Browsing by Author "Hakkarainen, Vilma"

Previous studies indicate that early numerical skills develop cumulatively, meaning that old skills form a base for the new ones. As a result, teaching these skills thoroughly in the first grade is crucial. In Finland mathematics education has been found to be textbook-centered, therefore the textbooks used in teaching have a significant impact on students’ learning. Especially after the year 2006, when the PISA scores dropped, the attention has increasingly focused on mathematics education and its textbooks. The aim of this study is to explore, how first grade textbooks differ in teaching early numerical skills. Additionally, the research examines whether the curriculum has an impact on teaching early numerical skills. This study has been conducted as a part of the MOPPI research project that examines mathematics textbooks. The research data consisted of four first grade textbook series published during the last three curriculums. The chosen textbooks were Tuuma 1, Tuhattaituri 1, Laskutaito 1 and Mieti ja laske 1. The analysis was divided into two phases. In the first phase, the analytical units were marked in the textbooks. In the second phase, the theory-driven content analysis was conducted, where the analytical units were marked with the equivalent main category and possible subcategories of early numerical skills. The textbooks differed in their approach in teaching numerical skills and emphasizing them. There were differences in emphasizing symbolic and non-symbolic number sense as well as in every subcategory of understanding mathematics relations except for operational symbols in mathematics. There were also differences in every subcategory of counting skills and basic skills in arithmetic. All textbook series began their teaching of numerical skills with early mathematical-logical principles which are important for developing other mathematical skills. Tuhattaituri and Laskutaito started teaching symbolic and non-symbolic number sense before other textbooks. The significant differences in understanding mathematical relations were in arithmetic principles, operational symbols in mathematics and place-value and base-10 system. Tuuma was the only textbook that didn’t teach number symbols up to one hundred. Tuhattaituri began teaching number word sequence before the other textbooks. The textbooks proceeded to addition and subtraction with different approaches. For example, Mieti and laske was the only textbook that taught addition and subtraction simultaneously. The curriculum partially impacted the way textbooks taught numerical skills. The clearest connection between the curriculum and the textbooks was with Tuuma. The connection was to early mathematical-logical principles and decomposing numbers. There were also connections between the teaching of number word sequence and the curriculum. Some differences weren’t connected to the curriculum. Although Laskutaito and Tuhattaituri were both published during the same curriculum, the textbooks didn’t teach numerical skills similarly in every category. Additionally, for example Tuuma and Tuhattaituri had similarities in their teaching, despite being published during different curriculums.