Using photographs and diagrams to test young children's mass thinking

Conference item

Cheeseman, Jill and McDonough, Andrea. (2013). Using photographs and diagrams to test young children's mass thinking. In V. Steinle, L. Ball and C. Bardini (Ed.). Mathematics Education: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (MERGA36). Melbourne, Australia: Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. pp. 146 - 153
AuthorsCheeseman, Jill and McDonough, Andrea
Abstract

This paper reports the result of a pencil-and-paper test developed to assess young children's understanding of mass measurement. The innovative element of the test was its use of photographs. We found many children of the 295 6-8 year-old children tested could "read" the photographs and diagrams and recognise the images as representations of their classroom experiences. While the test had its limitations, it also required explanation, deductive reasoning, and justification of thinking through the open response questions. We have demonstrated that it is possible to develop pencil- and-paper tests that use photographs and diagrams to closely connect written assessment to classroom experiences of young children. Such assessment tools can reveal a range of children's thinking and can be a useful addition to various authentic assessment practices.

Year2013
PublisherMathematics Education Research Group of Australasia
Web address (URL)http://www.merga.net.au/documents/Cheeseman_&_McDonough_MERGA36-2013.pdf
Open accessOpen access
Publisher's version
Journal citation1, pp. 146 - 153
Page range146 - 153
Research GroupSchool of Education
Place of publicationMelbourne, Australia
EditorsV. Steinle, L. Ball and C. Bardini
Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/85z9v/using-photographs-and-diagrams-to-test-young-children-s-mass-thinking

Log in to edit

Download files

Publisher's version
McDonough_2013_Using_photographs_and_diagrams.pdf

  • 141
    total views
  • 103
    total downloads
  • 2
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month
These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

