Children's Conceptual Knowledge Research Articles

Children's attention to numerical quantities relates to verbal number knowledge: An introduction to the Build-A-Train task.

Which dimension of a set of objects is more salient to young children: number or size? The 'Build-A-Train' task was developed and used to examine whether children spontaneously use a number or physical size approach on an un-cued matching task. In the Build-A-Train task, an experimenter assembles a train using one to five blocks of a particular length and asks the child to build the same train. The child's blocks differ in length from the experimenter's blocks, causing the child to build a train that matches based on either the number of blocks or length of the train, as it is not possible to match on both. One hundred and nineteen children between 2 years 2 months and 6 years 0months of age (M=4.05, SD=0.84) completed the Build-A-Train task, and the Give-a-Number task, a classic task used to assess children's conceptual knowledge of verbal number words. Across train lengths and verbal number knowledge levels, children used a number approach more than a size approach on the Build-A-Train task. However, children were especially likely to use a number approach over a size approach when they knew the verbal number word that corresponded to the quantity of blocks in the train, particularly for quantities smaller than four. Therefore, children's attention to number relates to their knowledge of verbal number words. The Build-A-Train task and findings from the current study set a foundation for future longitudinal research to investigate the causal relationship between children's acquisition of symbolic mathematical concepts and attention to number.

Improving Conceptual Knowledge of the Italian Writing System in Kindergarten: A Cluster Randomized Trial.

This study assessed the efficacy of PASSI (Promoting the Achievement of Sound-Sign Integration), an intervention to improve children's conceptual knowledge of the Italian writing system in kindergarten, which is an emergent literacy predictor of reading and spelling acquisition focused on letter-speech sound integration. PASSI implements an embedded-explicit approach in which teachers target specific subskills (reflection on the graphic, symbolic and phonological aspect of written signs) and emphasize children's contextualized interactions with oral and written language. One hundred fifty-nine Italian children participated in this study. Six teachers (and their three respective classes) were randomly assigned to the experimental group, and six teachers were assigned to the control group. All children were tested on the invented spelling of words and numbers, knowledge of the alphabet, orthographic awareness, and drawing twice, before and after the intervention. Children's visual-motor integration skills were also assessed as a control variable. The data were analyzed through the complex samples general linear model (GLM) approach. The results confirmed the efficacy of PASSI in promoting children's conceptual knowledge of the writing system and related emergent literacy skills. Theoretical and educational implications of the results are presented and discussed.

Knowledge claims in cognitive development research: Problems and alternatives

Abstract Children's knowledge is often characterized in short propositional statements, e.g., a child may be claimed to know how counting works . This article analyzes the use of these knowledge claims in cognitive development research on children's understanding of numbers and counting. In this research, attempts to characterize children's knowledge in terms of knowledge claims are repeatedly invalidated by children's inconsistently normative uses of counting. This suggests that rather than describing cognitive structures/states, knowledge claims describe whether, in a certain domain, a person has a disposition to behave normatively (i.e., in a way that fits a consensually established standard of how things are appropriately done). Given that children's developing behavior is, by definition, inconsistently normative, knowledge claims can only characterize what research studies on children's conceptual knowledge presuppose—the incomplete normativity of children's behavior. Following the identification and explanation of this problem, several viable alternative approaches to the study of children's knowledge are described. The diversity of these alternatives reflects the need to disentangle descriptions from explanations, and discursive abstractions about cognitive processes from the processes themselves.

Understanding early elementary children's conceptual knowledge of plant structure and function through drawings.

This study examined children's drawings to explain children's conceptual understanding of plant structure and function. The study explored whether the children's drawings accurately reflect their conceptual understanding about plants in a manner that can be interpreted by others. Drawing, survey, interview, and observational data were collected from 182 students in grades K and 1 in rural southeastern United States. Results demonstrated the children held a wide range of conceptions concerning plant structure and function. These young children held very simple ideas about plants with respect to both their structure and function. Consistent with the drawings, the interviews presented similar findings.

Do cavies talk? The effect of anthropomorphic picture books on children's knowledge about animals.

Many books for young children present animals in fantastical and unrealistic ways, such as wearing clothes, talking and engaging in human-like activities. This research examined whether anthropomorphism in children's books affects children's learning and conceptions of animals, by specifically assessing the impact of depictions (a bird wearing clothes and reading a book) and language (bird described as talking and as having human intentions). In Study 1, 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children saw picture books featuring realistic drawings of a novel animal. Half of the children also heard factual, realistic language, while the other half heard anthropomorphized language. In Study 2, we replicated the first study using anthropomorphic illustrations of real animals. The results show that the language used to describe animals in books has an effect on children's tendency to attribute human-like traits to animals, and that anthropomorphic storybooks affect younger children's learning of novel facts about animals. These results indicate that anthropomorphized animals in books may not only lead to less learning but also influence children's conceptual knowledge of animals.

