Understanding of number concepts in low attaining 7–9 year olds: Part II. The teaching studies

Abstract

A series of studies were carried out into the development of number concepts in 7–9 year old low attaining pupils. The aims of the work were:

• (i) To identify a framework which describes children's orders of acquisition of number concepts.

• (ii) To develop a diagnostic assessment instrument capable of describing children's understanding of number

• (iii) To devise, carry out and evaluate teaching and activities which would extend the children's understanding of number.

Achievement of the first two aims is described in an earlier paper (Denvir and Brown, 1986a). The present paper describes how the third aim was achieved in two teaching studies. Both were based on the descriptive framework and children's performances in the diagnostic assessment interview. However the two studies differed in approach. In the pilot study pupils were taught individually and specific teaching points were selected for each child. In contrast to this, children who participated in the main study were taught as part of a group whose members had reached a similar level of understanding but had acquired slightly different skills. Consequently the focus was less on teaching specific points and more on linking different aspects of certain concepts.

In both studies the pupil's performances improved between pre and post tests, suggesting that the framework and the pupils' performances in the diagnostic assessment interviews may provide a useful basis for designing a remedial teaching programme.