This study examines the influence of mathematical activities revolving around group games on preschoolers` understanding of mathematical concepts. To this end, a mathematical activity program based on group games was developed and applied to four-year...
This study examines the influence of mathematical activities revolving around group games on preschoolers` understanding of mathematical concepts. To this end, a mathematical activity program based on group games was developed and applied to four-year olds for 16 sessions. While the experimental group consisted of 17 four-year olds, another set of 17 four-year olds was chosen to serve as the comparative group. Changes in terms of test scores before and after the application of this program were closely monitored. The following research question was established. 1. Do mathematical activities based on group games influence preschoolers` understanding of mathematical concepts? The results of tests which measured preschoolers` understanding of numbers were analyzed and encoded using a SPSS 14.0 program. The results of this study can be summarized as follows: First, preschoolers who participated in the mathematical activities revolving around group games showed a significantly higher improvement on their scores on tests which measured their understanding of mathematical concepts than those who did not participate in such activities. Second, these mathematical activities were found to have resulted in significant improvements in preschoolers` abilities with regards to such mathematical concepts as simple classification, multiple classification, object classification, serialization, notions of numbers, time flow and spatial notions. On the other hand, only slight differences were exhibited in terms of such concepts as patterns, measurements, and the notion of suspended time.