ERIC Number: EJ1407074
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1524-8372
EISSN: EISSN-1532-7647
We Cannot Ignore the Signs: The Development of Equivalence and Arithmetic for Students from Grades 3 to 4
Journal of Cognition and Development, v25 n1 p46-65 2024
Students' understanding of the meaning of the equal sign develops slowly over the primary grades. In addition to updating their representations of equations to recognize that the equal sign represents an equivalence relation rather than signaling an operation, students need to move beyond full computation to efficiently solve equivalence problems. In this study, we examined the longitudinal relation between arithmetic and equivalence for students who were capable of accurately solving arithmetic problems in different formats. Chinese students (N = 612; M[subscript age] = 9.0 years in Grade 3, 57% boys) completed measures of arithmetic fluency and equivalence fluency in Grade 3 and again in Grade 4. They also completed a non-verbal reasoning task in Grade 3. We tested a cross-lagged structural equation model to examine the reciprocal relations between arithmetic and equivalence fluency. We found reciprocal relations between the development of arithmetic and equivalence fluency from Grades 3 to 4, with a greater influence of arithmetic on the development of equivalence than the reverse. Furthermore, non-verbal reasoning predicted the development of equivalence, but not the development of arithmetic. Based on our findings, we conclude that for Chinese students with prior basic understanding of equivalence, flexible access to arithmetic facts supports their development of equivalence fluency.
Descriptors: Mathematics Achievement, Grade 3, Grade 4, Elementary School Students, Mathematical Concepts, Concept Formation, Problem Solving, Arithmetic, Student Development, Thinking Skills, Foreign Countries, Nonverbal Ability
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Grade 3; Primary Education; Grade 4; Intermediate Grades
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Raven Progressive Matrices
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Data File: URL: https://osf.io/t7fbj/