Investigating children's thinking about suspended balances
Cheeseman, Jill, McDonough, Andrea and Golemac, Dianne. (2017). Investigating children's thinking about suspended balances. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies. 52(1), pp. 143 - 158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40841-016-0073-9
Understanding time: A research based framework
Thomas, Margaret, Clarke, Doug, McDonough, Andrea and Clarkson, Philip. (2016). Understanding time: A research based framework. In B. White, M. Chinnappan and S. Trenholm (Ed.). 39th Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. Australia: Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. pp. 592 - 599
Time: Assessing understanding of core ideas
Thomas, Margaret, McDonough, Andrea Mary, Clarkson, Philip and Clarke, Douglas McLean. (2016). Time: Assessing understanding of core ideas. In B. White, M. Chinnappan and S. Trenholm (Ed.). 39th Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. Australia: Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. pp. 600 - 607
Using drawings and discussion to gain insights into young learners' understanding of mass
McDonough, Andrea and Cheeseman, Jill. (2015). Using drawings and discussion to gain insights into young learners' understanding of mass. Asia-Pacific Journal of Research in Early Childhood Education. 9(3), pp. 85 - 98. https://doi.org/10.17206/apjrece.2015.9.3.85
Supporting teachers in structuring mathematics lessons involving challenging tasks
Sullivan, Peter, Askew, Mike, Cheeseman, Jill, Clarke, Doug, Mornane, Angela, Roche, Anne and Walker, Nadia. (2015). Supporting teachers in structuring mathematics lessons involving challenging tasks. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education (online version). 18, pp. 123 - 140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-014-9279-2
Role of self-talk in the classroom : Investigating the relationship of eight-to-nine-year-olds' self-regulatory self-talk strategies with their classroom self-regulatory behaviour and mathematical achievement
Lee, Scott and McDonough, Andrea. (2015). Role of self-talk in the classroom : Investigating the relationship of eight-to-nine-year-olds' self-regulatory self-talk strategies with their classroom self-regulatory behaviour and mathematical achievement. Early Child Development and Care. 185(2), pp. 198 - 208. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2014.915818
Investigating eight- to nine-year-olds' self-regulatory self-talk in the context of their classroom tasks
Lee, Scott, McDonough, Andrea and Bird, Joanne. (2014). Investigating eight- to nine-year-olds' self-regulatory self-talk in the context of their classroom tasks. Early Child Development and Care. 184(11), pp. 1661 - 1676. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2013.875539
Students' willingness to engage with mathematical challenges :Implications for classroom pedagogies
Sullivan, Peter, Clarke, Doug, Cheeseman, Jill, Mornane, Angela, Roche, Anne, Sawatzki, Carly and Walker, Nadia. (2014). Students' willingness to engage with mathematical challenges :Implications for classroom pedagogies. In J. Anderson, M. Cavanagh and A. Prescott (Ed.). Curriculum in focus: Research guided practice (Proceedings of the 37th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia). Australia: Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. pp. 597 - 604
Young learners' understandings about mass measurement: Insights from an open-ended task
McDonough, Andrea and Cheeseman, Jill. (2014). Young learners' understandings about mass measurement: Insights from an open-ended task. In P. Liljedahl, S. Oesterle and C. Nicol (Ed.). Proceedings of the 38th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education and the 36th Conference of the North American Chapter of the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Canada: International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. pp. 193 - 200
Investigating young children's learning of mass measurement
Cheeseman, Jill, McDonough, Andrea and Ferguson, Sarah. (2014). Investigating young children's learning of mass measurement. Mathematics Education Research Journal. 26(2), pp. 131 - 150. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-013-0082-7
PPELEM: A "creative" interviewing procedure for gaining insights into teacher and student mathematics-related beliefs
McDonough, Andrea and Ferguson, Sarah. (2014). PPELEM: A "creative" interviewing procedure for gaining insights into teacher and student mathematics-related beliefs. In J Anderson, M Cavanagh and A Prescott (Ed.). Curriculum in focus: Research guided practice (Proceedings of the 37th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia). Australia: Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. pp. 445 - 452
Seeking insights into young children's beliefs about mathematics and learning
McDonough, Andrea and Sullivan, Peter. (2014). Seeking insights into young children's beliefs about mathematics and learning. Educational Studies in Mathematics: An international journal. 87(3), pp. 279 - 296. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-014-9565-z
Teaching strategies for building student persistence on challenging tasks : Insights emerging from two approaches to teacher professional learning
Clarke, Doug, Cheeseman, Jill, Roche, Anne and van der Schans, Stephanie. (2014). Teaching strategies for building student persistence on challenging tasks : Insights emerging from two approaches to teacher professional learning. Mathematics Teacher Education and Development Journal. 16(2), pp. 46 - 70.
Teachers' views of the challenging elements of a task
Cheeseman, Jill, Clarke, Doug, Roche, Anne and Wilson, Karen. (2013). Teachers' views of the challenging elements of a task. In V Steinle, L Ball and C Bardini (Ed.). Mathematics Education: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (MERGA36). Australia: Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. pp. 154 - 161
Tasks within tasks: The experience of a low-attaining mathematics student
