental Abacus, Singapore Math Curriculum and business-as-usual curriculum in grades 1 and 2 in multiple elementary schools. Math outcomes will be measured with standardized test scores and four assessments (an in-house arithmetic fluency measure, the WIAT, the Woodcock-Johnson III, and a measure of conceptual understanding of place-value). A battery of cognitive measures and a measure of intervention fidelity will also be included. The project should result in understanding the effectiveness of Mental Abacus as a method for teaching and provide a foundation for larger scale work in the area.