Length measurement in the early years: teaching and learning with learning trajectories

• Published in: Mathematical thinking and learning Vol. 24; no. 4; pp. 267 - 290
• Main Authors: Sarama, Julie, Clements, Douglas H., Barrett, Jeffrey E., Cullen, Craig J., Hudyma, Aaron, Vanegas, Yuly
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Routledge 02.10.2022; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Child Development; Critical components; Early childhood education; Educational Strategies; Educational tests & measurements; elementary math; Elementary School Students; Instructional Effectiveness; Intervention; Kindergarten; Learning; Learning Theories; learning theory; Learning Trajectories; Mathematics education; Mathematics Instruction; Measurement; Task Analysis; Teacher Student Relationship; Teaching; Teaching Methods; Trajectory measurement
• ISSN: 1098-6065; 1532-7833
• DOI: 10.1080/10986065.2020.1858245

Measurement is a critical component of mathematics education, but research on the learning and teaching of measurement is limited. We previously introduced, refined, and validated a developmental progression - the cognitive core of a learning trajectory - for length measurement in the early years. A complete learning trajectory includes instructional activities and pedagogical strategies, correlated with each level of the developmental progression. This study evaluated a portion of our learning trajectory, focusing on the instructional component. We found that the instruction was successful in promoting a progression from one level to the next for 40% of the children, with others developing positive new behaviors (but not sufficient to progress to a new level). We identified specific characteristics of the interventions' tasks and teacher-child interactions that engendered learning. The use of standard or multiple nonstandard units may play different roles at different points in the learning trajectory.