Virtual Intervention Program to Improve the Working Memory and Basic Mathematical Skills in Early Childhood Education.

  1. Fernández-Abella, Raquel 1
  2. Peralbo-Uzquiano, Manuel 1
  3. Durán-Bouza, Montserrat 1
  4. Brenlla-Blanco, Juan Carlos 1
  5. García-Fernández, Manuel 1
  1. 1 Universidade da Coruña
    info

    Universidade da Coruña

    La Coruña, España

    ROR https://ror.org/01qckj285

Journal:
Revista de psicodidáctica

ISSN: 1136-1034

Year of publication: 2019

Volume: 24

Issue: 1

Type: Article

DOI: 10.1016/J.PSICOD.2018.09.002 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: Revista de psicodidáctica

Sustainable development goals

Abstract

The present work proposes as the main objective the design and implementation of a virtual educational intervention program, based on interactive learning through gesture play, to improve working memory and basic mathematical skills. In addition, the results were compared with those of the application of the programme in paper and pencil format. A factorial design of repeated measurements was used with an inter-group factor (control, paper and pencil and technology) and an intra-group factor (pretest-postest). As dependent variables, the visuospatial memory width provided by the Corsi Test was used, as well as the individual results according to the scale, and the total number of successes in the Test for the Diagnosis of Basic Mathematical Competences (TEDI-MATH). Ninety children between the ages of 5 and 6 participated and were distributed in three groups of 30 subjects: one group to which the program was applied in virtual format, another to which the program was applied in paper and pencil format and a control group without treatment. The results showed improvements in both working memory and basic mathematical skills in the two groups that received the intervention versus the control group. Therefore, it seems that it is the structure and content of the tasks and not so much the resources used that are responsible for the changes observed.

