Improving Flexible Attention to Numerical and Spatial Magnitudes in Young Children

数学技能对STEM职业生涯至关重要，也是从财务规划到医疗决策等日常生活中的关键工具。不幸的是，许多学生未能在这些技能上发挥他们的潜力。学龄前儿童在获得对数字的理解时面临的挑战之一是区分数字大小(如三头大象)和空间大小(如一头大象的大小)。先前的研究表明，孩子们往往关注物体的大小，而不是物体的确切数量(例如，当将3头大象与6只老鼠进行比较时，孩子们经常错误地说大象的数量比老鼠多)。灵活地注意数字和空间大小，然后确定哪些大小与给定情况相关的能力被称为“灵活注意大小”(FAM)。该项目旨在了解幼儿对大小技能的灵活注意的发展，以及如何最好地通过幼儿时期的具体经验来支持这一发展。这项技能对后来的数学思维是必不可少的，是许多数学活动的重要技能，如数字直线估计和比例推理。拟议的研究旨在确定导致灵活注意幅度(FAM)技能提高的具体机制。这些研究的第一个目的是考察数学语言和视觉经验作为推动幼儿这一技能提高的潜在因果机制的作用。第二个目标是确定提高对数量技能的灵活注意是否对数学成绩有因果影响。第三个目的是测试一项干预是否会导致对数量技能和数学成绩的灵活关注的持久改善，以及对执行功能技能的远距离转移。第四个目标是探索灵活注意对大小教学的影响是否取决于学生的社会经济地位(SES)和初始数字词知识。这些目标将在3-5岁的幼儿中进行测试，通过三项由实验者主导的研究，采用前测-干预-后测设计。每项研究都会将阅读特定类型FAM内容的书籍相互比较，并与积极对照进行比较。研究1将测试数学语言的效果，研究2将考察视觉体验对FAM技能和数学成绩的作用。研究3将考察FAM技能和数学成绩在延迟后测中的增长，并远迁移到执行功能技能上。研究4将汇集研究2和研究3的数据，以提供一个强大的SES和数字知识测试，作为FAM干预效果的调节因素。这些研究将建立FAM技能如何发展和影响其他技能的理论模型，同时为旨在提高儿童数学技能的更大规模干预奠定基础。该项目由NSF的EDU核心研究(ECR)计划支持。ECR计划强调基础STEM教育研究，以产生该领域的基础知识。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，认为值得支持。

Mathematical skills are essential for STEM careers, as well as crucial tools in everyday life, from financial planning to medical decision-making. Unfortunately, many students fail to reach their potential in these skills. One of the challenges that preschool-aged children face when acquiring an understanding of numbers is distinguishing between numerical magnitudes (like three elephants) and spatial magnitudes (like the size of an elephant). Prior research suggests that children often focus on the size of the objects instead of the exact number of objects (for example, when comparing 3 elephants to 6 mice, children often mistakenly say that there is a greater number of elephants than mice). The ability to flexibly pay attention to both numerical and spatial magnitudes and then determine which magnitudes are relevant for a given situation is referred to as “flexible attention to magnitudes” (FAM). This project aims to understand the development of young children’s flexible attention to magnitudes skill and how it can best be supported by specific experiences in early childhood. It is hypothesized that this skill is essential to later mathematical thinking and is an important skill for many mathematical activities, such as number line estimation and proportional reasoning.The proposed studies are designed to identify specific mechanisms that lead to improvements in flexible attention to magnitudes (FAM) skills. The first aim of these studies is to examine the roles of mathematical language and visual experience as potential causal mechanisms that drive improvement in this skill in young children. The second aim is to determine whether improving flexible attention to magnitudes skill has a causal effect on mathematics achievement. The third aim is to test whether an intervention leads to durable improvements in flexible attention to magnitudes skill and mathematics achievement, and far transfer to executive function skills. The fourth aim is to explore whether the impact of flexible attention to magnitudes instruction depends on students’ socioeconomic status (SES) and initial number word knowledge. These aims will be tested with young children ages 3 - 5 years via three experimenter-led studies using pretest-intervention-posttest designs. Each study will compare reading books with specific types of FAM content to each other and to an active control. Study 1 will test the effects of mathematical language and Study 2 will examine the role of visual experience on FAM skill and mathematics achievement. Study 3 will examine gains in FAM skill and mathematics achievement at a delayed post-test, and far transfer to executive function skills. Study 4 will pool data from Studies 2 and 3 to provide a well-powered test of SES and number knowledge as moderators of the effects of FAM intervention. These studies will build a theoretical model of how FAM skill develops and impacts other skills, while simultaneously laying the foundation for larger-scale interventions aimed at improving children’s mathematics skills.This project is supported by NSF's EDU Core Research (ECR) program. 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.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.