ERIC Number: EJ981625
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1040-9289
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Benefits of an Intervention Focused on Oddity and Seriation
Kidd, Julie K.; Curby, Timothy W.; Boyer, Caroline E.; Gadzichowski, K. Marinka; Gallington, Deborah A.; Machado, Jessica A.; Pasnak, Robert
Early Education and Development, v23 n6 p900-918 2012
Research Findings: A total of 72 Head Start children (M age = 53.26 months, SD = 5.07) were randomly assigned to 4 conditions. Some were taught the oddity principle (choosing the object that differs from others in a group) and seriation (ordering objects on a dimension and inserting new objects into such orders), which are forms of thinking that develop naturally at about age 4. Others were taught letters or numbers or were engaged in art activities in sessions matched in frequency, timing, and extent. Toy animals were used as props in lessons that scaffolded the children's learning. Preschoolers in the cognitive group improved their cognitive skills significantly more than the others and also became better than the numbers or art groups at identifying letters, as measured by the Letters and Words scale of the Stanford Early School Achievement Test 2. This indicates that with improved oddity and seriation skills, children profited more from lessons and letter sounds offered to all children by their classroom teacher. Comparable results were demonstrated for the oddity and seriation instruction and progress in counting and adding and subtracting objects as measured by the Woodcock-Johnson III Applied Problems scale. Practice or Policy: The content and procedures embodied in this research enable children who are economically disadvantaged to make progress in learning letters and in numeracy when enrolled in preschool. Brief periods of such activities for most of the school year may be an effective supplement to lessons on letters, letter sounds, and numeracy offered in preschool curricula. (Contains 3 tables.)
Descriptors: Art Activities, Disadvantaged Youth, Economically Disadvantaged, Cognitive Development, Early Intervention, Thinking Skills, Preschool Children, Cognitive Ability, Skill Development, Literacy, Numeracy, Classification, Concept Formation, Urban Schools, Minority Group Children, Teaching Methods, Numbers, Alphabets
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A