Riikka Mononen
University of Oslo, Department of Special Needs Education, Department Member
Research Interests:
In November 2014 we had a wonderful possibility to organize a seminar International Seminar on Mathematical Learning Difficulties with our international colleagues in the field of mathematical learning difficulties. One of the main aims... more
In November 2014 we had a wonderful possibility to organize a seminar International Seminar on Mathematical Learning Difficulties with our international colleagues in the field of mathematical learning difficulties. One of the main aims was to provide open lectures for the staff members and students in University of Helsinki. The meeting was supported by the Teachers’ Academy in University of Helsinki. We have collected extensive summaries of the presentations to form this special issue. The summaries are found in both English and Finnish. To sum up the main ideas from the presentations. Firstly, although mathematical learning difficulties are common, we do need more research to be able to understand the possible cognitive precursors or environmental issues affecting learning and causing problems. Secondly, we need more studies about intervention programmes designed to support the mathematical skills development in children having problems in learning mathematics. Thirdly, we also n...
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Education and Educational
This pilot study investigated the effects of an early numeracy program, RightStart Mathematics (RS), on Finnish kindergartners with specific language impairment (SLI). The study applied a pre-test-instruction-post-test design. The... more
This pilot study investigated the effects of an early numeracy program, RightStart Mathematics (RS), on Finnish kindergartners with specific language impairment (SLI). The study applied a pre-test-instruction-post-test design. The children with SLI (n=9, Mage=82.11 months) received RS instruction two to three times a week for 40 min over seven months, which replaced their business-as-usual mathematics instruction. Mathematical skill development among children with SLI was examined at the individual and group levels, and compared to the performance of normal language-achieving age peers (n=32, Mage=74.16 months) who received business-as-usual kindergarten mathematics instruction. The children with SLI began kindergarten with significantly weaker early numeracy skills compared to their peers. Immediately after the instruction phase, there was no significant difference between the groups in counting skills. In Grade 1, the children with SLI performed similarly to their peers in addition and subtraction skills (accuracy) and multi-digit number comparison, but showed weaker skills in arithmetical reasoning and in matching spoken and printed multi-digit numbers. Our pilot study showed encouraging signs that the early numeracy skills of children with SLI can be improved successfully in a kindergarten small-classroom setting with systematic instruction emphasizing visualization.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This study investigated the effects of RightStart Mathematics instruction on Finnish kindergartners’ mathematics performance. The RightStart group (n = 38) received instruction that followed the RightStart Mathematics program, replacing... more
This study investigated the effects of RightStart Mathematics instruction on Finnish kindergartners’ mathematics performance. The RightStart group (n = 38) received instruction that followed the RightStart Mathematics program, replacing their typical mathematics instruction, from their kindergarten teachers during the kindergarten year. A comparison group (n = 32) received business-as-usual Finnish mathematics instruction. Early mathematics skills (i.e., counting, number comparison, and addition facts knowledge) significantly improved in both groups during the kindergarten year. No statistically significant difference was found in early mathematics performance between the groups after the instruction phase. The counting skills of initially low-performing children improved in both groups to the level of typically performing children. In first grade, six months after the kindergarten instruction ended, no statistically significant difference was found in mathematics performance betwee...
Research Interests:
The present study assessed Finnish kindergarten (N = 177, Mage = 76.4 months, SD = 3.7 months) and grade one (N = 178, Mage = 87.2 months, SD = 3.7 months) children's mathematical skills in the beginning of the school year. The... more
The present study assessed Finnish kindergarten (N = 177, Mage = 76.4 months, SD = 3.7 months) and grade one (N = 178, Mage = 87.2 months, SD = 3.7 months) children's mathematical skills in the beginning of the school year. The mathematical skills were assessed once using researcher-developed paper-pencil tests. The variance analysis (ANOVA) was used to study the effects of age and gender on performance level. Boys and girls performed similarly in both samples, but age effects were found in the kindergarten and first grade; older children performed higher than younger ones. The older children may have had more opportunities to practise and get acquainted with mathematical issues, as the age difference between the youngest and the oldest child in the classroom can be up to one year. Children performing at or below the 25th percentile in both samples showed significantly weaker performance in several mathematical skills (i.e., number word sequences, enumeration, and addition and s...