Bibliographic References

  • Alloway, T., yAlloway,R.(2010).Investigating the predictive roles of workingmemory and IQ in academic attainment. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 106(1), 20–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2009.11.003
  • Alloway, T., Alloway, R., y Wootan, S. (2014). Home sweet home: Does where you live matter to working memory and other cognitive skills? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 124, 124–131. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2013.11.012
  • Alzubi, T., Fernández, R., Flores, J., Durán, M., y Cotos, M.(en prensa, septiembre 2018). Incremento de las capacidades ejecutivas mediante el uso de herramientas interactivas basadas en gestos: caso de estudio la memoria de trabajo. Proceedings of XIX International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (AIPO). Palma, Spain.
  • Aragón, E., Navarro, J., Aguilar, M., y Cerda, G. (2015). Predictores cognitivos del conocimiento numérico temprano en alumnado de 5 anos. ˜ Revista de Psicodidáctica, 20(1), 83–97. http://www.ehu.eus/ojs/index.php/ psicodidactica/article/view/11088
  • Baddeley, A. D. (1986). Working Memory. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Baddeley, A. D. (2000). The episodic buffer: A new component of workingmemory? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4, 417–423. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(00)01538-2
  • Baggetta, P., y Alexander, P. (2016). Conceptualization and operationalization of executive function. Mind, Brain, and Education, 10(1), 10–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12100
  • Brock, L., Rimm-Kaufman, S., Nathanson, L., y Grimm, K. (2009). The contributions of ‘hot’ and ‘cool’ executive function to children’s academic achievement, learningrelated behaviors, and engagement in kindergarten. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 24(3), 337–349. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2009.06.001
  • Brown, C. y Borko, H. (1992). Becoming a Mathematics Teacher. En D. Grouws (Ed.), Handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 209–239). New York: McMillan Publishing Co.
  • Bull, R., Espy, K., y Wiebe, S. (2008). Short-term memory, working memory, and executive functioning in preschoolers: Longitudinal predictors of mathematical achievement at age 7 years. Developmental Neuropsychology, 33(3), 205–228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/87565640801982312
  • Bull, R., y Lee, K. (2014). Executive functioning and mathematics achievement. Child Development Perspectives, 8(1), 36–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12059
  • Bull, R., y Scerif, G. (2001). Executive functioning as a predictor of children’s mathematics ability: Inhibition, switching, and working memory. Developmental Neuropsychology, 19(3), 273–293. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S15326942DN1903 3
  • Carlson, S. M. (2005). Developmentally sensitive measures of executive function in preschool children. Developmental Neuropsychology, 28, 595–616. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15326942dn2802 3
  • Clark, C., Sheffield, T., Wiebe, S., y Espy, K. (2013). Longitudinal associations between executive control and developing mathematical competence in preschool boys and girls. Child Development, 84(2), 662–677. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01854.x
  • Clements, D., Sarama, J., y Germeroth, C.(2016). Learning executive function and early mathematics: Directions of causal relations. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 36, 79–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2015.12.009
  • Connolly, T. M., Stansfield, M., y Hainey, T. (2007). An application of games-based learning within software engineering. British Journal of Educational Technology, 38(3), 416–428. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2007.00706.x
  • Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135–168. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750
  • Durán, M., Álvarez, T., Fernández, R., y Acuna, ˜ A. (2015). Eficacia de un entrenamiento en funciones ejecutivas sobre las habilidades matemáticas básicas y la conciencia fonológica en ninos ˜ de educación infantil. Revista de Estudios e Investigación en Psicología y Educación, Extra(9), 104–108. http://dx.doi.org/10.17979/reipe.2015.0.09.1158
  • Espy, K., McDiarmid, M., Cwik, M., Stalets, M., Hamby, A., y Senn, T. (2004). The contribution of executive functions to emergent mathematic skills in preschool children. Developmental Neuropsychology, 26(1), 465–486. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15326942dn2601 6
  • Friso, I., van der Ven, S., Kroesbergen, E., y van Luit, J. (2013). Working memory and mathematics in primary school children: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 10, 29–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2013.05.003
  • Geary, D., Hoard, M., Byrd-Craven, J., Nugent, L., y Numtee, C. (2007). Cognitive mechanisms underlying achievement deficits in children with mathematical learning disability. Child Development, 78(4), 1343–1359. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01069.x
  • Grégoire, J., Noël, M.P., y van Nieuwenhoven, C. (2001). TEDI-MATH, Test Diagnostique des Compétences de Base en Mathématiques. Bruselas: Tema Editions. Adaptación espanola ˜ de Sueiro, M. J., y Perena, ˜ J. (2005). TEDI-MATH, Test para el Diagnóstico de las Competencias Básicas en Matemáticas. Madrid: TEA S.A.
  • Han, F., Reily, B., Hoff, W., y Zhang, H. (2017). Space-time representation of people based on 3D skeletal data: A review. Computer Vision and Image Understanding, 158, 85–105. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cviu.2017.01.011
