Improving Children’s Understanding of Units of Measure: A Training Study

Improving Children’s Understanding of Units of Measure: A Training Study Susan C. Levine & Kristin R. Ratliff University of Chicago

Measurement • Measurement skills lag behind all other mathematics topics (National Center for Education Statistics, 1996) • Particularly difficult: • Items not aligned with the start of a ruler

Study 1: Continuous (ruler) vs. Discrete (coins) Aligned ruler Misaligned ruler Aligned coins Misaligned coins

Results for the kindergarteners coins ruler aligned mis-aligned High Low High Low SES SES

Results for the 2nd graders coins ruler aligned mis-aligned High Low High Low SES SES

Study 2A: No Numbers Aligned ruler Aligned circles Misaligned ruler Misaligned circles

Results coins ruler circles aligned mis-aligned K G-2 K G-2 High High

Study 2B: Numbers Aligned ruler Misaligned ruler Misaligned circles Aligned circles

Results circles ruler ruler aligned mis-aligned G-2 K G-2 High High K G-2 K G-2 High Low High

Development of Training Study • Engage spatial thinking during task • Use the ruler as a spatial tool

Children improve on measuring misaligned items following training • Learning is maintained after a 1 week delay

Training effectively corrects the counting strategy but not the read-off strategy • Both groups understood inverse relations and correctly used units of different sizes

Geographic Learning • Using Maps • Units of Distance • Using scale as measurement • Taking into account differences in scale requires concept of units

Improving Children’s Understanding of Units of Measure: A Training Study