Comparing a Learning Trajectory Approach to a Teach-to-the-Target Approach in Kindergarten Arithmetic

• In Event: 77.052 - New Research on Children's Learning of Number and Operations, Pre-K to Grade 3

Abstract

To evaluate the efficacy of complete learning trajectories (LT, including a mathematical goal, a developmental progression of levels of thinking, and instructional activities for each level) in early mathematics education, this pilot study directly compared instruction based on an LT to a counterfactual, designed to answer a critical question in the development and application of LTs: “Is it necessary to teach each contiguous level of an LT or can instruction be equally effective when skipping levels, provided the necessary exemplars are made?” We compare one classroom of kindergarten children in the quasi-experimental research design that received instruction based on an empirically-validated LT for arithmetic and another class that an received equal amount of instructional time focused on target instructional levels.

Authors

• Candace Joswick, University of Denver

• Douglas H. Clements, University of Denver

• Julie Sarama, University of Denver

• Arthur J. Baroody, University of Denver and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign