The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of mathematics education using children’s stories on the problem-solving ability of in mathematics, which may provide preliminary data to the mathematics teaching method using children’s s...
The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of mathematics education using children’s stories on the problem-solving ability of in mathematics, which may provide preliminary data to the mathematics teaching method using children’s stories at nursery schools. The following questions have been defined to be tackled in the study. First, do the mathematics education using children’s stories affect the problem-solving ability of early children in mathematics? Second, was there any difference in the problem-solving ability depending on sex as a result of the mathematics education using children’s stories?
108 children at the age of 5 were chosen from ‘S kindergarten ’in Mia-dong, Seoul as the subjects, 54 of which were categorized in the experimental group and the rest of the subjects in the control group, and then mathematics education using children’s stories was performed with the subjects. The tests for problem-solving ability in mathematics, which were used as a prior- and post-test, were designed at the level of the fundamental mathematics of early children to examine how early children solve problems using different approaches. This study introduced the test method developed by Kim, Hyun ju based on the nursery curriculum, 5th and 6th edition (1994, Ministry of education) and the principles of model development in mathematics curriculum for children aged 3 to 5 (Kwon, Lee & Lee, 1998)
The collected data in this study has been analyzed by SPSS WINDOWS 12.0 software. Prior- and post-tests were conducted with the experimental group and the control group, followed by the calculations of their mean values and standard deviations. Then, paired t-test was performed in order to see if there is any significant difference in the points. Provided that both the experimental group and the control group resulted in improvement in the post-tests compared to the prior-tests, independent t-test was performed between the experimental and the control group using the corresponding post-test points.
In terms of sex difference, independent t-test was carried out with the prior- and post-tests depending on sex. The results are as follows.
First, the test results have been compared and analyzed to identify the effects of mathematics education using children’s stories on the problem-solving ability of early children, and demonstrates that the experimental group treated by the mathematics activities using children’s stories has achieved significantly improved problem-solving ability in mathematics as opposed to the control group. Looking at the sub-categories of mathematical problem-solving ability, significant differences are found in all the four sub-categories; ‘classifying and ordering’, ‘understanding principles of number’, ‘understanding principles of space’ and ‘experiencing statistics in life’.
Second, the mathematical problem-solving abilities have been compared between the male and female children after a series of mathematics sessions using children’s stories, and a significant sex difference is detected. It is shown that the female children achieve better problem-solving abilities, overall. In particular, a significant difference is found in the sub-category, ‘experiencing statistics in life’. However, the subjects have been evenly improved in other sub-categories with no sex difference. Such difference may be attributable to the fact that girls are relatively better in concentrating than boys and love to read.
According the results, it has been demonstrated that mathematical activities using children’s stories are effective in improving the problem-solving ability of early children in mathematics.
Mathematical activities using children’s stories may also provide a good teaching method since they are helpful to motivate early children under mathematical circumstances and to improve their problem-solving abilities. In conclusion, children’s stories have to be chosen appropriately depending on children’s interests and development status so that the problem-solving ability of children could be strengthened in mathematics. It is very important to develop children-centered education programs such as interesting mathematics teaching methods or mathematical activities which may help early children to pay attention to or become interested in mathematics.