Structured versus free block play: the impact on arithmetic processing

Newman, Sharlene D.; Loughery, Erin; Ecklund, Ambur; You, Cindy; Soylu, Fırat

doi:10.31234/osf.io/9h278

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

Section: Block Construction Trainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although studies on the impact of block construction training on spatial skills are limited, there are more studies investigating the impact of block construction training on mathematical outcomes. Evidence is mixed, with some finding support for an effect of structured block construction of mathematical outcomes (Hawes et al., 2017; Newman et al., 2020; Pirrone et al., 2018) and others finding no evidence of an effect (Lindh & Holgersson, 2007; Schmitt et al., 2018). In the absence of Bayesian statistics or equivalence testing it is difficult to know whether studies finding an absence of an effect indicate support for no effect, or result from the studies being underpowered (Lakens et al., 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…repeated practice constructing models from a diagram) on mathematical ability is by Newman et al. (2020). When comparing two groups that participated in either free block play or structured block construction, block construction training led to greater improvement on arithmetic than free play with blocks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Assessing the impact of LEGO® construction training on spatial and mathematical skills

McDougal

Silverstein

Treleaven

et al. 2023

Developmental Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Lego construction ability is associated with a variety of spatial skills and mathematical outcomes. However, it is unknown whether these relations are causal. We aimed to establish the causal impact of Lego construction training on: Lego construction ability; a broad range of spatial skills; and on mathematical outcomes in 7–9‐year‐olds. We also aimed to identify how this causal impact differs for digital versus physical Lego construction training. One‐hundred and ninety‐eight children took part in a six‐week training programme, delivered twice weekly as a school lunch time club. They completed either physical Lego training (N = 59), digital Lego training (N = 64), or an active control condition (crafts; N = 75). All children completed baseline and follow‐up measures of spatial skills (disembedding, visuo‐spatial working memory, spatial scaling, mental rotation, and performance on a spatial‐numerical task, the number line task), mathematical outcomes (geometry, arithmetic, and overall mathematical skills) and Lego construction ability. Exploratory analyses revealed evidence for near transfer (Lego construction ability) and some evidence for far transfer (arithmetic) of Lego training, but overall transfer was limited. Despite this, we identified key areas for further development (explicit focus on spatial strategies, training for teachers, and embedding the programme within a mathematical context). The findings of this study can be used to inform future development of Lego construction training programmes to support mathematics learning.

show abstract

Section: Block Construction Trainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Assessing the impact of LEGO® construction training on spatial and mathematical skills

McDougal

Silverstein

Treleaven

et al. 2023

Developmental Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Building Numeracy Skills: Associations between DUPLO® Block Construction and Numeracy in Early Childhood

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Research shows that children’s block construction skills are positively associated with their concurrent and later mathematics performance. Furthermore, there is evidence that block construction training is particularly beneficial for improving early mathematics skills in children from low-Socio Economic Status (SES) groups who are known to have lower maths performance than their peers. The current study investigates (a) the association between block construction and mathematics in children just before the start of formal schooling (4 years-of-age in the UK) and (b) whether the association between block construction and mathematics differs between children from more compared to less affluent families. Participants in this study included 116 children (M = 3 years 11 months, SD = 3 months) who all completed numeracy, block construction, and receptive vocabulary tasks. Socio-economic status and demographic information (child age, gender, ethnicity) were also obtained from parents. Findings show a strong positive association between block construction and early numeracy skills. Block construction skills explained approximately 5% of the variation in numeracy, even after controlling for age in months, household income, and child receptive vocabulary. When separated by SES group, for children from less affluent families, block construction explained a significant amount of variability (14.5%) in numeracy performance after covariates. For children from more affluent families, block construction did not explain a significant amount of variation in numeracy. These findings suggest that, interventions involving block construction skills may help to reduce SES-based attainment gaps in UK children’s mathematics achievement.

show abstract

Structured versus free block play: the impact on arithmetic processing

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Assessing the impact of LEGO® construction training on spatial and mathematical skills

Assessing the impact of LEGO® construction training on spatial and mathematical skills

Building Numeracy Skills: Associations between DUPLO® Block Construction and Numeracy in Early Childhood

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About