Understanding Early Elementary Children's Conceptual Knowledge of Plant Structure and Function through Drawings

Understanding Early Elementary Children's Conceptual Knowledge of Plant Structure and Function through Drawings

Child-framed video research methodologies: issues, possibilities and challenges for researching with children

Video-based research methodologies in educational settings have been associated with the perceived user-friendliness of the technology for children, teachers and researchers. Video is considered an appropriate way of capturing the pedagogical complexity of classrooms, and a supportive medium for encouraging children to participate in research activity. In this paper, we present a research methodology that was applied to investigate the relationship between the pedagogy of play and children's conceptual knowledge. The basis of the methodology centred on a play experience designed by teachers. Children (ages 4–5) were videoed while engaging in the experience and then invited to watch these recordings and to comment on their own play and learning. The discussions with the children were also video recorded and later shown to the teachers who designed the experiences. The videoed data of the children responding to their recorded play were used to generate discussion with the teachers around what they believed the children were learning through play and the children's perceptions of their play. In this paper, we examine why the decision was made to video the play and the children's reactions to their play. We explore the logistics of applying a video-based methodology, consider the challenges associated with this approach and suggest strategies for minimising the impact of researcher subjectivity and reflexivity in video research methodologies in a ‘children as researchers’ or ‘child-framed’ research context.

Lasting effects of short-term training on preschoolers’ street-crossing behavior

Can short-term training improve preschoolers’ knowledge of road-crossing concepts as well as behavior in a real traffic situation? Forty children, aged four to five years, were assigned to one of four conditions (game, story, song, and control). Each condition participated in four 15-min classroom-based lessons over four weeks. Two assessments measuring knowledge of street-crossing concepts and one assessment measuring behavior on a real street were used to evaluate performance at baseline and one week and six months post-training. Children in all three experimental conditions showed a significant improvement over the control on the two conceptual assessments. Only children in the game condition significantly improved their behavior on the street-crossing assessment. Furthermore, children in all three experimental conditions retained the same levels of improvement at the six-month follow-up. These results demonstrate that one hour of training can create lasting improvements on preschool children's conceptual knowledge of traffic safety and road-crossing behavior on a real street.

Name writing and letter knowledge in preschoolers: Incongruities in skills and the usefulness of name writing as a developmental indicator

In this study, 114 preschoolers ( M age = 53 months) completed a battery of literacy assessments to explore the interplay between name writing and letter knowledge in early literacy learners. Name writing was significantly related to children's letter knowledge, and the relationships were moderate to high. However, many children exhibited an incongruity in name writing and name-specific letter-recognition skills (i.e., they could write their names but not recognize the letters in their names, or recognize the letters in their names but not write them). When these two groups were contrasted statistically, the children with superior name-specific letter recognition (but poorer name writing scores) had significantly higher letter knowledge scores than the children with superior name writing scores (but poor name-specific letter-recognition scores). Writing one's name, in itself, did not appear to correspond to a literacy advantage. Thus, with regard to the recommendation that name writing be used as a literacy assessment tool in preschool, the results from this study suggest that name writing should be used as a measure of mechanical skill only and should not be used as a means to assess children's conceptual knowledge (of letter names, letter sounds, or the alphabetic principle).

L’acquisition de l’arithmétique élémentaire

The focus of this paper is on contemporary research on the number counting and arithmetical competencies that emerge during infancy, the preschool years, and the elementary school. I provide a brief overview of the evolution of children's conceptual knowledge of arithmetic knowledge, the acquisition and use of counting and how they solve simple arithmetic problems (e.g. 4 + 3).

The conceptual underpinnings of giftedness: developmental and educational implications

This paper describes a developmental psychological approach to understanding giftedness. A theoretical model of exceptional expertise is used to frame our understanding of how gifted children's conceptual knowledge develops in a variety of domains and how the interplay of this conceptual knowledge with domain‐specific skills results in rich, elaborate thinking. This model provides a ‘design for development’ of giftedness in a variety of domains.

