This project is a part of e-portfolio that was created by Educational Technology Master's student at University of Delaware, Ali Can Saglam.

Final Project Proposal By Ali Can Saglam for Spring 2023 EDUC650 Technology and Cognition Course

DEVELOPING A PRACTICE LEARNING OBJECT ON NUMBER SENSE

INTRO

This paper aims to clarify the significance of improving elementary students' number sense, a subject that has captured my passionate interest. The genesis of my awareness of the importance of number sense dates back to my 3rd-grade course, where our teacher posed the question, "How far is 100 meters away?" during an outdoor activity. The complexity of the question left a lasting impression on me. Later,  I (as a double major student of elementary math education) had the opportunity to think deeper into the topic when one of my professors posed the question, "How can we enhance students' understanding of number sense?" As an educational technology master's student, I am eager to create a learning object that students can use to enhance their number sense. Notably, my professors have highlighted that students are often unaware of the need to improve their number sense, underscoring the need for teachers to assist them in cultivating this skill.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Learning Object

Wiley (2002) explains learning objects as technology is currently considered the leading candidate for the next generation of instructional design, development, and delivery, according to the Learning Technology Standards Committee (LTSC) and it is found valuable because of its ability to be reused, generated, adapted, and scaled. There are many learning objects developed for different grades and courses. They can be used for computer-based learning and computer-supported learning environments. In this project, the learning object that is seeking to be developed will be for practicing the topic of number sense, which means it will have some practice sections that help students to permanently understand the subject they have learned.

Number Sense

Much research has been conducted to help teachers to enable them to teach number sense to students. Number sense is an ability that is important for people in real life to foresee and understand different situations that include numbers such as predicting distance or summing to decimals without using fingers. It is explained by Okamoto & Case (1996) as “difficult to define but easy to recognize”. It is impossible to disagree with this sentence. Math teachers value number sense as an important skill to teach; however, they also need to be trained to be able to understand and teach this topic(Faulkner & Cain, 2009).

There are some studies to implement computer-based learning objects into classrooms to help students to improve number sense(Aragón-Mendizábal et al., 2017, Sinclair et al, 2003); on the other hand, some to design a program for number sense with educational software(Griffin, 2004).

When this project is completed, the final learning object, educational material, consists of different games about number sense. This material will help teachers to make students’ knowledge about number sense after their class. So, this material will be a part of computer-supported learning, not computer-based. This is an important point because some teachers may misunderstand the use of these kinds of materials.

PROBLEM STATEMENT 

The lack of developed number sense skills among 5th-grade students renders them unable to perform addition and subtraction without relying on finger counting.

TARGET AUDIENCE 

• The target audience of this material is basically 5th-grade students from all over the world. 

• Students must know how to use a desktop or laptop or touch screen tablet or touch screen mobile.

• The students must possess proficiency in English (verbal and visual) to comprehend the instructions provided within the resource. 

• They must be adept at using a keyboard and mouse, or alternatively, their fingers as a pointing device on touch screen devices. 

• The material will be web-based, and hence, access to an updated web browser and an internet connection is essential for every student, or alternatively, access to an offline version of the material is required.

• Every student must be able to reach a computer (or tablet) in the class.
  
  

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES 

Students will be able to perform addition and subtraction without relying on finger counting. In addition, their number sense ability will be improved by practicing.

LEARNING THEORY & DESIGN

In the case of a digital learning object that is only for a specific subject, it is not possible to individualize learning by changing topics, examples and other components of learning. Therefore, this learning experience should be directed by the instructional designer or teacher who develops it. With this acceptance and according to the problem statement and the learning objective, the behaviorist approach will be logically correct to use for this material because the material will need to wait for the exact correct answer for every single question it has. In addition, it will provide instant feedback and reinforcements (which are essential for behaviorists) to help students to understand when they do well or make a mistake. On the other hand, I strongly believe that benefiting from the cognitive learning approach is focused on memorizing and remembering which are crucial for number sense. My goal to use accurate examples to help students to see number sense already in their life. Therefore, they can assimilate or accommodate the new information according to Piaget (Pakpahan et al., 2022).

IMPLEMENTATION 

This learning object is designed to be a part of the learning experience, not the whole -standalone- learning environment. So, teachers should use this material in their computer-supported classes to enable their students to practice more on number sense. In addition, designing learning before using this material is essential because teachers may implement this during the class or after the class. On the other hand, reaching a web browser software via any technological device such as a laptop, desktop, tablet or mobile is a must for this material.

EXPECTED DIFFICULTIES 

Developing effective learning materials is a complex and multifaceted task that requires careful consideration of various factors. This includes adhering to established multimedia principles, selecting appropriate learning approaches, incorporating game theories if relevant, and ensuring a smooth flow of content to maintain student engagement and prevent frustration (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). The developer must also possess the necessary knowledge and skills to source relevant infographics, pictures, illustrations, and typography that align with the learning objectives. However, the availability and cost of pre-existing development materials may pose a challenge to the development process. Furthermore, time constraints may impede the timely completion of the learning material.

REFERENCES

• Aragón-Mendizábal, E., Aguilar-Villagrán, M., Navarro-Guzmán, J. I., & Howell, R. (2017). Improving number sense in kindergarten children with low achievement in mathematics. Anales de Psicología/Annals of Psychology, 33(2), 311-318.

• Csikszentmihalyi, M., Csikszentmihalyi, M., Abuhamdeh, S., & Nakamura, J. (2014). Flow. Flow and the foundations of positive psychology: The collected works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, 227-238.

• Faulkner, V. N., & Cain, C. (2009). The components of number sense: An instructional model for teachers. Teaching Exceptional Children, 41(5), 24-30.

• Griffin, S. (2004). Building number sense with Number Worlds: A mathematics program for young children. Early childhood research quarterly, 19(1), 173-180.

• Okamoto, Y., & Case, R. (1996). Exploring the microstructure of children’s central conceptual structures in the domain of number. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 61, 27–59.

• Pakpahan, F. H., & Saragih, M. (2022). Theory of cognitive development by jean Piaget. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2(2), 55-60.

• Sinclair, N., Zazkis, R. & Liljedahl, P. Number Worlds: Visual and Experimental Access to Elementary Number Theory Concepts. International Journal of Computers for Mathematical Learning 8, 235–263 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:IJCO.0000021780.01416.61

• Wiley, D. A. (2002). The instructional use of learning objects (Vol. 1). Bloomington: Agency for instructional technology.

Final Project Submission By Ali Can Saglam for Spring 2023 EDUC650 Technology and Cognition Course

Due to limited time, I only created a a short demo that is located on the top of the page to explain the ideas. 

REFLECTIVE BLOG FOR DEVELOPING A LEARNING OBJECT