The interaction of procedural skill, conceptual understanding and working memory in early mathematics achievement
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Gilmore, Camilla
Keeble, Sarah
Richardson, Sophie
Cragg, Lucy
Abstract / Description
Large individual differences in children’s mathematics achievement are observed from the start of schooling. Previous research has identified three cognitive skills that are independent predictors of mathematics achievement: procedural skill, conceptual understanding and working memory. However, most studies have only tested independent effects of these factors and failed to consider moderating effects. We explored the procedural skill, conceptual understanding and working memory capacity of 75 children aged 5 to 6 years as well as their overall mathematical achievement. We found that, not only were all three skills independently associated with mathematics achievement, but there was also a significant interaction between them. We found that levels of conceptual understanding and working memory moderated the relationship between procedural skill and mathematics achievement such that there was a greater benefit of good procedural skill when associated with good conceptual understanding and working memory. Cluster analysis also revealed that children with equivalent levels of overall mathematical achievement had differing strengths and weaknesses across these skills. This highlights the importance of considering children’s skill profile, rather than simply their overall achievement.
Keyword(s)
mathematics education mathematical cognition working memory conceptual understanding procedural skillPersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2017-12-22
Journal title
Journal of Numerical Cognition
Volume
3
Issue
2
Page numbers
400–416
Publisher
PsychOpen GOLD
Publication status
publishedVersion
Review status
peerReviewed
Is version of
Citation
Gilmore, C., Keeble, S., Richardson, S., & Cragg, L. (2017). The interaction of procedural skill, conceptual understanding and working memory in early mathematics achievement. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 3(2), 400–416. https://doi.org/10.5964/jnc.v3i2.51
-
jnc.v3i2.51.pdfAdobe PDF - 487.57KBMD5: 935d830b3bf607ae1617d5823789eda8
-
There are no other versions of this object.
-
Author(s) / Creator(s)Gilmore, Camilla
-
Author(s) / Creator(s)Keeble, Sarah
-
Author(s) / Creator(s)Richardson, Sophie
-
Author(s) / Creator(s)Cragg, Lucy
-
PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2018-11-21T11:42:46Z
-
Made available on2018-11-21T11:42:46Z
-
Date of first publication2017-12-22
-
Abstract / DescriptionLarge individual differences in children’s mathematics achievement are observed from the start of schooling. Previous research has identified three cognitive skills that are independent predictors of mathematics achievement: procedural skill, conceptual understanding and working memory. However, most studies have only tested independent effects of these factors and failed to consider moderating effects. We explored the procedural skill, conceptual understanding and working memory capacity of 75 children aged 5 to 6 years as well as their overall mathematical achievement. We found that, not only were all three skills independently associated with mathematics achievement, but there was also a significant interaction between them. We found that levels of conceptual understanding and working memory moderated the relationship between procedural skill and mathematics achievement such that there was a greater benefit of good procedural skill when associated with good conceptual understanding and working memory. Cluster analysis also revealed that children with equivalent levels of overall mathematical achievement had differing strengths and weaknesses across these skills. This highlights the importance of considering children’s skill profile, rather than simply their overall achievement.en_US
-
Publication statuspublishedVersion
-
Review statuspeerReviewed
-
CitationGilmore, C., Keeble, S., Richardson, S., & Cragg, L. (2017). The interaction of procedural skill, conceptual understanding and working memory in early mathematics achievement. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 3(2), 400–416. https://doi.org/10.5964/jnc.v3i2.51en_US
-
ISSN2363-8761
-
Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1260
-
Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1452
-
Language of contenteng
-
PublisherPsychOpen GOLD
-
Is version ofhttps://doi.org/10.5964/jnc.v3i2.51
-
Keyword(s)mathematics educationen_US
-
Keyword(s)mathematical cognitionen_US
-
Keyword(s)working memoryen_US
-
Keyword(s)conceptual understandingen_US
-
Keyword(s)procedural skillen_US
-
Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
-
TitleThe interaction of procedural skill, conceptual understanding and working memory in early mathematics achievementen_US
-
DRO typearticle
-
Issue2
-
Journal titleJournal of Numerical Cognition
-
Page numbers400–416
-
Volume3
-
Visible tag(s)Version of Record