Conceptual subitizing and preschool class children’s learning of the part-part-whole relations of number

Author
Wästerlid, C. A.
Year
2020

Purpose

The study investigates how learning activities involving subitising (being able to see a small number of objects and knowing how many there are without counting) can help pre-school children learn part-part-whole relationships of numbers. The research questions are: 1) What knowledge of part-part-whole relationships did the children develop? 2) What correlations are there between the children’s knowledge development and the design of the subitising activities?

Result

The results show that the subitising learning activities helped the children to develop knowledge about the relationships that exist between parts and wholes of numbers. More than half of the children used more advanced subitising techniques after the intervention. Therefore, the researcher believes that such subitising activities can strengthen ready-for-school children’s understanding of the part-part-whole relationships of numbers.

Design

The sample consists of 18 children between the ages of six and seven and two pre-school class teachers. The children’s subitising skills were tested before and after an intervention which consisted of various subitising activities over a period of three weeks. After the intervention, the children’s subitising skills were re-tested. In addition to the pre- and post-tests, the data material consists of the teachers’ observation notes relating to the children’s various strategies for solving mathematics problems. 

References

Wästerlid, C. A. (2020). “Conceptual subitizing and preschool class children’s learning of the part-part-whole relations of number”. Problems of Education in the 21st Century, 78(6):1038-1054.

Financed by

The Swedish Research Council, Sweden