Improving parental engagement in early mathematics learning.

本研究旨在探讨幼儿的校外数学学习互动，并探讨幼儿在基础阶段的成功数学学习。它将讨论早期教师如何鼓励家庭和学校之间的数学学习的积极互动和协调的问题。人们普遍认为，父母和家庭是儿童的主要教育者，并负责为他们的学习和发展奠定社会和智力基础(West等人，1998)。父母的支持有利于儿童学习的方方面面，包括他们的算术能力发展(Melhuish等人，2008年)。已经研究了各种不同的贡献；例如，Fan和Williams(2010)表明父母参与课外活动的频率，包括体育活动和假期，与孩子的自我效能感和数学成就呈正相关；Chiu和Silhua(2008)表明，在家里提供学习资源和活动，如书籍、音乐和讨论日常生活，同样与孩子的数学成绩提高有关。虽然研究研究普遍同意父母对孩子的数学学习有重要影响，但证据也表明，提高父母参与的干预很少成功(Gorard&Huat See，2013)。Gorard和Huat See对父母参与干预的元分析发现，任何积极影响的证据都是有限的，而一些证据表明是负面影响。Patall等人(2008年)发现，父母对家庭作业的参与与孩子的阅读成绩呈正相关，但父母参与对孩子的数学成绩的影响是负相关的。这可能与这项关于不同形式的父母参与家庭作业的不同影响的荟萃分析的另一项发现有关。当家长直接参与作业内容时，对孩子的学业成绩有正向影响。然而，当参与仅仅是监督作业完成时，就会产生负面影响。文献中其他地方的研究(例如，Peters，Seed，Goldstein，&Coleman，2008)表明，父母可能会发现，由于他们自己对数学的态度和成就水平，在孩子的数学作业上提供支持和帮助比在阅读和写作等其他学科领域更困难。研究问题：早期教师如何鼓励父母参与儿童的数学学习？有什么有希望的情境引导干预措施来提高父母对儿童早期数学学习的参与度？能否设计有效的干预措施来提高父母在学前班和接受班中对儿童数学学习的参与度？方法在以往研究的基础上，该项目将采用参与式设计方法，与教师和家长合作开发研讨会，以提高家长的参与度。它将包括半结构化的个人或小组访谈的初始阶段，以探索早期教师和家长对这个年龄段的数学学习的需求和看法。这一阶段将为项目的设计和评价阶段提供信息。抽样将确保学生群体和教师经验的多样性。设计和评价阶段将采用参与式设计研究方法，采用反复设计、测试和完善资源和活动的循环，用户群体包括教师和家长。

AbstractThis project aims to explore children's mathematics learning interaction out-of-school and investigate successful mathematics learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will address questions regarding how Early Years teachers can encourage positive interactions and coordination of mathematics learning between home and school. It is hoped that this research will contribute to knowledge of parental-engagement in early mathematics learning and lead to more effective interventions to improve parental engagement in this area.BackgroundIt is widely recognised that parents and families are the primary educators of children and are responsible for laying down the social and intellectual foundations for their learning and development (West et al., 1998). Parental support benefits all aspects of children's learning, including their numeracy development (Melhuish et al., 2008). A variety of different contributions have been studied; for example, Fan and Williams (2010) showed that the frequency with which parents engage with extracurricular activities including sports events and holidays, is positively related with children's self-efficacy and achievement in mathematics, and Chiu and Xihua (2008) showed that provision of learning resources and activity at home, for example, books, music, and discussion of everyday facts, is likewise associated with improvement in children's mathematics achievement.Although research studies generally agree that parents have an important influence on children's mathematics learning, evidence also suggests that interventions to raise attainment of parental involvement are rarely successful (Gorard & Huat See, 2013). Gorard and Huat See's meta-analysis of parental involvement interventions found limited evidence for any positive effect and some evidence of a negative effect. Patall et al., (2008) found a positive correlation between parental involvement in homework and children's achievement in reading but the effect of parental involvement on children's achievement in mathematics was negative. This may relate to another finding of this meta-analysis concerning differential effects of different forms of parental involvement in homework. When parents were directly involved in the content of homework, then there was a positive effect on children's achievement. However, when involvement consisted of simply monitoring homework completion, there was a negative effect. Research from elsewhere in the literature (e.g., Peters, Seeds, Goldstein, & Coleman, 2008) suggests that parents may find it more difficult to provide support and help with children's mathematics homework than in other subject areas, such as reading and writing, because of their own attitudes toward, and levels of achievement in, mathematics.Research questions:How do Early Years teachers encourage parental engagement in children's mathematics learning?What are promising setting-led interventions for improving parental engagement in children's early mathematics learning?Can an effective intervention be designed to improve parental engagement in children's mathematics learning in pre-school and Reception classes? MethodologyBuilding on previous research, this project will employ participatory design methods, working with teachers and parents to develop workshops to improve parental engagement. It will include an initial phase of semi-structured individual or small-group interviews, to explore the needs and perceptions of early years teachers and parents about mathematics learning for this age group. This phase would inform the design and evaluation phases of the project. Sampling will ensure diversity in pupil populations and teacher experience. The design and evaluation phases will draw on participatory design research methods, employing an iterative cycle of designing, testing and refining resources and activities with user groups, including both teachers and parents.