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Discerning a Progression in Conceptions of Magnitude During Children’s Construction of Number

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Constructing Number

Part of the book series: Research in Mathematics Education ((RME))

Abstract

Psychological studies of early numerical development fill a void in mathematics education research. However, conflations between magnitude awareness and number, and over-attributions of researcher conceptions to children, have led to psychological models that are at odds with findings from mathematics educators on later numerical development. In this chapter, we use the approximate number system as an example of a psychological construct that would benefit the mathematics education community if reframed to account for distinctions between number and magnitude. We provide such a reframing that also accounts for the role of children’s sensorimotor activity in the construction of number.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Catherine Ulrich

  2. Department of Mathematics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Anderson Norton

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  1. Catherine Ulrich
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  2. Anderson Norton
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Correspondence to Anderson Norton .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Anderson Norton

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Martha W. Alibali

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Ulrich, C., Norton, A. (2019). Discerning a Progression in Conceptions of Magnitude During Children’s Construction of Number. In: Norton, A., Alibali, M.W. (eds) Constructing Number. Research in Mathematics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00491-0_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00491-0_3

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