Number Sense Test Research Articles

An Investigation of Pre-Service Elementary and Secondary Mathematics Teachers' Number Sense

The aim of the study is to investigate primary and secondary pre-service mathematics teachers’ number sense. A total of 464 mathematics teachers are participated in the study. To measure the number sense performances of the pre-service mathematics teachers with a Number Sense Test, including 31 multiple-choice questions, was developed by the researchers. Number Sense Test is a two-tailed test which includes the number sense questions and their possible solution strategies. Students’ answers of Number Sense Test were analyzed to find the number sense points in terms of two aspects; one of them were correctness (True or False) and the second one was solving strategies (Number sense strategy or Rule based strategy) of pre-service teachers. According to the data analysis, mathematics teachers had low performance and they preferred to use rule based strategies rather than number sense strategies. Although there is a positive correlation between Number Sense Test performance and using number sense skills, there is no significant difference between male and female pre-service teachers and their departments at using number sense.

أثر مودیول قائم على مدخل التعلم الإنسانی على تنمیة مهارات الحس العددی والتحصیل وبقاء أثر التعلم لدى تلامیذ الصف الخامس الابتدائی

هدف هذا البحث إلى الکشف عن أثر موديول قائم على مدخل التعلم الإنساني في تنمية الحس العددي والتحصيل وبقاء أثر التعلم لدى تلاميذ الصف الخامس الابتدائي. تکونت عينة الدراسة من (70) تلميذا: (35) تلميذا للمجموعة التجريبية، (35) للمجموعة الضابطة. وقد تم إعداد دليل للمعلم ، کتيب للتلميذ ، وتم إعداد أداتي الدراسة وهما: اختبار الحس العددي واختبار التحصيل فى الرياضيات ؛ وقد تم ضبطهما إحصائيا وتطبيقهما بعديا على التلاميذ مجموعتي البحث. أشارت نتائج الدراسة إلى أثر موديول قائم على مدخل التعلم الإنساني في تنمية الحس العددي والتحصيل وبقاء أثر التعلم لدى تلاميذ الصف الخامس الابتدائي. وفى ضوء هذه النتائج يوصى الباحث بضرورة تدريب المعلمين على توظيف مدخل التعلم الإنساني في تدريس الرياضيات بصفة عامة ولتلاميذ المرحلة الابتدائية بصفة خاصة . The current study aimed to discover the Impact of the use of a Module based on Humanizing learning in developing Number Sense, Mathematics achievement and Retention of 5th grade primary stage pupils. The researcher prepared these tools (a teacher guide , a pupils book , a achievement test, Number Sense test ) . The sample of the study consist of (70) of 5th year primary stage pupils. It assigned to an experimental group (35) and a control one where each consist of (35) students. The experimental groups were taught by the Module based on Humanizing learning. The Control groups were taught by regular instruction. The results showed that using Module based on Humanizing learning prove to be effective on developing Number Sense , achievement in Mathematics and Retention for the target study . The researcher recommended that the teachers should be trained in using of a Humanizing Learning in teaching Mathematics.

초등학생과 중학생의 수감각 문제해결 방법에 대한 분석

Mathematics education emphasizes on nurturing number sense, but researches on this have been scarce, and most of them has been confined to elementary level students. This thesis, therefore, tried to analyze how elementary students solve mathematics sense problems in order to give some insight into how to teach number sense. For this, this thesis categorized into two ways of using number sense and algorithm as problem solving, and analyzed students` responses using test sheets. Accordingly, middle school students showed higher score on the number sense test and higher rates of using number sense than elementary students. In addition, students showing higher achievement used both number sense and algorithm, but those of lower achievement were more likely to use only algorithm. Plus, among students showing higher achievement, middle school students used more number sense than elementary school students, but there was not meaningful difference among those showing lower achievement. Lastly, It was shown that there was difference in the rate using number sense according to the number sense components.

Strategies of Number Sense in Pre-service Secondary Mathematics Teachers

This paper presents some results of an investigation on the number sense of a group of pre-service secondary teachers from Spain. The objective of this research was to analyze students’ use of strategies associated to number sense and compare them with those obtained in a previous study with pre-service primary teachers in Taiwan, (Yang, Reys & Reys, International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 7, 383–403, 2009). Pre-service secondary teachers showed lower success than pre-service primary teachers in a number sense test. Nevertheless, these last based their reasoning mainly on rules and algorithms, while pre-service secondary teachers used more strategies of number sense. In an attempt to delve into the low success shown by of Spanish pre-service secondary teachers, some students were interviewed. Those interviews showed that a deeper work on number sense in the training of these students is needed.

The Mathematics Education I and II Courses’ Effect on Teacher Candidates’ Development of Number Sense

The purpose of this research is to examine the number sense performance of the classroom teacher candidates taking the Mathematics Education I and II courses. Moreover, it investigates whether there is a change in the number sense performance of the teacher candidates following the Mathematics Education I and II courses. Embedded experimental design was used a mixed methods research design. Pretest-posttest weak experimental design was used in the quantitative part of the study, and a case study for the qualitative part. A total of 74 teacher candidates in the third year of the Faculty of Education, Department of Classroom Teaching at a state university participated in the study. As a data collection tool, the 17-question number sense test was used in both quantitative and qualitative part of the research. The quantitative data showed that there is a significant increase in the number sense performance of teacher candidates after the Mathematics Education I and II courses. The qualitative data indicated that prior to the Mathematics Education I and II courses, the teacher candidates considered mathematics as a course in mathematical operations. They generally tended to use routine rules and algorithms in the number sense test, could not fully conceptualize some mathematical rules and phrases they use, and tried to compute instead of using number sense skills. It was found that after the Mathematics Education I and II courses, there was a decrease in the number of teacher candidates computing, whereas an increase in the number that use number sense.

