Journal of Talent Development and Excellence, Apr 30, 2014
Expertise in science is both determined by research excellence and by acknowledgment of the resea... more Expertise in science is both determined by research excellence and by acknowledgment of the research communities. Only rarely these determinants have been investigated jointly. The aim of the present study is to describe researchers’ different network positions in a scientific community and to analyse how personal attributes and network positions predict the development of later scientific visibility, measured with citations. The target group studied was the Learning and Professional Development special interest group of the EARLI (N = 66). The data included information about attendance to conferences from the years 2002–2010 and citation counts from the years 2006 and 2012. The results indicate that the members of the community did not form a highly coherent group. The results showed that the strength of the network position and the level of professional qualification were the strongest predictors of later scientific visibility.
While a good understanding of rational numbers is an essential part of mathematical literacy, res... more While a good understanding of rational numbers is an essential part of mathematical literacy, research has repeatedly shown that learners have a lot of difficulties dealing with various aspects of rational numbers (e.g. Vamvakoussi & Vosniadou, 2010). Still, little is known about the relevant contributors to learning trajectory leading to rational number understanding (McMullen, Hannula-Sormunen, & Lehtinen, 2014). Recently Lehtinen, McMullen, and Hannula-Sormunen (2014) found that Spontaneous Focusing On quantitative Relations (SFOR) was a unique contributor to the gain of rational number knowledge through instruction, even after controlling for prior knowledge of rational numbers, arithmetic fluency, and non-verbal intelligence. The goal of the present research was to replicate the study of Lehtinen and colleagues (2014) and extend it by controlling for learners’ general mathematics achievement. Results showed that SFOR was indeed a unique contributor to the gain of rational number knowledge through instruction, after taking into account previous knowledge of rational numbers, non-verbal intelligence, math fluency skills, and general mathematical skills. Both studies propose that learners who are more likely to focus on the more mathematically advanced aspect of tasks, such as the quantitative relations in a task, may gain more self-initiated practice with these skills than their peers who may only focus on less advanced aspects. This increase in self-initiated practice may contribute to mathematical skills development, particularly with regard to concepts related to rational numbers.status: publishe
Supplementary materials to "McMullen, J., Kanerva, K., Lehtinen, E., Hannula-Sormunen, M. M.... more Supplementary materials to "McMullen, J., Kanerva, K., Lehtinen, E., Hannula-Sormunen, M. M., & Kiuru, N. (2019). Adaptive number knowledge in secondary school students: Profiles and antecedents. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 5(3), 283-300. https://doi.org/10.5964/jnc.v5i3.201"
European Journal of Developmental Psychology, Mar 3, 2016
Abstract Li and Baroody presented a study in which they investigate children’ spontaneous attenti... more Abstract Li and Baroody presented a study in which they investigate children’ spontaneous attention to exact quantity without acknowledging how previous studies of spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON) are related to their concept and methods. The authors’ reaction to our pointing this out makes it is clear that SFON research has had foundational role in the development of Baroody and his colleagues spontaneous attention to number (SAN) idea. Thus the authors must acknowledge the SFON literature as the substantial part of their theoretical and methodological construct. The latest definition of SAN states this undeniably. “SAN is the attentional process that underlies exact number recognition initiated by the mathematical thinking triggered by SFON (e.g., attention to “threeness” directed by conceptual knowledge of “three” activated by SFON).” Furthermore, in their response, Dr Baroody and Dr Li admit that “An awareness of the SFON literature did help us explicitly recognize that, given the ambiguous instructions that do not explicitly direct a child’s attention to number, both the nonverbal production and matching tasks were useful in assessing unguided or spontaneous attention to a number.” It is surprising that in their response to the European Journal of Educational Psychology, the authors maintain their claim that they have cited the SFON literature adequately in their study about SAN.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to present if and how metacognition is manifested in social i... more Abstract: The aim of this study was to present if and how metacognition is manifested in social interaction during collaborative solving of mathematical word problems. The aim was also to develop a method for analysing the social level awareness, monitoring and regulatory ...
