A Virtual Manipulative Environment for Young Children: Watch, Listen, and Touch!

• In Event: Technology, Instruction, Cognition, and Learning Research in K-12 and Higher Education

Abstract

This study examines whether interacting with virtual manipulatives presented in multiple modalities impacts young children’s learning of the concept of multiplication. The modalities examined are aural, visual, and kinesthetic. To this end, one hundred seventy-nine (N=179) first and second grade students practiced the two and three times tables using custom virtual manipulative software for ten sessions. During this four-week period, participants completed paper-based mid and post-tests. The results show that the presence of relevant audio narration and a high degree of kinesthetic alignment were significant predictors of higher test scores. The theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the study and its findings are discussed in reference to educators, researchers, and designers.

Authors

• Seungoh Paek, University of Hawaii - Manoa

• Daniel L. Hoffman, Kamehameha Schools

• John B. Black, Teachers College, Columbia University