The Strategies of Mathematics Teachers When Solving Number Sense Problems

Number sense involves efficient strategies and the ability to think flexibly with numbers and number operations and flexible thinking ability and the inclination getting for making sound mathematical judgements. The aim of this study was to investigate the strategies used by mathematics teachers while solving number sense problems. Eleven mathematics teachers from a graduate program in education were the participants. A number sense test which has a total of 12 problems is used as the data gathering tool. Teachers’ responses and strategies were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively.First, participants’ responses were evaluated for correctness. Then the strategies teachers used were analyzed. The strategies were categorized as based on the use of number sense or rule based strategies. When the correct and incorrect responses were considered together, in the 46% of the responses number sense strategies were used and in 54% the rule-based strategies were used. The results of this study showed that even though teachers can use number sense strategies at some level, there is still room for development in teachers’ number sense.

The effect of using computer games in teaching mathematics on developing the number sense of fourth grade students

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of using computer games in teaching mathematics on developing the number sense of fourth grade students. To achieve this purpose a study sample of (81) students was selected from the fourth grade. This sample was divided into two groups. One group was randomly chosen to be the experimental group that studied mathematics using computer games; the other was the control group that studied mathematics using traditional method and without using computer games. The instrument of the study was a number sense test. Data analysis procedures using One-Way ANOVA revealed a positive effect of using computer games in teaching mathematics on developing the number sense of fourth grade students. Key words: Computer games, teaching mathematics, number sense

The effect of problem posing İnstruction on problem solving success of 6th grade students with different number sense

This study aimed to investigate the effect of problem posing instruction on problem solving success of sixth grade students with different number sense about decimal number of transactions. In this study single-group pretest-posttest experimental design from preexperimental methods was used. The sample of study was composed of 30 students enrolled in a sixth-grade from an urban primary school. Problem Solving Test and Number Sense Test used as data collection tools. The study showed that problem posing instruction has positive effect on problem solving success of students with different number sense. In addition to students have positive views towards the problem posing instruction.

An investigation of 5th Grade Turkish Students' Performance in Number Sense on the Topic of Decimal Numbers

Abstract The purpose of this research is to investigate the number sense of 5th grade Turkish students on the topic of decimal numbers. The research participants are composed of 121 5th grade students from two different elementary schools. All of the students have already completed the 5th grade mathematics curriculum. The data of the research was collected by number sense test about decimal numbers (NSTDN). It contained 16 questions and four components of number sense. The results of this quantitatively analysed research have shown that the 5th grade students’ number sense on decimal numbers is low. There was no significant difference in number sense between the genders. These findings are consistent with the previous researches.

AN ANALYSIS OF NUMBER SENSE AND MENTAL COMPUTATION IN THE LEARNING OF MATHEMATICS

The purpose of this research was to assess students’ understanding of number sense and mental computation among Form One, Form Two, Form Three and Form Four students. A total of 1756 students, ages ranging from 12 to 17 years, from thirteen schools in Selangor participated in this study. A majority (74.9%) of these students obtained an A grade for their respective year-end school examinations. The design for this study was quantitative in nature where the data on student’s sense of numbers was collected using two instruments, namely, Number Sense Test and Mental Computation Test. Each of these instruments consisted of 50 and 45 items respectively. The results from this study indicate that students were not able to cope to the Number Sense Test as compared to the Mental Computation Test. The former unveils a low percentage of 37.3% to 47.7% as compared to the latter of 79% to 88.6% across the levels. In the number Sense Test, surprisingly, there was no significant difference in the results between Form 1 students and Form 2 students and also between Form 3 students and Form 4 students. This seems to indicate that as the number of years in schools increase, there is an increasing reliance on algorithm and procedures. Although in the literature it has been argued that including mental computation in a mathematics curriculum promotes number sense (McIntosh et. al., 1997; Reys, Reys, Nohda, & Emori, 2005), this was not the case in this study. It seems that an over reliance on paper and pencil computation at the expense of intuitive understanding of numbers is taking place among these students.

Construction and Evaluation of a Number Sense Test With Head Start Children.

The reliability and, to a lesser extent, the validity of the newly created Number Sense Test was evaluated with a group of 40 3- to 5-year-old children attending Head Start. Six number sense skills (e.g., counting, number identification, addition-subtraction) and children's feelings about school were assessed both before and after instruction either in 2 of these skills (i.e., counting and number identification) or in insects (i.e., an attention control condition). The Number Sense Test was found to have high internal consistency and to be a valid means of assessing pre- to posttest improvements in instructed skills as a function of condition. Except for addition-subtraction, training effects did not generalize to non-instructed number sense skills. In neither condition did instruction have a harmful effect on children's largely positive feelings about school.

Exploring The Connections Among Number Sense, Mental Computation Performance, And The Written Computation Performance Of Elementary Preservice School Teachers

The purpose of this study is to a) explore connections among number sense, mental computation performance and the written computation performance of elementary preservice school teachers; and b) explore the correlation among mental computation skills, computation skills, effect issues and number sense. The sample was composed of students in six intact entry?level mathematics sections of a course populated by preservice elementary school teachers. One hundred fifty-five participants from these six classes completed data collection tasks during the Spring 2002 semester for the study. Regression analyses were used to investigate the correlation of written computation skills, mental computation skills, and affective domain with regard to number sense. Three of these subscales of Conference Learning Mathematics, Mathematics Anxiety, Effectance Motivation of Mathematics, Mental Computation Test score, and Written Computation Test score were found to positive significantly correlate with Number Sense Test score success at the a= 0.001 level. Overall, the six independent variables considered in this study accounted for 57.1% of the variation in Number Sense Test score, with Mental Computation Test, and Written Computation Test having the strongest effects.