Mathematical Competence Scale (MCS) for Primary School: The Psychometric Properties and the Validation of an Instrument to Enhance the Sustainability of Talents Development through the Numeracy Skills Assessment

Abstract

The adequate development of the numeracy skills is a target of the fourth of the Sustainable Development Goals and is considered the basis for a financial literacy: both are competences needed for successful social and professional inclusion. Building on these goals, we carried out a unidimensional Mathematical Competence Scale (MCS) for primary school. The aim of this study was to present the psychometric properties and the validation process of MCS, designed basing on Item Response Theory. The final version of the scale, which measures different domains of mathematical knowledge (Data Analysis and Relationships, Geometry, Dimensions and Measurements, Numbers and Calculations), was validated on the entire population of 2935 fourth graders in Ticino Canton, Switzerland. The results reveal the high level of correlation between the six mathematical dimensions and confirm the assumption of a latent “mathematical construct”. However, even the multidimensional model could be considered a good model because it fitted the data significantly better than the one-dimensional model. In particular, the differences of the deviance between the two models are significant (χ2 (20) = 642.66, p < 0.001). Moreover, findings show a significant gender effect and a positive correlation between students’ actual school performance during the same academic year and MCS scores. MCS allows a reading of the learning and teaching process in the perspective of the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development and helps a teacher to sustain student talent through the development of numeracy skills; in fact, the scale is intended both as an assessment tool and an innovative approach for shaping the development of curriculum, and therefore has potential to serve as a bridge between empirical research, classroom practice and a positive (school and professional) career development.

Perceived Social Support for a Sustainable Adolescence: A Theoretical Model of Its Sources and Types

“…One of the central objectives of the psychology of sustainability is to reach an improvement in people's quality of life and well-being through the achievement of a good psychosocial adaptation [3]. For this purpose, taking into account the close connection between social support and quality of life or well-being [11,83], the support received from different contexts is essential, as it can make the difference between a sustainable development or the development and maintenance of pathologies and mental disorders. In the study of the role played by social support on adjustment, there is some controversy as to whether it is necessary to focus on the perceptions that people have about the support available (perceived support) or on the real and objective exchanges between the person and the context (received support) [16,84].…”

“…The 1970s are therefore viewed as the true theoretical and empirical starting point of the study of social support [4], mainly thanks to works published by Cassel [5,6], Cobb [7] and Caplan [8], and the construct is now widely recognized by the scientific community as a key object of study [9], also within the psychology of sustainability [10], due to the close link between the support of the closest contexts and the quality of life and well-being of adolescents [3,11]. Hence the need to understand to what extent young people today feel supported by the principal sources in their immediate social environment.…”

“…Knowing the nature of perceived social support will make it possible to delve into a factor of educational and teaching style (support) that contributes to the development of socially adaptive behaviors in adolescents [12,41,56,57] and, consequently, to the creation of a family and school environment that focuses on enhancing the well-being, quality of life and adjustment of these adolescents, so that they can achieve a sustainable psychological development [3,11,13].…”

Training and Developing the Ability to Predict and Solve Problems through the Teaching of Finding and Correcting Mistakes of Real Problems in Vietnam

“…[12] "Mathematical competence is defined by the European Recommendation as the ability to develop and apply mathematical thinking to solve a wide range of problems in everyday situations and considered as a guideline for lifelong learning in European countries, " writes the European Recommendation. [13] The mathematical competency structure consists of four groups: acquire mathematical information, process information, store information, and generalize information [14]. Each of the above groups has the following elements.…”

Development of Instrument Numeracy Skills Test of Minimum Competency Assessment (MCA) in Indonesia

“…The development of adequate numeracy skills is a sustainable development target (Bellini et al, 2019). Various efforts to improve and grow student numeracy have been carried out by several previous researchers in Indonesia (Prabowo et al, 2018;Andika et al, 2019;Rohendi, 2019;Samad et al, 2021).…”