MODERN VISUALLY EFFECTIVE TOOLS FOR BUILDING QUANTITATIVE CONCEPTS IN KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN

Authors

  • Maria Petrova Temnikova Faculty of Education, Trakia University, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20319/ictel.2025.579592

Keywords:

Modern Visual-Active Tools, Education in Mathematics, Touchscreen Devices, Interactive Learning, Kindergarten

Abstract

Digitalization and the rapid development of information and communication technologies over the past decades have significantly changed social life and the conditions in which preschool education is carried out. By using different aids for visualization in teaching, the contradiction between the abstract nature of mathematical concepts that children learn in kindergarten and their concrete-active and visual-imaginative thinking is overcome. The modernization of education in mathematics in kindergarten is related not only to the application of innovative technologies and approaches but also to the contemporary tools that are used. The problem of selecting them and using them adequately in methodological work exists and is significant.

The aim of the research work is to analyze and systematize theoretical concepts related to modern visual-active tools and to develop and test methodological options for their application in building quantitative understanding in children in kindergarten. The empirical study was conducted with 128 children from a kindergarten in the town of Stara Zagora. The obtained results show that the use of modern visual-active tools supports the development of children's knowledge and skills regarding the quantitative and ordinal value of numbers up to 10, the formation and comparison of sets through the relations "as many as," "more," "less," the subtraction or addition of 1 or 2 elements from a given set, and the modeling of numbers up to 10. The new educational paradigm requires the application of modern visual-active tools in preschool education in mathematics, which contributes to improving the level of knowledge and skills of children in the educational Cluster "Quantitative Relations," as well as their interest, activity, and motivation.

References

Angelova, К. (2023). The role of the competency approach in forming elementary quantitative concepts in 6-7-year-old children. Scientific Journal for Doctoral Students of the Faculty of Pedagogy of the Plovdiv University "Paisiy Hilendarski", vol. 7, 51.

Arcavi, A. (2003). The role of visual representations in the learning of mathematics. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 52(3), 215–241. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1024312321077

Bishop, A. J. (1973). Use of structural apparatus and spatial ability: A possible relationship. Research in Education, 9(1), 43–49.

https://doi.org/10.1177/003452377300900104

(Original work published 1973)

Brown, M., & Harmon, M. T. (2013). iPad Intervention with At-Risk Preschoolers: Mobile Technology in the Classroom Mary. Journal of Literacy and Technology, 14, 56-78. http://www.literacyandtechnology.org/jlt_14_2/jlt_v14_2.pdf#page=56

Claessens, A., and Engel, M. (2013). How important is where you start? Early mathematics knowledge and later school success. Teachers College Record, 115(6), 1-29. Retrieved from

http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=16980

Chu, F. W., VanMarle, K., Rouder, J., & Geary, D. C. (2018). Children’s early understanding of number predicts their later problem-solving sophistication in addition. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 169, 73-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2017.12.010

Dundar, S., Gokkurt, B., & Soylu, Y. (2012). The efficiency of visualization through geometry at mathematics education: a theoretical framework. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 46, 2579-2583. Retrieved from

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.05.527

Disney, L., Barnes, A., Ey, L., & Geng, G. (2019). Digital play in young children’s numeracy learning. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 44(2), 166-181. https://doi.org/10.1177/1836939119832084

Garon-Carrier, G., Boivin, M., Lemelin, J. P., Kovas, Y., Parent, S., Séguin, J., R., Vitaro, F., Tremblay, R. E., & Dionne, G. (2018). Early developmental trajectories of number knowledge and math achievement from 4 to 10 years: Low-persistent profile and early-life predictors. Journal of School Psychology, 68, 84–98.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2018.02.004

Goldin, G. A., & Kaput, J. J. (1996). A joint perspective on the idea of representation in learning and doing mathematics. In L. Steffe, P. Nesher, P. Cobb, G. A. Goldin, & B. Greer (Eds.), Theories of mathematical learning, 397–430. Erlbaum.

González-González, C. S., Guzmán-Franco, M. D., & Infante-Moro, A. (2019). Tangible Technologies for Childhood Education: A Systematic Review. Sustainability, 11(10), 2910.

https://doi.org/10.3390/su11102910

Harrell, S., & Bynum, Y. (2018). Factors affecting technology integration in the classroom. Alabama Journal of Educational Leadership, 5, 12–18.

