| Popis: |
The Cuisenaire-Gattegno (Cui) approach uses color coded rods of unit increment lengths embedded in a systematic curriculum designed to guide learners as young as age five from exploration of ratio through to formal algebraic writing. As the rods have had greater adoption as a teaching aide than the curriculum, we set out to investigate how fidelity to the seminal curriculum and pedagogy impacts learning via a meta-analysis and novel study of preparation for future learning. This meta-analysis of 23 studies (n=1968) revealed advantages of Cui over traditional arithmetic approaches (effect size = 0.55). Curriculum fidelity significantly predicted efficacy. Higher fidelity implementations were associated with large effects and lower fidelity resulted in small or null effects. To test how this curriculum prepares students for future learning, we carried out an 18-month longitudinal school-comparison study (n=114) executed to a similar fidelity level as the study with the largest treatment effect. Cui treatment accelerated learning rates measured during the school-year after treatment, and demonstrated transfer to novel tests of algebraic reasoning (effect size = 1.0). Tests of scholastic aptitude replicated aptitude by treatment interaction for both arithmetic and algebraic reasoning. While Cui provided significant learning benefits for children with higher aptitude, these benefits were significantly enhanced for children with lower aptitude. Together, these findings support the benefits of this approach, and further substantiate the importance of embedding these teaching aides within the theory-grounded curricula that gave rise to them. |
