Back to Search Start Over

Equivalence in Symbolic and Nonsymbolic Contexts: Benefits of Solving Problems with Manipulatives

Authors :
Sherman, Jody
Bisanz, Jeffrey
Source :
Journal of Educational Psychology. Feb 2009 101(1):88-100.
Publication Year :
2009

Abstract

Children's failure on equivalence problems (e.g., 5 + 4 = 7 + __) is believed to be the result of misunderstanding the equal sign and has been tested using symbolic problems (including "="). For Study 1 (N = 48), we designed a nonsymbolic method for presenting equivalence problems to determine whether Grade 2 children's difficulty is due to the presence of symbols or to a more fundamental misunderstanding of equivalence. Children's superior performance on nonsymbolic versus symbolic problems suggests that children fail to map their understanding of equivalence onto problems presented with the symbols of arithmetic. For Study 2 (N = 32), we implemented a within-subject design to assess whether experience with nonsymbolic problems would facilitate performance on symbolic problems. This hypothesis was confirmed. Exposure to nonsymbolic problems may have enabled children to map their successful concepts and strategies to symbolic equivalence problems. (Contains 6 figures and 1 table.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
0022-0663
Volume :
101
Issue :
1
Database :
ERIC
Journal :
Journal of Educational Psychology
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
EJ829236
Document Type :
Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013156