Comparative analysis of mental and written calculation on upper levels of primary education
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Abstract
More than a decade ago, the Primary Education curriculum has given higher meaning to mental calculation over written calculation. However, in classroom practice, the vertical written algorithms teaching continues to be prioritized. In this sense, the teaching and learning of these algorithms continues to generate certain difficulties in the students. For this reason, alternatives to traditional written calculation are being implemented in educational centers, with the aim of encouraging the development of cognitive calculation mental strategies and improving the mathematical competence of students. The purpose of this study is to analyze the possible differences in written calculation and mental calculation in the upper levels of Primary Education, comparing students who follow two different methodologies for learning mathematics, such as the Open Based on Numbers (ABN) method and the method Closed Based on Ciphers (CBC). Currently, an empirical study is being carried out with a sample of 245 participants, 106 belonging to the experimental group (ABN) and 139 to the control group (CBC). The evaluation instruments used in this study were different arithmetic resolution tests. The experimental group showed higher scores in the mental calculation variable (XGC = 9.18; XGE = 13.21), with significant differences between the groups (p < .001). On the contrary, the control group showed higher scores in written calculation compared to the experimental group (XGC = 16.71; XGE =15.38), these differences being significant again (p < .001). These results suggest the possibility of opening new lines of research to deepen into the mental calculation cognitive strategies used by students, and their possible influence on mathematical performance as well as in other areas of the primary education curriculum.
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