Preschoolers’ errors in length measurement: a case study

STAMATINA KOLOVOU, KONSTANTINOS LAVIDAS, ANASTASIA MISIRLI, VASSILIS KOMIS, STAMATIOS PAPADAKIS

Abstract

Measurement is an important part of mathematics in preschool education, covering many essential concepts for young children. However, research in this area is still limited. When learning about concepts like length, children often make errors due to their thinking strategies. Understanding these errors is crucial for teachers to improve their teaching. This study focuses on the errors preschool children make when using both standard and nonstandard tools for direct and indirect measurement. The research involved 20 preschoolers and included a teaching intervention that combined traditional methods with four digital educational games. The results showed that children often made common errors, such as: leaving gaps between nonstandard units when measuring, placing rulers incorrectly, and misunderstanding the numeric intervals on rulers. These findings emphasize the need for teachers to address such errors to improve children’s understanding of measurement. The study offers valuable insights into children’s challenges when learning about measurement. It also provides practical recommendations for teachers and policymakers to create effective teaching strategies and interventions.

Keywords

Kindergarten, geometry, comparisons, standard, nonstandard measures, digital educational games

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References

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.26220/mje.5550

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