Work

Do Children Need Concrete Instantiations to Learn an Abstract Concept

Year: 2006

Type: article

Abstract: The effects of relevant concreteness on learning and transfer were investigated.Sixth grade students learned artificial instantiations of a simple mathematical concept.Some students were presented with instantiations that communicated concreteness relevant to the to-be-learned concept, while others learned generic instantiations involving abstract symbols.Results suggest that relevant concreteness may have some advantage over generic for learning.However, relevant concreteness hinders transfer of conceptual knowledge to novel isomorphic situations, while generic instantiations promote transfer.

Source: eScholarship (California Digital Library)

Authors: Andrew F. Heckler, Jennifer A. Kaminski, Vladimir M. Sloutsky

Institution: The Ohio State University

Language: English

Topic: Visual and Cognitive Learning Processes

Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Education

Award: Acquisition of relational concepts: Pathway to proficient thinking in mathematics and science