Changes in society, science and technology affect our daily lives and can cause new jobs to emerg... more Changes in society, science and technology affect our daily lives and can cause new jobs to emerge. These global issues, i.e. ‘change drivers’, require global solutions in various domains. At the same time, informal ways of knowing and authentic working-life practices develop in communities of practitioners, sometimes in cooperation with clients and suppliers. Professional expertise is contingent upon and builds on interpersonal relationships with other professionals. To better understand the variety and richness of emerging jobs to come, a classification has been created of the reasons behind changes in professional practices in various occupational domains. Based on the literature and prior experiences in academic apprenticeship training in Finland, we have found three kinds of explanations for changes in professional bodies. These are: (1) bureaucracy and legislation; (2) needs for a multidomain knowledge base and hybridisation of the professions, i.e. integrating related fields towards specialisation; and (3) technological development and innovations. These findings have implications regarding the design and implementation of programmes of professional education and what role recognition of prior learning has in regard to these emerging fields.
This chapter summarizes classical studies on numeracy development and highlights the impact of ch... more This chapter summarizes classical studies on numeracy development and highlights the impact of children’s own, self-initiated numerical activities in informal everyday situations on the learning trajectories toward an advanced number sense. Theories and empirical evidence of the role early exact and approximate magnitude processing, relational reasoning, counting, number sequence, and arithmetical skills play in the development of natural and rational number knowledge are described. Furthermore, studies on spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON) and spontaneous focusing on quantitative relations (SFOR) are described arguing that individual differences in self-initiated focusing on numerosity and quantitative relations explain some of the individual differences in children’s numerical development during the childhood years and primary school. Based on this literature review, we claim that it is important for formal mathematics education to early on take into account children’s own mathematically relevant activities in both formal and informal situations.
Adaptive expertise is a highly sought after, but difficult to achieve, outcome of mathematics edu... more Adaptive expertise is a highly sought after, but difficult to achieve, outcome of mathematics education. Many teaching methods appear to support the development of adaptive expertise only in a small proportion of students. Game-based learning environments may be useful for supporting adaptive expertise. Therefore, we carried out a quasi-experimental classroom intervention to examine the possibility of using a game-based learning environment to promote adaptive rational number knowledge, a potential indicator of adaptive expertise in the domain of rational numbers. The Number Line Elaboration and Exploration learning environment relied on the increasing elaboration of the number line analogy as a means for students to explore connections between multiple aspects of rational number knowledge. Our results show the game-based learning environment was successful in promoting adaptive rational number knowledge. These results provide directions for the development and examination of how learning environments may be able to support adaptive expertise.
Journal of Talent Development and Excellence, Apr 30, 2014
Expertise in science is both determined by research excellence and by acknowledgment of the resea... more Expertise in science is both determined by research excellence and by acknowledgment of the research communities. Only rarely these determinants have been investigated jointly. The aim of the present study is to describe researchers’ different network positions in a scientific community and to analyse how personal attributes and network positions predict the development of later scientific visibility, measured with citations. The target group studied was the Learning and Professional Development special interest group of the EARLI (N = 66). The data included information about attendance to conferences from the years 2002–2010 and citation counts from the years 2006 and 2012. The results indicate that the members of the community did not form a highly coherent group. The results showed that the strength of the network position and the level of professional qualification were the strongest predictors of later scientific visibility.
While a good understanding of rational numbers is an essential part of mathematical literacy, res... more While a good understanding of rational numbers is an essential part of mathematical literacy, research has repeatedly shown that learners have a lot of difficulties dealing with various aspects of rational numbers (e.g. Vamvakoussi & Vosniadou, 2010). Still, little is known about the relevant contributors to learning trajectory leading to rational number understanding (McMullen, Hannula-Sormunen, & Lehtinen, 2014). Recently Lehtinen, McMullen, and Hannula-Sormunen (2014) found that Spontaneous Focusing On quantitative Relations (SFOR) was a unique contributor to the gain of rational number knowledge through instruction, even after controlling for prior knowledge of rational numbers, arithmetic fluency, and non-verbal intelligence. The goal of the present research was to replicate the study of Lehtinen and colleagues (2014) and extend it by controlling for learners’ general mathematics achievement. Results showed that SFOR was indeed a unique contributor to the gain of rational number knowledge through instruction, after taking into account previous knowledge of rational numbers, non-verbal intelligence, math fluency skills, and general mathematical skills. Both studies propose that learners who are more likely to focus on the more mathematically advanced aspect of tasks, such as the quantitative relations in a task, may gain more self-initiated practice with these skills than their peers who may only focus on less advanced aspects. This increase in self-initiated practice may contribute to mathematical skills development, particularly with regard to concepts related to rational numbers.status: publishe