On Refining Theoretical Models of Emergent Literacy The Role of Empirical Evidence

Children's emergent literacy has received considerable attention in the last decade. The modal view of emergent literacy is that it encompasses all aspects of children's oral and written language skills. The present article proposes an alternative view whereby emergent literacy is a separate construct from oral language and metalinguistic skills. It is also proposed that emergent literacy is composed of two distinct components; children's conceptual knowledge (e.g., knowledge of the functions of print) and children's early procedural knowledge of writing and reading (e.g., invented spelling). Evidence is presented that supports this differentiated view of language and emergent literacy by showing that distinct patterns of relations exist among emergent literacy, oral language, and metalinguistic skills. It is concluded that separating the constructs of language and emergent literacy is an interesting alternative to current conceptions of emergent literacy. In time, such theoretical fine tuning will serve as better guides for policy and practice.

Pilot-testing a cancer education curriculum for grades K-6.

Risk behaviors established during childhood including tobacco use, sunning, and eating habits contribute to most adult cancers. This project pilot-tested a developmentally appropriate cancer prevention curriculum for grades K-6, using a treatment group only design with pretesting and posttesting using a standardized, semistructured interview and involving 67 students (77% of eligible students) attending mixed grade classes. A seven-unit curriculum based on cognitive development, social cognitive, and social influence theories was taught by classroom teachers. Students showed a significant (p < .0001) gain in conceptual understanding for causality and prevention of cancer; the gain for causality of cancer was comparable to the baseline difference between kindergarten and the highest (5-6) grade. Significant gains in factual knowledge and decreases in misconceptions about casual contact also were documented. A developmentally based elementary school cancer prevention curriculum can enhance young children's conceptual understanding and factual knowledge of common contributors to adult cancers.

BEYOND THE INDEPENDENT-LEVEL TEXT: CONSIDERING THE READER?TEXT MATCH IN FIRST GRADERS' SELF-SELECTIONS DURING RECREATIONAL READING

This study examined the recreational self-selections of two classes of first graders from extensive classroom libraries that included a large percentage of informational books. The following questions guided this study: 1) What are the readability levels of the books self-selected by low-, average-, and high-ability readers during recreational reading in their first grade classrooms? 2) Are there differences in the amounts or readability levels of story and informational books selected by boys and girls of different reading abilities? The participants were students of the same teacher in two consecutive years at two different schools. Self-selected texts were recorded for six continuous weeks during the once-daily, thirty-minute recreational reading period that served as one part of the reading program. The selections were examined for the match between the children's reading level and the readability level of books selected by low-, average-, and high-ability readers. Findings indicate influences of gender and genre on the high percentage of selections that were made above children's reading levels. The relation of frustration-level texts to interest and motivation, as well as to supporting children's conceptual and genre knowledge growth, are discussed.

How Valid is it to Use Number Lines to Measure Children's Conceptual Knowledge about Rational Number?

This study investigated validity of scores derived from the measurement procedure involving number lines by assessing its unique contributions to performance differences in criterion measures of rational number knowledge and skills, including fraction computation, application and explanation. A total of 413 5th and 6th graders participated in the study. Children's part-whole knowledge was measured with items of regional area representation, measurement knowledge with items involving number lines as well as those of fraction-size comparisons. It was found that when part-whole knowledge was accounted for, measurement knowledge assessed with number line items had no or negligible association with all of the three criterion measures. In contrast, measurement knowledge assessed with fraction-size comparisons demonstrated excellent incremental predictability. The results indicate that scores derived from the number line test items are poor estimators of children's understanding of the measurement aspect of rational number.

What Do Minority Elementary Students Understand about the Causes of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Colds, and Obesity?

Elementary school-age children's conceptual understanding and factual knowledge about the causes of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), colds, and obesity are poorly understood, particularly among black children living in low-income, urban neighborhoods. We examined minority children's conceptual understanding about the causes of these illnesses. In addition, children's knowledge and misconceptions about the causal agents of AIDS, colds, and obesity were investigated. A developmentally based, semistructured interview was developed to measure children's level of understanding about the causes of each condition. Interviews were conducted with 239, predominately black, first, third, and fifth grade students attending two public elementary schools in a low income city in northern California. Interviews were verbally administered and tape recorded for later verbatim transcription. Children's responses to questions about causality first were scored based on their level of conceptual sophistication. Responses then were assigned to thematic categories reflecting the children's factual knowledge about the causes of AIDS, colds, and obesity. Increases in grade level were associated with higher scores for causality of AIDS (p < .0001), colds (p < .0001), and obesity (p < .01). In all three conditions, causality scores increased between first and fifth grades, but did not significantly vary between third and fifth grades. Gender, socioeconomic status, and number of adults living in the household were not significantly associated with causality scores. Within each grade, the finding of lower causality scores for AIDS, as compared to colds and obesity, points out the need for developmentally appropriate explanations to children about the causes of AIDS.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Mental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change in childhood