Ferguson, Sarah, Clarke, Doug M. and McDonough, Andrea. (2013). Tasks within tasks: The experience of a low-attaining mathematics student. In J. Novotna and H. Moraova (Ed.). SEMT13 - Tasks and Tools in Elementary Mathematics. Czech Republic: Charles University. pp. 91 - 98
Testing young children's ideas of mass measurement
Cheeseman, Jill and McDonough, Andrea. (2013). Testing young children's ideas of mass measurement. International Journal for Mathematics Teaching and Learning.
Step it up: Using the measurement curriculum in the early years to create challenge
Cheeseman, Jill and McDonough, Andrea. (2013). Step it up: Using the measurement curriculum in the early years to create challenge. In A. McDonough, A. Downton and L. A. Bragg (Ed.). Mathematics of Planet Earth: The MAV 50th Annual Conference. Australia: Mathematical Association of Victoria.. pp. 31 - 43
Young children's emerging understandings of the measurement of mass
McDonough, Andrea, Cheeseman, Jill and Ferguson, Sarah. (2013). Young children's emerging understandings of the measurement of mass. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood. 38(4), pp. 13 - 20.
Demonstration lessons in mathematics education: Teachers' observation foci and intended changes in practice
Clarke, Doug, Roche, Anne, Wilkie, Karina, Wright, Vince, Brown, Jill, Downton, Ann, Horne, Marjorie, Knight, Rose, McDonough, Andrea, Sexton, Matthew and Worrall, Chris. (2013). Demonstration lessons in mathematics education: Teachers' observation foci and intended changes in practice. Mathematics Education Research Journal. 25(2), pp. 207 - 230. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-012-0058-z
Insights into children's understandings of mass measurement
McDonough, Andrea Mary, Cheeseman, Jill and Ferguson, Sarah. (2012). Insights into children's understandings of mass measurement. In T Y Tso (Ed.). Proceedings of the 36th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Taiwan: International Group for the Psychology of Mathemati.... pp. 201 - 208
The effects of creating rich learning environments for children to measure mass
Cheeseman, Jill, McDonough, Andrea and Ferguson, Sarah. (2012). The effects of creating rich learning environments for children to measure mass. In J Dindyal, L P Cheng and S F Ng (Ed.). Mathematics education: Expanding horizons. Proceedings of the 35th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. Australia: Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. pp. 178 - 185
Professional learning and action research: Early career teachers reflect on their practice
Scott, Anne, Clarkson, Philip and McDonough, Andrea. (2012). Professional learning and action research: Early career teachers reflect on their practice. Mathematics Education Research Journal. 24(2), pp. 129 - 151. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-012-0035-6
Fostering professional learning communities beyond school boundaries
Scott, Anne, Clarkson, P. and McDonough, A. M.. (2011). Fostering professional learning communities beyond school boundaries. Australian Journal of Teacher Education. 35(6), pp. 1 - 17. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2011v36n6.2
Building preservice teacher capacity for effective mathematics teaching through partnerships with teacher educators and primary school communities
McDonough, Andrea and Sexton, Matthew. (2011). Building preservice teacher capacity for effective mathematics teaching through partnerships with teacher educators and primary school communities. In J. Clark, B. Kissane and J. Mousley (Ed.). Mathematics: Traditions and [new] practices: Proceedings of the 2011 AAMT-MERGA conference. Australia: AAMT and MERGA. pp. 508 - 514
Learning to measure length in the first three years of school
McDonough, Andrea Mary and Sullivan, Peter. (2011). Learning to measure length in the first three years of school. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood. 36(3), pp. 27 - 35.
Investigating children's understanding of the measurement of mass
Cheeseman, Jill, McDonough, Andrea and Clarke, Doug. (2011). Investigating children's understanding of the measurement of mass. In J. Clark, B. Kissane and J. Mousley (Ed.). Mathematics: Traditions and [new] practices: Proceedings of the 2011 AAMT-MERGA conference. Australia: AAMT and MERGA. pp. 174 - 182
The impact of two teachers' use of specific scaffolding practices on low-attaining upper primary students
Ferguson, Sarah and McDonough, Andrea. (2010). The impact of two teachers' use of specific scaffolding practices on low-attaining upper primary students. In L. Sparrow, B. Kissane and C. Hurst (Ed.). 33rd Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. John Curtin College of the Arts, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia 03 - 07 Jul 2010 Australia: Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. pp. 177 - 184
Teacher change in response to a professional learning project
McDonough, Andrea, Clarkson, Philip and Scott, Anne. (2010). Teacher change in response to a professional learning project. In L. Sparrow, B. Kissane and C. Hurst (Ed.). 33rd Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. John Curtin College of the Arts, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia 03 - 07 Jul 2010 Australia: Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. pp. 391 - 398
Foundational ideas of measure :exploring length understandings
McDonough, Andrea. (2010). Foundational ideas of measure :exploring length understandings. In M. M. F. Pinto and T. F. Kawasaki (Ed.). Proceedings of the 34th conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Brazil: International Group for the Psychology of Mathemati.... pp. 289 - 296
Beginning the development of SAPP :self-analysis professional portfolio
Scott, Anne, Clarkson, Philip and McDonough, Andrea. (2010). Beginning the development of SAPP :self-analysis professional portfolio. Proceedings of the 2010 annual conference of the American Education Research Association. USA: American Educational Research Association. pp. 1 - 5
Focusing Year 8 students on self-regulating their learning of mathematics
