Testing the role of symbols in preschool numeracy: An experimental computer-based intervention study

Numeracy is of critical importance for scholastic success and modern-day living, but the precise mechanisms that drive its development are poorly understood. Here we used novel experimental training methods to begin to investigate the role of symbols in the development of numeracy in preschool-aged children. We assigned pre-school children in the U.S. and Italy (N = 215; Mean age = 49.15 months) to play one of five versions of a computer-based numerical comparison game for two weeks. The different versions of the game were equated on basic features of gameplay and demands but systematically varied in numerical content. Critically, some versions included non-symbolic numerical comparisons only, while others combined non-symbolic numerical comparison with symbolic aids of various types. Before and after training we assessed four components of early numeracy: counting proficiency, non-symbolic numerical comparison, one-to-one correspondence, and arithmetic set transformation. We found that overall children showed improvement in most of these components after completing these short trainings. However, children trained on numerical comparisons with symbolic aids made larger gains on assessments of one-to-one correspondence and arithmetic transformation compared to children whose training involved non-symbolic numerical comparison only. Further exploratory analyses suggested that, although there were no major differences between children trained with verbal symbols (e.g., verbal counting) and non-verbal visuo-spatial symbols (i.e., abacus counting), the gains in one-to-one correspondence may have been driven by abacus training, while the gains in non-verbal arithmetic transformations may have been driven by verbal training. These results provide initial evidence that the introduction of symbols may contribute to the emergence of numeracy by enhancing the capacity for thinking about exact equality and the numerical effects of set transformations. More broadly, this study provides an empirical basis to motivate further focused study of the processes by which children’s mastery of symbols influences children’s developing mastery of numeracy.

Testing the role of symbols in preschool numeracy: An experimental computer-based intervention study

Numeracy is of critical importance for scholastic success and modern-day living, but the precise mechanisms that drive its development are poorly understood. Here we used novel experimental training methods to begin to investigate the role of symbols in the development of numeracy in preschool-aged children. We assigned pre-school children in the U.S. and Italy (N = 215; Mean age = 49.15 months) to play one of five versions of a computer-based numerical comparison game for two weeks. The different versions of the game were equated on basic features of gameplay and demands but systematically varied in numerical content. Critically, some versions included non-symbolic numerical comparisons only, while others combined non-symbolic numerical comparison with symbolic aids of various types. Before and after training we assessed four components of early numeracy: counting proficiency, non-symbolic numerical comparison, one-to-one correspondence, and arithmetic set transformation. We found that overall children showed improvement in most of these components after completing these short trainings. However, children trained on numerical comparisons with symbolic aids made larger gains on assessments of one-to-one correspondence and arithmetic transformation compared to children whose training involved non-symbolic numerical comparison only. Further exploratory analyses suggested that, although there were no major differences between children trained with verbal symbols (e.g., verbal counting) and non-verbal visuo-spatial symbols (i.e., abacus counting), the gains in one-to-one correspondence may have been driven by abacus training, while the gains in non-verbal arithmetic transformations may have been driven by verbal training. These results provide initial evidence that the introduction of symbols may contribute to the emergence of numeracy by enhancing the capacity for thinking about exact equality and the numerical effects of set transformations. More broadly, this study provides an empirical basis to motivate further focused study of the processes by which children’s mastery of symbols influences children’s developing mastery of numeracy.

To What Factors do University Students Attribute Their Academic Success?

This study explores the attributions to which undergraduate university students ascribe academic achievement. Attribution theory was used as a means to understand scholastic success-failure. The questions that guided the study were the following: What are the causal attributions that predominate in students' academic achievement? Is there a difference between male and female students? Is there a difference if average grades and the number of failed subjects, factored as benchmarks of academic achievement, are considered? Do the measured attributions have any weight when predicting students’ grades? A Likert scale measuring eight different attributions of academic achievement was applied to 165 students. The results showed that the most important attribution for academic achievement was intelligence. Sex-related differences were found in two attributes: calm and effort. In general, students with four failed subjects were those with the lowest averages measured in attributions. The variables that predicted good grades for male students were effort and good teachers, for female students, a liking for teachers, luck, and attention.

Nurturing Environmental Transformation and Scholastic Success in Northern Manitoba

Effective non-traditional approaches to environmental lesson delivery and enrollee evaluation remain ephemeral in northern Manitoba as indicated by negative local attitudes towards imported and metropolitanized instruction (Martin, 2014; Mercredi, 2009). Current pandemic aside, and as increased attrition and abysmal failure rates have not changed in decades, there is relevance in exploring the experiential context and local implications of an inductive student model intended to improve remote environmental understanding and scholastic performance. To help prevent perpetuating a dis-order in which Indigenous expressions are neither recognized nor developed, learning experiences of University College of the North (UCN) students concerning regional freshwater availability and the calculation of stream flow were documented. Using componential analysis and participatory video as a mediating technology, allied empirical test scores and codified normative elements of self and environmental ‘awareness’ in traditional classrooms versus boreal settings were examined. Three exploratory factor axes explained more than 50% of the variance from an integrated but diverse set of 27 chosen variables. Titled axes declining in order of importance were Environmental Engagement, Scholastic Scoring and Non-Conventional Lesson Delivery. Seventy percent of unsolicited adult student responses suggest moralization and unique meta-ethical quale were undeniably and academically important. Empirical-‘ized’ findings advocate UCN must now ask which aspects of curriculum design, lesson delivery and enrollee assessment might result in greater scholastic success when nurturing personalized transformations in the milieu of ongoing threats to both freshwater sustainability and Cree safeguarding paradigms in northern Manitoba.

EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD: A MAJOR LEVER FOR THE HEALTHY AND BALANCED DEVELOPMENT OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

The early childhood is considered as one of the decisive stages in a child’s life. It’s viewed as the first building block that shapes the child’s personality in all its aspects, as this is when the child begins to deal with his external surrounding. Moreover, during this period the child's awareness grows towards autonomy. He starts to rely on himself in his actions and movement confidently. What the child experiences in his first years, shapes all his upcoming learnings. For instance, during the preschool, the child starts acquiring new principles and grasps some abstract concepts like solidarity, participation, socialization … The institution also works on promoting all the skills which are related to artistic creativity, recreational and educational activities. And since the intervention at this stage has a great impact on the child’s scholastic success, Its consequences positively affect the child’s health and behavior, as well as his cognitive and mental development. Thus, the recent studies have shed light on the child's cognitive development in early stages. And focused mainly on understanding and identifying the factors affecting this development. A reference should be made that the child's cognitive development is crucially related scholastic success. That’s to say, by promoting the executive functions (inhibition - cognitive flexibility – memory – planning and organizing…) at the very early childhood stage is regarded as the cornerstone for building a child’s cognitive skills and acquiring social behavior. This research study aims to explore the children’s executive functions state at their early childhood stage (preschool children) in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses which needs intervention. The study was implemented by using the CHILDHOOD EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING INVENTORY (CHEXI) FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS. The study participant were 150 children, divided among 10 educators in the second preparatory level at 4 different schools. The latter are part of (The Moroccan Foundation for the Promotion of preSchool education) in the Rabat region. It was concluded that the executive functions of preschool children still need further reinforcement and development by setting up an intervention program.

Diversity in osteopathic medical school admissions and the COMPASS program

In the United States, the 37 colleges of osteopathic medicine and 154 schools of allopathic medicine face challenges in recruiting underrepresented minority (URM) applicants, and gaps in racial disparity appear to be widening. In this Special Communication, the authors describe a URM recruitment and support strategy undertaken in 2015 through a special interest group called Creating Osteopathic Minority Physicians who Achieve Scholastic Success (COMPASS) at the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine—New York.

Assessing the Multidimensionality of Students’ Learning Orientations: The Use of LO-COMPASS for the Well-being and Scholastic Success

The twofold aim of the present study is to identify specific cluster-profiles of the learning orientations measured by «LO-COMPASS: Learning Orientation-Cognition Metacognition Participation Assessment»; and to create a psychometric rule to cluster the raw scores obtained by the student at the LO-COMPASS factorial dimensions into a specific cluster-profile. 183 middle-school students (91 males and 92 females) validly completed the original version of the LO-COMPASS Questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis and cluster analysis were conducted. LO-COMPASS measures four factors of students’ learning orientations. Furthermore, the instrument has been furnished with a psychometric rule to cluster the raw scores obtained by the student at the LO-COMPASS factorial dimensions into two profiles. The application of LO-COMPASS will allow educational psychologists and teachers to analyze middle-school students’ difficulties and problems, as well as strengths in their motivation to learn. The instrument will be useful at multiple levels: prevention, intervention, evaluation.

A Comparative Study of Teacher Effectiveness of Secondary School Teachers of Sonepat District

The teaching profession is a highly sophisticated profession that regularly reaches out past academics. Besides ensuring that students experience scholastic success, teachers must also work as surrogate parents, guides and counselors, and even almost-politicians. There is almost no limit to the jobs a teacher may play. The purpose of the present study was to study the teacher effectiveness of secondary school teachers of Sonepat district. For this study, a sample of 120 secondary school teachers was selected. The teacher effectiveness scale developed by Puri and Gakhar (2010) was used to measure teachers’ teaching effectiveness. The study’s findings revealed no significant difference between the teacher effectiveness of male and female secondary teachers of Sonepat district. It also revealed that gender does not affect teaching efficiency or effectiveness.

The Effect of Motivation and Self-Efficacy on Math Studies in the Israeli Ministry of Education's Program "Give Five"

Studying mathematics is an essential condition for acquiring an education in most fields such as all exact sciences, financial sphere, programming, etc. It enables students to choose from among a large variety of professions with significantly high chances of academic admission, mainly in fields such as engineering, natural sciences, and technology, as well as in a considerable part of the social sciences Hence, studying mathematics in high school is a critical and key factor for continued studies and for integration in many professions in the Israeli workforce. The current study sought to expand knowledge on the effect of students' psychological feelings, such as motivation and self-efficacy, in light of the "Give Five" reform initiated by the Ministry of Education implemented in 2015. The study examined the effects of the "Give Five" reform on student motivation and self-efficacy, while examining whether these influences were gender-dependent. The study confirmed a positive correlation between the degree of motivation to study mathematics and the level of self-efficacy, and no difference was found between males and females in their level of motivation and self-efficacy. Future recommendations include research into the significance of motivation and self-efficacy as a major determinant of scholastic success.

Wirrawi Bubuwul – Aboriginal Women Strong

The scholastic success of Bolongaia (Maria Lock), at the Parramatta Native Institution in 1819, arguably positions her as an academic giant. Bolongaia’s exam results challenged the opinions of the day when she ‘bore away the chief prize’. Bolongaia’s academic success was based purely on her acquisition of western based knowledges and values. In contrast, I was awarded a Masters of Indigenous Education in 2016. This academic achievement draws attention to a significant change in the positioning of Aboriginal Knowledges in the academy. This article is a letter to my ancestral grandmother, Bolongaia, to tell her about the Aboriginal women who have challenged the status quo of western based educational frameworks and research paradigms. This article honours the Aboriginal women who have paved a way for Aboriginal knowledges in mainstream educational institutions in ways that Bolongaia was unable to experience and perhaps even imagine in her lifetime.