Mathematical Learning and Cognition in Early Childhood

Mathematical Learning and Cognition in Early Childhood: Integrating Interdisciplinary Research into Practice is a volume of studies exploring the mathematical mindsets of young children, from infancy to the elementary school years. Papers discuss a broad range of topics, including computational thinking, proportional reasoning, development of mathematical language, and meaningful integration of technology. 

 

The book is arranged in three parts, with a short introduction. The three parts are organized around developmental periods in cognition, progressing from infancy and preschool, to the beginnings of formal schooling, to the elementary school years.

 

Part 1 begins with an introduction to the “interdisciplinary” focus of the text. The editors argue for the need to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to understanding young children’s mathematical thinking, with work drawing from education, psychology, cognitive science, mathematics, and others. There is also an emphasis on linking research and practice, noting that an interdisciplinary approach may serve as a springboard for conversations about bidirectionality in this arena. The remainder of Part 1 discusses children in infancy and preschool, with articles focusing on early sources of gender differences (Paper 1, p.9), the role of parental talk in home play with and without technology (Paper 2, p.23), and the implementation of take-home “mathematics bags” as a preschool intervention (Paper 3, p. 39).

 

Part 2 focuses on several facets of mathematical reasoning for young students, primarily those in kindergarten. Topics include a broad range of mathematical topics, such as computational thinking and how it compares to mathematical thinking (Paper 5, p. 79), the use of mathematical modeling for measurement learning (Paper 7, p. 115), and exploring dual representations of base-ten blocks as both manipulatives and symbols (Paper 6, p. 91). 

 

Part 3 proceeds in a similar fashion but with a shift to children in grades 1 through 5.  Topics were again broad in scope, ranging from an integrated theory combining situated learning and communicative language teaching to understand bilingual mathematics interactions (Paper 10, p. 187), to a meta-analytic review of the efficacy of tablets with regards to engagement, attitudes, and achievement (Paper 12, p. 223), as well as young children’s informal thinking about proportions and division (Paper 13, p. 249). 

 

An interesting note is the variety of papers included in this text, both in topic and approach. Some papers provided primarily reviews of the existing literature (e.g. Paper 4, p. 57; Paper 9; p. 165) with newer work mentioned, others presented more detailed research studies (Paper 3, p. 39; Paper 5, p. 79; Paper 11, p. 203), and still another presented a new integrated analytic framework for bilingual classrooms (Paper 10, p. 187).  Though this variety provided great breadth, it also made the book feel as though it lacked cohesiveness throughout. A comprehensive or summative conclusion, which was sorely lacking, would have helped address this issue.

 

This book may be recommended for education or early childhood researchers looking to broaden their understanding of early mathematical thinking, or perhaps as a text for an interdisciplinary course on early mathematical development. The emphasis on school contexts may make the text also useful for K-5 teachers or mathematics coaches, though the breadth of the articles would likely limit immediate use in the classroom.  Though the failure of many included papers to provide clear and actionable ways to translate their research to practice means the full promise of the subtitle falls short, the text does still fulfill its promise of providing an integration of interdisciplinary research throughout. It may hopefully offer a springboard for further collaboration across disciplines. 

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Dr. Cristina Runnalls is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics & Statistics at Cal Poly Pomona, with a focus on Mathematics Education. Her research focuses primarily on the mathematics education of emergent bilingual students, with additional work in both pre-service and in-service teacher education.