ERIC Number: EJ1040601
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Nov
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0020-7187
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Available Date: N/A
Intuitive and Informal Knowledge in Preschoolers' Development of Probabilistic Thinking
Nikiforidou, Zoi; Pange, Jenny; Chadjipadelis, Theodore
International Journal of Early Childhood, v45 n3 p347-357 Nov 2013
Preschoolers develop a wide range of mathematical informal knowledge and intuitive thinking before they enter formal, goal-oriented education. In their everyday activities young children get engaged with situations that enhance them to develop skills, concepts, strategies, representations, attitudes, constructs and operations concerning a wide range of mathematical notions. Recently there is scientific interest in linking children's informal and formal knowledge in order to provide them with opportunities to avoid biases aiming at formulating, perceiving, reflecting on and exercising probabilistic notions. The current study investigates preschoolers' (N = 90) intuitive understanding of the likelihood of events in a probabilistic task with spinners. Participants, at the age of 4 to 6, are tested on their predictions of the most probable outcome prior to and after an instructive session of reasoning. The probabilistic task, based on constructivist principles, includes methodological alterations concerning the sample space and the themes of the stimuli. Educational implications are further discussed under the general point of view that in order to link informal to formal mathematical learning in preschool classroom, the subject content and the cognitive capacity of children are important to match.
Descriptors: Preschool Children, Intuition, Prior Learning, Probability, Mathematical Aptitude, Task Analysis, Thinking Skills
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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