Previous research has demonstrated a link between children's ability to name canonical finger configurations and their mathematical abilities. This study aimed to investigate the nature of this association, specifically exploring whether the relationship is skill and handshape specific and identifying the underlying mechanisms involved.…

Estimation supports the development of higher level mathematical thinking and reasoning; however, has received relatively little research attention. We examined whether making predictions influences the accuracy of numerosity estimates in elementary-aged children, and whether the amount of information available to the estimator determines the…

We assessed a range of theoretically critical predictors (numerosity discrimination, number knowledge, counting, language, executive function and finger gnosis) of early arithmetic development in a large unselected sample of 569 children at school entry. Assessments were repeated 12 months later. Although all predictors (except finger gnosis) were…

Children display an early sensitivity to implicit proportions (e.g., 1 of 5 apples vs. 3 of 4 apples), but have considerable difficulty in learning the explicit, symbolic proportions denoted by fractions (e.g., "1/5" vs. "3/4"). Theoretically, reducing the gap between representations of implicit versus explicit proportions…

This purpose of this quasi-experimental, ex-post facto study was to examine the effect of SpringMath as a classwide intervention for students in grades kindergarten through second grade within one elementary school. In order to research the effects of SpringMath on the whole-number computational fluency of kindergarten through second grade…

This study used fraction number line estimation tasks to evaluate students' developmental patterns, and the relationship of such tasks with whole number bias was explored. In total, 189 fourth-grade students in a northern Taiwan elementary school were followed over 2 years. The results demonstrated that the students' fraction learning development…

Children's early accuracy on place value (PV) tasks longitudinally predicts their later multidigit calculation skills. However, another window into children's emerging base-ten concepts is the pattern of errors -- "smart errors" -- they exhibit on these measures. Past research has speculated that these smart errors -- similar to invented…

Place value is one of the 'big ideas' in number and plays a critical role in helping students develop their number sense, problem solving and computation skills. Yet, the elegant simplicity of our place value system belies the abstract nature of the construct. This paper presents data from 606 Year 3-6 students (ages 8-12) from two metropolitan…

This study investigates students' and adults' performance in judging reasonableness of computational results, namely reflecting on whether these results qualify as acceptable answers to mathematical tasks. Data was gathered via task-based questionnaires from 160 participants, evenly divided between fifth-graders and adults. Their responses to a…

The usage of digital media, especially tablet apps, is currently a major concern in educational settings. A controversial discussion is also taking place in relation to mathematics education at primary schools. While on the one hand there are empirical findings on helpful isolated examples and related subject-didactic potentials of digital media,…

Computational estimation is seen as an important mathematical competence. Little is known, however, about the mathematical skills that are predictive of early computational estimation development. The current study longitudinally followed a group of about 350 children at four time points: second (K2, 4-year-olds) and third grades of kindergarten…

Although the roles of symbolic numerical magnitude processing (SNMP) and working memory (WM) in mathematics performance are well acknowledged, studies examining their joint effects are few. Here, we investigated the profiles of SNMP (1- and 2-digit comparison) and WM (verbal, visual and central executive) among Norwegian first graders (N = 256),…

We investigated whether three interventions -- studying incorrect worked examples, studying correct worked examples, or receiving feedback -- improved children's 0-1,000 (Experiment 1) and adults' 1 thousand--1 billion (Experiment 2) number-line estimation precision relative to a no intervention control group. At pretest, participants estimated…

As elementary students begin to program using tangible blocks, they must coordinate their use of counting with the movements, directions, and numbers they use to move a character. In our study, we analyzed 13 first graders' first attempts at coordinating these elements when playing a programming game on the iPad that used tangible programming…

This study examines the core predictors of the covariance in reading and arithmetic fluency and the domain-general cognitive skills that explain the core predictors and covariance. Seven-year-old Finnish children (N = 200) were assessed on rapid automatized naming (RAN), phonological awareness, letter knowledge, verbal counting, number writing,…