An Attentional Choice that Benefits Math Learning: Spontaneously Attending to Relations in Non-Mathematical Settings

• In Event: Student Learning, Reasoning, and Understanding in Mathematics Education

Abstract

Children notice different things during math lessons, with one dimension being the relationships underpinning the mathematics (Skemp, 1976). Previous research found that children who spontaneously focused on relations rather than objects learned more from a math lesson (AUTHORS). This study partly replicated that finding and explored potential factors explaining this attentional pattern. We assessed 326 U.S. 5-6th graders on their spontaneous attention to object-based similarities or quantitative relations in non-mathematical tasks, attentional control and relational reasoning abilities, and proportional knowledge before and after a videotaped math lesson. Latent class analysis showed that children who focused on object features learned less from the lesson. This pattern likely reflects an attentional choice rather than limitations in attentional control or relational reasoning abilities.

Authors

• Hongyang Zhao, University of California - Irvine

• Ella Rose, University of California - Irvine

• Ebrar Aslaner, Bogazici University

• Maryam Cheraghi, University of California, Irvine

• Lindsey E. Richland, University of California - Irvine