Abstract/Notes: Schools following the Montessori method use individual and small-group teaching methods and hands-on, concrete materials to provide a basis for deep learning of mathematical concepts. Schools with a mostly traditional approach to mathematics teaching mainly use large-group lecture methods with little use of manipulative materials. This study investigated the understanding of place value concepts and abilities of Montessori students by comparing task responses of 93 students in grades 1-3 in a Montessori school (n=47) and in a mostly traditional comparison school (n=46). Data collection included clinical interviews with each student. The theoretical framework used in the study was taken from Zoltan Dienes, a mathematician, who believed that mathematics is learned and created by forming layers of abstract generalizations. Interview tasks were both gathered from the literature and created by the researcher. Procedural tasks included those that asked students to count, to identify the value of digits in a number, and to use the standard addition algorithm for multidigit numbers. Conceptual tasks included those that required students to solve two-digit addition and missing addend questions with and without materials and to solve word problems involving three- and four-digit numbers. Some tasks included large numbers into the thousands because Dienes' framework calls for increasingly abstract generalizations, which for place value means larger and larger numbers.

Language: English

Published: Columbus, Ohio, 2000

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether students in a kindergarten/first-grade multiage class achieve at a different level than students enrolled in a traditional kindergarten or first-grade class in a selected primary school in East Tennessee. The question of the interaction between gender and type of instruction was also analyzed. The causal comparative quantitative research method was used to analyze data differentiating between students enrolled in multiage and traditional classes, retrospectively. A t-test was used to determine the level of performance the students demonstrated on the BRIGANCE K Screen at the beginning of the study. The number of mastered first-grade reading skills and mathematics skills, the score on the system-wide first-grade reading test and mathematics test, and gender interaction with type of instruction in each area were analyzed using ANCOVAs. Statistically significant results (pBRIGANCE 1 Screen(ANCOVA). In 1998, the combined males scored significantly higher than the combined females. In 1999, multiage males had significantly higher means than traditional males. ANCOVA results showed statistically significant difference in the number of mastered reading skills of the multiage students in 1998 as well as with the combination of all three years. The multiage mean was the higher of the two groups all three years. For the number of mastered mathematics skills, ANCOVA results showed a statistically significant difference in 1999 with the multiage scores higher than the traditional group. ANCOVA results showed no significant difference between the groups on the standardized reading and mathematics tests analyzed. Findings indicate that kindergarten students may benefit from kindergarten classes in a multiage setting, and that first-grade students may benefit from multiage settings in mastering skills in reading and mathematics but that benefit is not necessarily demonstrated by standardized test scores.

Language: English

Published: Johnson City, Tennessee, 2001

Language: English

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: With the passing of NCLB in 2001, pedagogy in the kindergarten classroom has changed exponentially. The requirement for a rigorous academic curriculum has replaced the play-based learning that used to be synonymous with the kindergarten classroom. Since the beginning of kindergarten, researchers have worked to prove the importance of play in the classroom and the role of the educator in these play-based learning scenarios. Many studies have found a correlation between play and child development, but this has not been enough to change the minds of educators and school districts across the United States. This qualitative case study explored teachers’ perceptions and classroom interactions during play through a triangulation of data including video recordings, interviews, and observations to explore the effect play might have on the social, emotional, and oral language development of kindergarten students in a district that is already implementing free play centers in the classroom. Varying beliefs among the educators and multiple scenarios of social, emotional, and oral language development skills being used by students during these free play sessions were explored. Key themes that emerged from the data included a range of understanding amongst the teachers, the need for regular professional development on how to implement play in the classroom, and the importance dramatic play has on social, emotional, and oral language development for kindergarten students.

Language: English

Published: Springfield, Missouri, 2022

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of the present quasi-experimental mixed-methods study was to examine the effects of an Intercultural Competence Intervention with Self-Regulatory Prompts (ICI-SRP) on elementary students’ development of intercultural knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and their self-efficacy beliefs in self-regulating their intercultural learning, and to investigate the ways in which self-regulatory prompts (SRP) influence elementary students’ activation of self-regulatory strategies in intercultural learning. Twenty (N=20) Montessori elementary students from two Montessori schools participated in four sessions of an intercultural exercise, in which only the experimental group were given SRP. It was hypothesized that the experimental group’s use of SRP would further enhance the participants’ development of intercultural knowledge, skills, and attitudes and their self-efficacy beliefs in self-regulating their intercultural learning. Quantitative data collected from the ICI-SRP survey was analyzed by conducting a univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) for each of its four subscales and was used to examine the effects of SRP on the students’ development of intercultural competence (IC) and self-efficacy beliefs in self-regulating intercultural learning. Qualitative data collected from focus groups was analyzed using the constant comparative method to shed light on the ways in which SRP influence the students’ activation of self-regulatory strategies in intercultural learning. Results from the ANCOVA did not support the hypothesis, as they showed non-statistically significant differences between the development of intercultural knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and the self-efficacy beliefs in self-regulating intercultural learning in both groups. Results from the ANCOVA showed numerical increases in intercultural knowledge, skills, and attitudes in both groups, and numerical decreases in the self-efficacy beliefs in self-regulating intercultural learning in both groups. Findings from the analysis of the focus group data were mostly aligned with the data from the ANCOVA. Data from the focus groups shed light on different types of IC knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and different types of planning and monitoring applied by participants of both groups. The overall findings of the present study suggest that it is likely for elementary aged students to develop IC through intercultural exercises, and that SRP may support that development under certain conditions. The findings of the study may contribute to the development of elementary students’ intercultural learning methods and tools.

Language: English

Published: Fairfax, Virginia, 2022

Language: Dutch

Abstract/Notes: 由于教学对象的特殊性,培智数学教学存在难以找到合适的教材、难以统一进度、教学时间被割裂等难题.而蒙台梭利教学法有丰富的教具,教具蕴含丰富的学科知识,教具的可操作性强和学生控制教学进度等特点解决了培智数学教学中的难题,值得在培智数学教学中应用.但在实际的教学过程中也需要对蒙氏教学法进行一定的调整,以便发挥更好的效果.

Language: Chinese

ISSN: 1004-8014

Abstract/Notes: Class meetings, community building

Language: English