Shape Up Preschoolers Geometric Sense Predicts Future Mathematics Achievement

塑造学龄前儿童的几何感预测未来的数学成就

• 批准号: 7820685
• 负责人: Roberta Michnick Golinkoff
• 金额: $ 46.96万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-30 至 2011-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7820685
• 关键词: Achievement; Address; Age; Americas; Architecture; Attention; Child; Cognition; Competence; Coupled; Development; Discipline; Early identification; Educational Curriculum; Educational process of instructing; Engineering; Environmental Risk Factor; Eye; Fostering; Foundations; Future; Gender; Head Start Program; Intelligence; International; Intervention; Knowledge; Learning; Mathematics; Measures; Names; Nature; Nursery Schools; Occupations; Outcome; Performance; Preschool Child; Process; Production; Property; Readiness; Research; Schools; Science; Shapes; Socioeconomic Factors; Socioeconomic Status; Technology; Time; Validation; Visual; Visuospatial; Vocabulary; Work; design; evidence base; follow-up; foot; gaze; innovation; kindergarten; mathematical ability; novel; public health relevance; skills; spatial relationship; standardize measure; success; teacher

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this longitudinal research is to develop an assessment of 36- to 38-month-old children's knowledge of fundamental geometric spatial and shape concepts in order to predict to standardized and normed mathematical and spatial assessments at the age of 50 to 52 months, as children are on the verge of entering school. This study fills significant gaps in our understanding of a) the relation of early geometric competence to math readiness at school entry; b) the process by which children gain sensitivity to geometric forms and their properties; and c) the contribution of socioeconomic status to the development of foundational STEM abilities. The proposed research represents an original approach to characterizing the relation of geometric-spatial knowledge to mathematical ability in preschool children and is a critical prerequisite to the creation of curricular interventions on geometric knowledge. This study is impelled by the fact that both the Head Start Preschool Outcomes Framework and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten identify specific competencies needed for success in mathematics: "the ability to recognize, compare, and name common shapes...put together and take apart shapes," and "build pictures and designs by combining two- and three-dimensional shapes." Thus, our research directly addresses the development of those skills broadly considered to be crucial to starting a child on a successful trajectory of STEM learning. The first study, conducted when children are between 36 and 38 months, asks what children know about geometric forms. This measure will explore preschoolers' knowledge of geometric shapes and their names across diverse visual representations. Coupled with eye gaze-tracking technology we will be able to access both the product and process of their cognition. Central to this research is the development of a novel battery of geometric-spatial tasks designed to assess the ability of children to manipulate geometric forms in space. These tasks access children's geometric skills earlier than has been commonly evaluated. Additionally, vocabulary and number sense will be evaluated to provide IQ and mathematical knowledge controls. These children will then be revisited 14 months later when they are between the ages of 50 to 52 months. In this follow-up session, the children will be given a suite of validation assessments spanning mathematical ability, general intelligence, and visual-spatial ability. Performance at both points will be regressed to evaluate the ability of the novel geometric-spatial battery to predict mathematical ability. The substantial importance of this study is three-fold. First, it establishes the contribution of early geometric-spatial abilities to mathematical abilities prior to school entry. Second, these findings will provide evidence-based support for the development of preschool curricula supporting the STEM disciplines. Finally, the work contributes to the body of research on gender and socioeconomic factors in geometric, spatial, and mathematical knowledge and ability. Public Health Relevance: Little is known about how young children's knowledge of geometric concepts relates to their mathematical abilities. This study follows a group of preschoolers over the course of 14 months and assesses the development their geometric and mathematical ability using a suite of innovative new tasks involving manipulating two- and three-dimensional shapes. The results of this study set the foundation for the creation of preschool curricula that can enhance young children's geometric-spatial skills prior to kindergarten thus starting them on a good foot forward in science, technology, engineering, or math.

描述（由申请人提供）：这项纵向研究的目的是对36至38个月大的儿童对基本几何空间和形状概念的知识进行评估，以预测50至52个月大的儿童即将入学时的标准化和规范的数学和空间评估。本研究填补了我们对a)早期几何能力与入学时数学准备的关系的理解上的重大空白；B，儿童获得对几何形状及其性质的敏感性的过程；c)社会经济地位对基础STEM能力发展的贡献。本研究为描述学前儿童几何空间知识与数学能力之间的关系提供了一种新颖的方法，是创建几何知识课程干预的重要前提。这项研究是由学前教育成果框架和全国数学教师委员会，学前教育课程重点确定数学成功所需的特定能力所推动的：“识别、比较和命名常见形状的能力……把形状拼在一起，把形状拆开”，以及“通过组合二维和三维形状来构建图片和设计”。因此，我们的研究直接解决了这些技能的发展，这些技能被广泛认为是让孩子走上成功的STEM学习轨道的关键。第一项研究是在孩子36到38个月大的时候进行的，询问孩子们对几何形状的了解程度。这项测试将通过不同的视觉表征来探索学龄前儿童对几何形状及其名称的知识。再加上眼球追踪技术，我们将能够获得他们认知的产品和过程。这项研究的核心是开发一套新的几何空间任务，旨在评估儿童在空间中操纵几何形式的能力。这些任务比通常评估的更早地接触到儿童的几何技能。此外，词汇和数字感将被评估，以提供智商和数学知识控制。14个月后，当这些孩子年龄在50到52个月之间时，我们会对他们进行再次检查。在接下来的课程中，孩子们将接受一系列验证性评估，包括数学能力、一般智力和视觉空间能力。在这两点上的表现将被回归，以评估新型几何空间电池预测数学能力的能力。这项研究的实质重要性有三个方面。首先，它确定了早期几何空间能力对入学前数学能力的贡献。其次，这些发现将为支持STEM学科的学前课程的开发提供循证支持。最后，这项工作有助于研究几何、空间和数学知识和能力中的性别和社会经济因素。