Acceso usuarios
Marie Caroline Croset, Sébastien Caudron, Laure Mondelain, Ahmed Zaher, Hamid Chaachoua, Karine Mazens
Previous research has shown the importance of conducting early interventions in mathematics in disadvantaged children. Solving arithmetical word problems is a field in which children particularly fail. In this study, preschoolers from disadvantaged French public schools (n = 101; Mage = 5–6) were taught strategies for using fingers to solve arithmetic word problems and compared with a control group. The intervention consisted of collective rituals based on learning finger patterns and 7 sessions spread over 4 weeks, for about 20 min, focusing on explaining how to use the fingers to solve problems. The results showed that the intervention has a significant post-test impact on the targeted transformation problem-solving skill and that children with lower performances in problem-solving at the pre-test benefited more from the intervention. The intervention also indirectly benefited the other problem-solving skills. However, there was no intervention effect on the arithmetic addition task. Our research highlights that an intervention focused on the explicit teaching of finger strategies for problem-solving can be successfully implemented into ecological learning contexts, especially in disadvantaged areas.
