Effect of instruction and textbook adoption procedures on kindergarten students' learning of the concept of rectangle.

摘要

The purpose of this study was to produce scientific knowledge about the ability of kindergarten children to learn the correct mathematical concept of rectangle. The subjects of this study were kindergarten children in a public school district whose population had a large proportion of Hispanic and economically disadvantaged children. A Solomon Four-Group Design as described by Campbell and Stanley (1963) was used. Both the control and experimental groups received instruction using a district adopted curriculum. A description of how the district's curriculum addressed the concept of rectangle was included in the results. The experimental group received additional instruction using a curriculum selected for its compatibility with the development of the correct concept of rectangle. The students' knowledge of the concept of rectangle was measured using a test designed specifically for that purpose with methods consistent to developmentally appropriate practice for kindergarten children. Test results were analyzed using a 2 by 2 analysis of variance design described by Campbell and Stanley (1963) and a significant result was found, F(1, 63)=6.54, p<.05, between the mean scores of the experimental group and the control group. Thus, this study provides evidence that young children can learn a correct concept of rectangle. There was not a significant result, F(1, 63) = 1.34, p<.05, between the group of students who were pretested and the group of students who were not pretested. Thus, this study provided no evidence that pretesting children impacted their posttest results. There was not a significant cell effect between treatment and testing, F(1,63)=0.091, p<.05. Thus, this study provided no evidence of an interaction effect between testing and treatment. A survey administered to kindergarten teachers uncovered that more than half of the teachers surveyed seemed to have a misconception about rectangles. This study is significant to educational leaders and educators who are involved in the development and implementation of policy and rules regarding how errors, such as the one addressed in this study, are corrected through the textbook adoption process. Additionally, the results document the need for communication between districts and teacher preparations programs, continued teacher in-service training in districts, and formative evaluation of teachers.