Background and Context: Computational thinking (CT) is a fundamental skill and a new form of literacy that everyone should develop to participate in civic society. Sequencing and algorithmic thinking are at the core of CT. This study looked into how young children enrolled in a kindergarten in Colombia develop CT skills. Objective: This paper aims…

Measuring computational fluency, an aspect of procedural fluency, is complex. Many attempts to measure this construct have emphasised accuracy and efficiency at the expense of flexibility and appropriate strategy choice. Efforts to account for these latter constructs through assessing children's computational reasoning using structured interviews…

It is often assumed when students fidget they are not on task. Two within-subject studies challenge this assumption by testing the effect of allowing fidgeting on three types of thinking: speeded mental math (Study 1), brainstorming and memory (Study 2). Study 1 showed that student's performance on speeded math was no different when performed in a…

The authors' aim was to examine the relation between two-digit mental multiplication and working memory. In Study 1, involving 30 fifth-grade students, we used digit span backward as an abbreviated measure of working memory. In Study 2, involving 41 fourth-grade students, working memory comprised measures of phonological loop, visuospatial…

The aim of this study was to investigate the specific numerical and calculation abilities of 28 children with ADHD without comorbid mathematical learning disabilities (LD), ranging from the 1st to the 5th grade of primary school, and to examine the stability or the development of the arithmetic profile. Our results showed that a high percentage of…

Looking away from an interlocutor's face during demanding cognitive activity can help adults and children answer challenging mental arithmetic and verbal-reasoning questions (Glenberg, Schroeder, & Robertson, 1998; Phelps, Doherty-Sneddon, & Warnock, 2006). While such "gaze aversion" (GA) is used far less by 5-year-old school children, its use…

In 1998 the authors published research with NFER (National Foundation for Educational Research) "Family Numeracy Adds Up" showing how parents and children had gained from fourteen pilot family numeracy programmes. It showed strong evidence of the double benefits of work with families. Children have an early boost in their learning and…