Effective Choices and Practices : Uses of Manipulatives to Teach Mathematics (original) (raw)
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2013
This study was a comprehensive examination of the use of mathematics manipulative materials by a group of K-8 teachers identified as knowledgeable and experienced mathematics manipulative users. Because the teachers in this study were knowledgeable and experienced, the inquiry focused what mathematics materials the teachers chose to use. Analysis of over 500 lesson summaries from 116 K-8 teachers indicated that there were three common mathematics materials used by K-8 teachers who are knowledgeable and experienced manipulative users (dice, pattern blocks and snap cubes). The results support previous research showing that frequency of manipulative use declines from grades K through 8. In addition, the results revealed that the variety of manipulative used by teachers in this project also decreased across grades K through 8. An additional difference among the grade-specific groups was the way that teachers used the mathematics materials in their lessons, with Grades K-2 and 3-4 teache...
Making Manipulatives for Mathematics Education
6th FabLearn Europe / MakeEd Conference 2022
This paper describes the efforts of an interdisciplinary team of researchers as they collaborated to create a digital fabrication curriculum module for mathematics teacher education. The initial four-day workshop design was piloted with five pre-service teachers. The design objective was to introduce digital fabrication techniques joint with mathematical concepts and the design of classroom activities to develop pre-service teachers' technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge. The workshops included activities to find, adapt, create, and share mathematical manipulatives using digital fabrication tools, techniques, and platforms. Manipulatives are tangible objects reifying mathematical concepts and one type of representation used in mathematics teaching. The paper reports on the design process and our design motivations to address contextual constraints and varying levels of exposure to digital fabrication for both pre-service teachers and teacher educators. The developed "find-adapt-create-share" framework for introducing digital fabrication was evaluated through researchers' self-reflection and pre-service teachers' feedback during concluding interviews. CCS CONCEPTS • Applied computing → Education.
2013
Math concepts can be difficult for students to understand due to their abstract nature. Because of this, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has urged teachers to focus on the facilitation of students’ understanding and conceptualization rather than on drill and practice of rote procedures (NCTM, 2000). The use of manipulative materials in mathematics classrooms supports this attempt to provide students with a more thorough understanding of mathematics by allowing students to discover and apply concepts presented in class (Canny, 1984; Clements & Battista, 1990; Dienes, 1960; Driscoll, 1981; Fennema, 1972, 1973; Skemp, 1987; Sugiyama, 1987; Suydam, 1984). Manipulative materials are concrete models that can be touched and moved around by the students, thereby providing tangible investigative experiences for abstract mathematics concepts as well as how concepts are related. Incorporating the use of manipulative materials with an emphasis upon the thought process of ...
Are we having fun yet? How teachers use manipulatives to teach mathematics
Educational Studies in Mathematics, 2001
Teachers often comment that using manipulatives to teach mathematics is 'fun!' Embedded in the word 'fun' are important notions about how and why teachers use manipulatives in the teaching of mathematics. Over the course of one academic year, this study examined 10 middle grades teachers' uses of manipulatives for teaching mathematics using interviews and observations to explore how and why the teachers used the manipulatives as they did. An examination of the participants' statements and behaviors indicated that using manipulatives was little more than a diversion in classrooms where teachers were not able to represent mathematics concepts themselves. The teachers communicated that the manipulatives were fun, but not necessary, for teaching and learning mathematics.
Turkish Studies - Educational Sciences, 2020
Considering the difficulties that secondary school mathematics teachers have in accessing manipulatives and after scanning the literature in this regard, it is inferred that secondary school mathematics teachers have limited access to the manipulatives. Therefore, the purpose of the study was determined to be the examination of secondary school math teachers' access to manipulatives in mathematics lessons. The data of the study which was designed as a case study were collected by using the semi-structured interview method and analyzed by using the content analysis method. The study group consisted of 18 secondary school mathematics teachers selected by using maximum variation sampling method. The opinions of secondary school mathematics teachers on accessing manipulatives were collected under six categories: "the frequency of using manipulatives in lessons", "the authenticity of the manipulatives", "the manipulatives provided by the school and the effort to make up the shortage", "manipulative preferences", "limitations in designing manipulatives and preparation process", and "training on designing and using educational manipulatives after undergraduate education". The results of the study show that there are some limitations such as lack of math manipulatives in schools and lack of information of participants on preparing manipulatives, so various evaluations and suggestions were made to eliminate these limitations.
Use of manipulatives for mathematics teaching and learning
2023
Improved conceptual understanding of mathematics among learners can only be achieved through the use of manipulatives in the classroom. The use of manipulatives in mathematics education is critical for improving students' conceptual knowledge of the subject. This study examined broad ideas that evolved from research on how to assure the efficient and effective use of manipulatives in mathematics teaching and learning, as well as the factors that limit manipulative usage in mathematics instruction. The study revealed a link between pedagogical knowledge, subject knowledge, and ICT integration for the successful use of manipulatives in mathematical instructions and discourse.
Marginal Regions Mathematics Teachers’ Perception of the Use of Manipulative Tools
Kalamatika: Jurnal Pendidikan Matematika, 2021
Manipulative tool is one of the learning media most likely to be used by teachers, including those in marginal regions. This study aimed to determine the perception of mathematics teachers in marginal regions toward using manipulative tools as learning media. This study used surveys designed with two domains: the use of manipulative tools as learning media and the importance of manipulative tools as learning media. The sample for this study comprised 81 teachers who were either currently teaching or had previously taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels in marginal regions. This study found that the manipulative tools mostly used by mathematics teachers in marginal regions are objects obtained from the surrounding environment (used cans, paperboard, coins, rulers, stones, and sticks). This study revealed that the mathematics teacher's perception of manipulative tools as learning media and the importance of manipulative tools as learning media are generally in th...
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2020
This study aims to analyze students’ understanding of mathematical concepts in the material of addition and subtraction of integers by using manipulative media in the form of colored paperboard designed into rectangular shapes. This research was conducted in class IV SDN 02 Koto Tangah. The subjects in this study are class IVB students with the total number of 25 students. The instrument used in this research was a subjective test that had fulfilled mathematical concept indicators and test indicators. Data analysis was carried out by using the N-Gain formula developed by Meltzer (2002 and then was interpreted based on the classification of the N-Gain index from Hake (1999). The results of this study reveal that mathematics learning by using manipulative media in the form of rectangular shape designed paperboard can improve students’ understanding of mathematical concepts in the material of addition and subtraction of integers.