Hawes, Z., Nosworthy, N., Archibald, N., & Ansari, D. (2019). Kindergarten children's symbolic number comparison skills relates to 1st grade mathematics achievement: Evidence from a two-minute paper-and-pencil test. Learning and Instruction 59, 21–33.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2018.09.004

Herodotou, C. (2018). Young children and tablets: A systematic review of effects on learning and development. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 34(1), 1–9. Retrieved from

https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12220

Hsin Ching-Ting, Ming-Chaun Li, & Chin-Chung Tsai. (2014). The Influence of Young Children’s Use of Technology on Their Learning: A Review. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 17(4), 85–99. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/jeductechsoci.17.4.85

İpek, A. (2003). Kompleks sayılarla ilgili kavramların anlaşılmasında görselleştirme yaklaşımının etkinliğinin incelenmesi. Yayınlanmamış doktora tezi, Atatürk Üniversitesi, Erzurum.

Jordan, N. C., Glutting, J., & Ramineni, C. (2010). The importance of number sense to mathematics achievement in first and third grades. Learning and Individual Differences, 20(2), 82-88.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2009.07.004

Jordan, N. C., Kaplan, D., Ramineni, C., & Locuniak, M. N. (2009). Early math matters: Kindergarten number competence and later mathematics outcomes. Developmental Psychology, 45(3), 850−867.

https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014939

Mattoon, C., Bates, A., Shifflet, R., Latham, N., & Ennis, S. (2015). Examining computational skills in prekindergarteners: The effects of traditional and digital manipulatives in a prekindergarten classroom. Early Childhood Research & Practice, 17(1), 1–9.

Nedeva, E., (2025). Influence of teaching methods on the perception of the learning material by students - future pedagogical specialists, Pedagogika-Pedagogy Volume 97, Number 6. https://pedagogy.azbuki.bg/en/uncategorized/nfluence-of-teaching-

methods-on-the-perception-of-the-learning-material-by-students-future-pedagogical-specialists/

Outhwaite, L. A., Faulder, M., Gulliford, A., & Pitchford, N. J. (2019). Raising early achievement in math with interactive apps: A randomized control trial. Journal of Educational Psychology, 111(2), 284.

https://doi.org/10.1037/edu00 00286

Plowman, L., Stevenson, O., Stephen, C., & McPake, J. (2012). Preschool children’s learning with technology at home. Computers & Education, 59(1), 30–37. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2011.11.014

Powell, S. R., & Fuchs, L. S. (2010). Contribution of equal-sign instruction beyond word-problem tutoring for third-grade students with mathematics difficulty. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(2), 381–394. doi: 10.1037/a0018447. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20640240/

Presmeg, N. C. (1986). Visualisation in High School Mathematics. For the Learning of Mathematics, 6(3), 42–46.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/40247826

Prusinski, E., Mahler, P. P., Collins, M., & Couch, H. (2023). Strengthening Early Childhood Education and Care in a “Childcare Desert”. Early Childhood Education Journal, 51(7), 1317–1333.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-022-01375-6

Rittle-Johnson, B., Fyfe, E., Hofer, K., & Farran, D. (2017). Early math trajectories: Low-income children’s mathematics knowledge from ages 4 to 11. Child Development, 88(5), 1727–1742.

https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12662

Sambasivarao, N. R. Mikkili, M. C. Goud (2021). The opinions of the mathematics teachers of the secondary schools regarding the effective usage of visual aids in mathematics teaching, Shodhsamhita, 8, (2(I)), 151-158.

Schacter, J., Shih, J., Allen, C. M., DeVaul, L., Adkins, A. B., Ito, T., & Jo, B. (2016). Math shelf: A randomized trial of a prekindergarten tablet number sense curriculum. Early Education and Development, 27(1), 74–88.

https://doi.org/10. 1080/10409289.2015.1057462

Schoenherr J., & St. Schukajlow (2024). Characterizing external visualization in mathematics education research: a scoping review. ZDM: Mathematics Education 56, 73–85. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-023-01494-3

Van Meter, P., & Garner, J. (2005). The promise and practice of learner-generated drawing: Literature review and synthesis. Educational Psychology Review, 17(4), 285–325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-005-8136-3

Wang, F., Xie, H., Wang, Y., Hao, Y., & An, J. (2016). Using touchscreen tablets to help young children learn to tell time. Frontiers in Psychology, 7.

https://doi.org/10. 3389/fpsyg.2016.01800

Downloads

Published

2025-11-27

How to Cite

Maria Petrova Temnikova. (2025). MODERN VISUALLY EFFECTIVE TOOLS FOR BUILDING QUANTITATIVE CONCEPTS IN KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN. PUPIL: International Journal of Teaching, Education and Learning, 579–592. https://doi.org/10.20319/ictel.2025.579592