Supplementary materials to "McMullen, J., Kanerva, K., Lehtinen, E., Hannula-Sormunen, M. M.... more Supplementary materials to "McMullen, J., Kanerva, K., Lehtinen, E., Hannula-Sormunen, M. M., & Kiuru, N. (2019). Adaptive number knowledge in secondary school students: Profiles and antecedents. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 5(3), 283-300. https://doi.org/10.5964/jnc.v5i3.201"
European Journal of Developmental Psychology, Mar 3, 2016
Abstract Li and Baroody presented a study in which they investigate children’ spontaneous attenti... more Abstract Li and Baroody presented a study in which they investigate children’ spontaneous attention to exact quantity without acknowledging how previous studies of spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON) are related to their concept and methods. The authors’ reaction to our pointing this out makes it is clear that SFON research has had foundational role in the development of Baroody and his colleagues spontaneous attention to number (SAN) idea. Thus the authors must acknowledge the SFON literature as the substantial part of their theoretical and methodological construct. The latest definition of SAN states this undeniably. “SAN is the attentional process that underlies exact number recognition initiated by the mathematical thinking triggered by SFON (e.g., attention to “threeness” directed by conceptual knowledge of “three” activated by SFON).” Furthermore, in their response, Dr Baroody and Dr Li admit that “An awareness of the SFON literature did help us explicitly recognize that, given the ambiguous instructions that do not explicitly direct a child’s attention to number, both the nonverbal production and matching tasks were useful in assessing unguided or spontaneous attention to a number.” It is surprising that in their response to the European Journal of Educational Psychology, the authors maintain their claim that they have cited the SFON literature adequately in their study about SAN.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to present if and how metacognition is manifested in social i... more Abstract: The aim of this study was to present if and how metacognition is manifested in social interaction during collaborative solving of mathematical word problems. The aim was also to develop a method for analysing the social level awareness, monitoring and regulatory ...
Changes in society, science and technology affect our daily lives and can cause new jobs to emerg... more Changes in society, science and technology affect our daily lives and can cause new jobs to emerge. These global issues, i.e. ‘change drivers’, require global solutions in various domains. At the same time, informal ways of knowing and authentic working-life practices develop in communities of practitioners, sometimes in cooperation with clients and suppliers. Professional expertise is contingent upon and builds on interpersonal relationships with other professionals. To better understand the variety and richness of emerging jobs to come, a classification has been created of the reasons behind changes in professional practices in various occupational domains. Based on the literature and prior experiences in academic apprenticeship training in Finland, we have found three kinds of explanations for changes in professional bodies. These are: (1) bureaucracy and legislation; (2) needs for a multidomain knowledge base and hybridisation of the professions, i.e. integrating related fields towards specialisation; and (3) technological development and innovations. These findings have implications regarding the design and implementation of programmes of professional education and what role recognition of prior learning has in regard to these emerging fields.
This chapter summarizes classical studies on numeracy development and highlights the impact of ch... more This chapter summarizes classical studies on numeracy development and highlights the impact of children’s own, self-initiated numerical activities in informal everyday situations on the learning trajectories toward an advanced number sense. Theories and empirical evidence of the role early exact and approximate magnitude processing, relational reasoning, counting, number sequence, and arithmetical skills play in the development of natural and rational number knowledge are described. Furthermore, studies on spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON) and spontaneous focusing on quantitative relations (SFOR) are described arguing that individual differences in self-initiated focusing on numerosity and quantitative relations explain some of the individual differences in children’s numerical development during the childhood years and primary school. Based on this literature review, we claim that it is important for formal mathematics education to early on take into account children’s own mathematically relevant activities in both formal and informal situations.
Adaptive expertise is a highly sought after, but difficult to achieve, outcome of mathematics edu... more Adaptive expertise is a highly sought after, but difficult to achieve, outcome of mathematics education. Many teaching methods appear to support the development of adaptive expertise only in a small proportion of students. Game-based learning environments may be useful for supporting adaptive expertise. Therefore, we carried out a quasi-experimental classroom intervention to examine the possibility of using a game-based learning environment to promote adaptive rational number knowledge, a potential indicator of adaptive expertise in the domain of rational numbers. The Number Line Elaboration and Exploration learning environment relied on the increasing elaboration of the number line analogy as a means for students to explore connections between multiple aspects of rational number knowledge. Our results show the game-based learning environment was successful in promoting adaptive rational number knowledge. These results provide directions for the development and examination of how learning environments may be able to support adaptive expertise.
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Papers by Erno Lehtinen