McDonough, Andrea Mary and Sullivan, Peter. (2008). Focusing Year 8 students on self-regulating their learning of mathematics. In Merrilyn Goos, Ray Brown and Katie Makar (Ed.). Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. Brisbane, Australia: Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. pp. 337 - 343
Helping Teachers to assess students' readiness to learn Mathematics
Sullivan, Peter and McDonough, Andrea Mary. (2007). Helping Teachers to assess students' readiness to learn Mathematics. In Peter L. Jeffery (Ed.). AARE 2006 International Education Research Conference Engaging Pedagogies. Melbourne, Australia: Australian Association for Research in Education. pp. 1 - 9
Eliciting positive student motivation for learning mathematics
Sullivan, Peter and McDonough, Andrea Mary. (2007). Eliciting positive student motivation for learning mathematics. In J. Watson and K. Beswick (Ed.). 30th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. Wrest Point Hotel Casino, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 02 - 06 Jul 2007 Adelaide, Australia: Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. pp. 698 - 707
Perhaps the decision of some students not to engage in learning mathematics in school is deliberate
Sullivan, Peter, Tobias, Steve and McDonough, Andrea Mary. (2006). Perhaps the decision of some students not to engage in learning mathematics in school is deliberate. Educational Studies in Mathematics. 62(1), pp. 81 - 99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-006-1348-8
The mathematical knowledge and understanding young children bring to school
Clarke, Barbara, Cheeseman, Jill and Clarke, Doug M.. (2006). The mathematical knowledge and understanding young children bring to school. Mathematics Education Research Journal. 18(1), pp. 78 - 102. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03217430
Student Engagement in the Middle Years :Describing Influences and Possible Teacher Actions
Prain, Vaughan, Sullivan, Peter and McDonough, Andrea Mary. (2006). Student Engagement in the Middle Years :Describing Influences and Possible Teacher Actions. Australian Association for Research in Education 2005 Conference Papers. Melbourne, Australia: Australian Association for Research in Education. pp. 1 - 8
Examining the changed role of numeracy coordinators
Clarke, Douglas McLean and Cheeseman, Jill. (2006). Examining the changed role of numeracy coordinators. In P. Grootenboer, R. Zevenbergen and M. Chinnappan (Ed.). Identities; Cultures; and Learning: Proceedings of the 29th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. Canberra, Australia: Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. pp. 123 - 130
Professional development as a catalyst for changes in beliefs and practice :perspectives from the Early Numeracy Research Project
McDonough, Andrea Mary and Clarke, Barbara. (2005). Professional development as a catalyst for changes in beliefs and practice :perspectives from the Early Numeracy Research Project. In P. Clarkson, A. Downton and D. Gronn (Ed.). Proceedings of the annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. Melbourne, Australia: Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. pp. 521 - 528
Early numeracy coordinators in Victorian primary schools: Components of the role, highlights and challenges
Cheeseman, Jill and Clarke, Doug McLean. (2005). Early numeracy coordinators in Victorian primary schools: Components of the role, highlights and challenges. In P. Clarkson, A. Downton and D. Gronn (Ed.). Building connections: Research; theory and practice (Proceedings of the 28th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia). Melbourne, Australia: Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. pp. 225 - 232
Investigating young children's beliefs about mathematics and learning :The use and value of a range of creative interview tasks
McDonough, Andrea Mary. (2004). Investigating young children's beliefs about mathematics and learning :The use and value of a range of creative interview tasks. ICME-10 Proceedings Editor: Mogens Niss Administrative editor: Elin Emborg ICME-10 Proceedings. Copenhagen,Denmark: International Commission on Mathematical Instruction. pp. 1 - 1
Students' perceptions of factors contributing to successful participation in mathematics
McDonough, Andrea Mary, Sullivan, Peter and Harrison, Robyn Turner. (2004). Students' perceptions of factors contributing to successful participation in mathematics. In M. J. Hoines and A. B. Fugelstad (Ed.). Proceedings of the 28th Conference of the International group for the psychology of mathematics education. Bergen, Norway: Bergen University College. pp. 289 - 296
Understanding; assessing and developing young children's mathematical thinking
McDonough, A., Clarke, Doug and Clarke, Barbara. (2003). Understanding; assessing and developing young children's mathematical thinking. 9th National Conference of the Association for Mathematics Education of South Africa. Cape Town,South Africa: Association for Mathematics Education of South Africa. pp. 11 - 31
Assessing and developing measurement with young children
Clarke, Douglas McLean, Cheeseman, Jill and McDonough, Andrea Mary. (2003). Assessing and developing measurement with young children. In In D. H. Clements and G. Bright (Ed.). Learning and Teaching Measurement pp. 68 - 80 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Describing the practice of effective teachers of mathematics in the early years
McDonough, Andrea Mary and Clarke, Doug McLean. (2003). Describing the practice of effective teachers of mathematics in the early years. In N. A. Pateman, B. J. Dougherty and J. Zilliox (Ed.). Proceedings of the 27th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA: International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. pp. 261 - 268
Naïve and yet knowing: Young learners portray beliefs about mathematics and learning
McDonough, Andrea M.. (2002). Naïve and yet knowing: Young learners portray beliefs about mathematics and learning [Thesis]. https://doi.org/10.4226/66/5a8e4d814b7aa