This paper presents the results of an experiment which investigated elementary school children's conceptual knowledge about the earth. First-, 3rd-, and 5th- grade children were asked a series of questions about the shape of the earth. Children's responses to these questions revealed considerable apparent inconsistency. For example, many children said that the earth is round but also stated that it has an end or edge from which people could fall. A great deal of this apparent inconsistency could be explained by assuming that the children used, in a consistent fashion, a mental model of the earth other than the spherical earth model. Five alternative mental models of the earth were identified: the rectangular earth, the disc earth, the dual earth, the hollow sphere, and the flattened sphere. It is argued that these models are constrained by certain presuppositions which children form based on interpretations of their everyday experience. Some of these models (the rectangular earth and the disc earth) seem to be initial models children construct before they are exposed to the culturally accepted information that the earth is a sphere. In the process of knowledge acquisition, children appear to modify their initial models to make them more consistent with the culturally accepted model by gradually reinterpreting their presuppositions. Synthetic models (such as the hollow sphere and the flattened sphere) are generated by children as a solution to the problems arising from the inconsistency between their initial model of a flat earth and the culturally accepted, scientific model of a spherical earth. Children come to understand that the earth is a sphere only when the presuppositions that gave rise to their initial models have been reinterpreted.

Preschoolers' questions and parents' explanations: Causal thinking in everyday activity

Recent trends in conceptual development have focused attention on (a) how children's concepts are embedded within causal theories about specific domains of knowledge, and (b) how children's conceptual knowledge develops within the context of everyday conversations. This article explores preschoolers' causal questions in everyday conversations, as a window on children's developing causal knowledge structures and on the processes by which this causal knowledge develops within everyday activities. Parents were asked to keep 2-week diary records of their children's questions about “how things work” and “why things happen.” Children's questions and parents' explanations were analyzed along several dimensions. Children's questions reflected curiosity about theorylike domains, including reasoning about social as well as physical causality. The majority of parents' responses to “why” and “how” questions were causal explanations. At each age, parents' responses to causal questions focused on prior causal factors more often than on causal consequences. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for children's developing knowledge in different domains as well as for their developing knowledge about what counts as a causal explanation.

Transitional knowledge in the acquisition of concepts

These studies explore children's conceptual knowledge as it is expressed through their verbal and gestural explanations of concepts. We build on previous work that has shown that children who produce a large proportion of gestures that do not match their verbal explanations are in transition with respect to the concept they are explaining. This gesture/speech mismatch has been called “discordance.” Previous work discovered this phenomenon with respect to 5- to 7-year-old children's explanations of conservation problems. Study 1 shows: (1) that older children (10 to 11 years old) exhibit gesture/speech discordance with respect to another concept, understanding the equivalence relationship in mathematical equations, and; (2) that children who produce many discordant responses in their explanations of mathematical equivalence are more likely to benefit from instruction in the concept than are children who produce few such responses. Studies 2 and 3 explore the properties and usefulness of discordance as an index of transitional knowledge in a child's acquisition of mathematical equivalence. Under any circumstance in which new concepts are acquired, there exists a mental bridge connecting the old knowledge state to the new. The studies reported here suggest that the combination of gesture and speech may be an easily observable and significantly interpretable reflection of knowledge states, both static and in flux.

When Do Children Begin to Read: An Exploration of Four Year Old Children's Letter and Word Reading Competencies

THE DEVELOPMENT OF FOUR YEAR OLD CHILDREN'S knowledge of letters and printed words was studied to determine if preschool children begin reading, and if so, how. Two classrooms of children were observed for nine-months while they attended a universityoperated preschool. The children's parents filled out questionnaires in which they described (1) their child's interest in, and knowledge about, letters and words and (2) what role they played in helping their child learn to read. Several tests and tasks were devised to measure children's conceptual knowledge of letters, printed words and the kinds of strategies they used to learn, remember, and spell words. The results indicate when, under what circumstances, and how young children begin to read. The results suggest a natural hierarchy of knowledge development in learning to read words. With considerable parental help, children realize that letters are discriminable patterns, that letters provide clues for reading, and that sounds in words are determined by letters. These three developmental levels describe more efficient approaches to reading. Specifically, as the child becomes more attracted to letters and to figuring out what words say, he/ she uses better strategies for learning and remembering words. Thus, children who are guided by parents to attend to letters, signs, and labels and are given opportunities to read, spell, and print words, learn some of the essential rudiments of reading even before going to kindergarten.