Good number sense a good marker for good math skills

by William Atkins

Tuesday, 09 September 2008

Page 1 of 2 ! A Johns Hopkins study has found that how well, or poorly, a high school freshman can estimate the number of objects in a group is a good indicator as to how well, or poorly, he or she has done in mathematics as far back as kindergarten. Lead researcher Justin Halberda, along with colleagues Michele Mazzocco and Lisa Feigenson, conducted this study because they wondered if the ability to estimate the number of objects in a group had a direct relationship with a person’s ability to do math. Michèle Mazzocco is an associate professor within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, along with the Director of Math Skills Development Project, in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and researcher at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. Lisa Feigenson is an assistant professor within the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. Therefore, the Halberda team studied 64 fourteen-year-old students. They asked the participants to look at flashing groups of yellow and blue dots on a computer monitor. The students were than asked to estimate which colored dots were more numerous. The researchers found that the subjects had an easy time of identifying the larger group when a small number of one color (say, five yellow dots) was present along with a much larger number of the other color (say, twenty blue dots). However, it was more difficult for the students to determine the larger group from the smaller group when the numbers were more close in quantity. And, this was the key to their study, and their conclusions. The researchers analyzed the students’ performance records in mathematics in their previous years of schooling, through grade school, and as far back as kindergarten. They concluded that the students who were able to better estimate which two groups of colored dots had the most quantity—when they were almost equal in numbers—had a better record of math performance in their earlier years of school. Please read page two << First page <   1 2 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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