  • Hao, Y., Hong, J. C., Jong, J. T., Hwang, M. Y., Su, C. Y., y Yang, J. S. (2010). Non-native Chinese language learners’ attitudes towards online vision-based motion games. British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(6), 1043–1053. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.01050.x
  • Holmes, J., y Gathercole, S. E. (2014). Taking working memory training from the laboratory into schools. Educational Psychology, 34(4), 440–450. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2013.797338
  • Klein, J., y Bisanz, J. (2000). Preschoolers doing arithmetic: The concepts are willing but the working memory is weak. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 54(2), 105–116.
  • Lan,X., Legare,C., Ponitz,C., Li, S., yMorrison, F.(2011).Investigating the links between the subcomponents of executive function and academic achievement: A crosscultural analysis of Chinese and American preschoolers. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 108(3), 677–692. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2010.11.001
  • Li, Y., y Geary, D. (2013). Developmental gains in visuospatial memory predict gains in mathematics achievement. PLoS ONE, 8(7), e70160. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0070160
  • Mammarella, I., Hill, F., Devine, A., Caviola, S., y Szucs, ˝ D. (2015). Math anxiety and developmental dyscalculia: A study on working memory processes. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 37(8), 878–887. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13803395.2015.1066759
  • McKenzie, B., Bull, R., y Gray, C. (2003). The effects of phonological and visual-spatial interference on children’s arithmetical performance. Educational and Child Psychology, 20(3), 93–108.
  • Meyer, M., Salimpoor, V., Wu, S., Geary, D., y Menon, V. (2010). Differential contribution of specific working memory components to mathematics achievement in 2nd and 3rd graders. Learning and Individual Differences, 20(2), 101–109. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2009.08.004
  • Mueller, S. (2014). PEBL (Version 0.14) Computer experiment programming language. Disponible en: http://pebl.sourceforge.net.
  • Ng, F., Tamis-LeMonda, C., Yoshikawa, H., y Sze, I. (2015). Inhibitory control in preschool predicts early math skills in first grade evidence from an ethnically diverse sample. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 39(2), 139–149. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0165025414538558
  • Peng, P., y Fuchs, D. (2014). A meta-analysis of working memory deficits in children with learning difficulties: Is there a difference between verbal domain and numerical domain? Journal of Learning Disabilities, 49(1), 3–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022219414521667
  • Postma, A., Kappelle, L. J., y de Haan, E. H. F. (2000). The Corsi Block-Tapping Task: Standardization and normative data. Applied Neuropsychology, 7(4), 252–258. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S15324826AN0704 8
  • Presentación, M. J., Siegenthaler, R., Pinto, V., Mercader, J., y Miranda, A. (2015). Competencias matemáticas y funcionamiento ejecutivo en preescolar: evaluación clínica y ecológica. Revista de Psicodidáctica, 20, 65–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1387/RevPsicodidact.11086
  • Raghubar, K., Barnes, M., y Hecht, S. (2010). Working memory and mathematics: A review of developmental, individual difference, and cognitive approaches. Learning and Individual Differences, 20(2), 110–122. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2009.10.005
  • Rasmussen, C., y Bisanz, J. (2005). Representation and working memory in early arithmetic. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 91(2), 137–157. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2005.01.004
  • Romero, M., Benavides, A., Fernández, M., y Pichardo, M. C. (2017). Intervención en funciones ejecutivas en educación infantil. International Journal of Developmental and Educational Psychology, 1(2), 253–262. http://dx.doi.org/10.17060/ijodaep.2017.n1.v3.994
  • Rosas, R., Espinoza, V., Garolera, M., y San-Martín, P. (2017). Executive functions at the start of kindergarten: Are they good predictors of academic performance at the end of year one? A longitudinal study. Studies in Psychology, 38(2), 451–472. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02109395.2017.1311458
  • Thorell, L., Lindqvist, S., Bergman, S., Bohlin, G., y Klingberg, T. (2009). Training and transfer effects of executive functions in preschool children. Developmental Science, 12, 106–113. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00745.x
  • Thorell, L., Veleiro, A., Siu, A., y Mohammadi, H. (2013). Examining the relation between ratings of executive functioning and academic achievement: Findings from a cross-cultural study. Child Neuropsychology, 19(6), 630–638. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09297049.2012.727792
  • Toll, S., van der Ven, S., Kroesbergen, E., y van Luit, J. (2011). Executive functions as predictors of math learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 44(6), 521–532. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022219410387302
  • Tüzün, H., Yılmaz-Soylu, M., Karakus¸ , T., ˙ Inal, Y., y Kızılkaya, G. (2009). The effects of computer games on primary school students’ achievement and motivation in geography learning. Computers & Education, 52(1), 68–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2008.06.008
  • Verdejo-García, A., y Bechara, A. (2010). Neuropsicología de las funciones ejecutivas. Psicothema, 22(2), 227–235.
  • Wiklund-Hörnqvist, C., Jonsson, B., Korhonen, J., Eklöf, H., y Nyroos, M. (2016). Untangling the contributionofthe subcomponents of workingmemory tomathematicalproficiency as measured by the national tests: A study among Swedish thirdgraders. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1062. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01062