You can count on your fingers: Finger-based intervention improves first-graders' arithmetic learning.
J Exp Child Psychol
; 244: 105934, 2024 Aug.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38714154
ABSTRACT
The question of whether finger use should be encouraged or discouraged in early mathematics instruction remains a topic of debate. Scientific evidence on this matter is scarce due to the limited number of systematic intervention studies. Accordingly, we conducted an intervention study in which first-graders (Mage = 6.48 years, SD = 0.35) completed a finger-based training (18 sessions of â¼ 30 min each) over the course of the first school year. The training was integrated into standard mathematics instruction in schools and compared with business-as-usual curriculum teaching. At the end of first grade and in a follow-up test 9 months later in second grade, children who received the finger training (n = 119) outperformed the control group (n = 123) in written addition and subtraction. No group differences were observed for number line estimation tasks. These results suggest that finger-based numerical strategies can enhance arithmetic learning, supporting the idea of an embodied representation of numbers, and challenge the prevailing skepticism about finger use in primary mathematics education.
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Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Dedos
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Aprendizaje
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Matemática
Límite:
Child
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article