Number Sense: The Underpinning Understanding for Early Quantitative Literacy

dc.creator	Effie Maclellan
dc.date	2012-07-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-07-20T22:13:10Z
dc.date.available	2015-07-20T22:13:10Z
dc.identifier	1936-4660
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/d760c631ebfe4401b81ac7c3333df2a4
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/15820
dc.description	The fundamental meaning of Quantitative Literacy (QL) as the application of quantitative knowledge or reasoning in new/unfamiliar contexts is problematic because how we acquire knowledge, and transfer it to new situations, is not straightforward. This article argues that in the early development of QL, there is a specific corpus of numerical knowledge which learners need to integrate into their thinking, and to which teachers should attend. The paper is a rebuttal to historically prevalent (and simplistic) views that the terrain of early numerical understanding is little more than simple counting devoid of cognitive complexity. Rather, the knowledge upon which early QL develops comprises interdependent dimensions: Number Knowledge, Counting Skills and Principles, Nonverbal Calculation, Number Combinations and Story Problems - summarised as Number Sense. In order to derive the findings for this manuscript, a realist synthesis of recent Education and Psychology literature was conducted. The findings are of use not only when teaching very young children, but also when teaching learners who are experiencing learning difficulties through the absence of prerequisite numerical knowledge. As well, distilling fundamental quantitative knowledge for teachers to integrate into practice, the review emphasises that improved pedagogy is less a function of literal applications of reported interventions, on the grounds of perceived efficacy elsewhere, but based in refinements of teachers' understandings. Because teachers need to adapt instructional sequences to the actual thinking and learning of learners in their charge, they need knowledge that allows them to develop their own theoretical understanding rather than didactic exhortations.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	University of South Florida Libraries
dc.relation	http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1936-4660.5.2.3
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/1936-4660
dc.rights	CC BY-NC
dc.source	Numeracy, Vol 5, Iss 2, p 3 (2012)
dc.subject	Number sense
dc.subject	Pedagogy
dc.subject	Number knowledge
dc.subject	Counting skills and principles
dc.subject	Nonverbal calculation
dc.subject	Number combinations
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Mathematics
dc.subject	QA1-939
dc.subject	Science
dc.subject	Q
dc.subject	DOAJ:Mathematics
dc.subject	DOAJ:Mathematics and Statistics
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Mathematics
dc.subject	QA1-939
dc.subject	Science
dc.subject	Q
dc.subject	DOAJ:Mathematics
dc.subject	DOAJ:Mathematics and Statistics
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Mathematics
dc.subject	QA1-939
dc.subject	Science
dc.subject	Q
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Mathematics
dc.subject	QA1-939
dc.subject	Science
dc.subject	Q
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Mathematics
dc.subject	QA1-939
dc.subject	Science
dc.subject	Q
dc.title	Number Sense: The Underpinning Understanding for Early Quantitative Literacy
dc.type	article