Helena Osana

Helena Osana
Concordia University · Department of Education

Doctor of Philosophy

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76
Publications
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Publications

Publications (76)
Article
Solving word problems is challenging for many children, but particularly for those with language difficulties. The objective was to examine the nature of the challenges experienced by children with language difficulties as they solved word problems in the context of a developmental-trajectory instructional sequence. We recruited 45 third graders wi...
Conference Paper
Base-ten numeration is a fundamental concept with significant implications for teaching and learning across various mathematical curriculum topics. To gain deeper insights into assessing base-ten numeration, we conducted a thorough search across 16 highly cited research journals for articles using assessment tasks to measure children's base-ten und...
Article
Full-text available
Children's knowledge of the ordinal relations among number symbols is related to their mathematical learning. Ordinal knowledge has been measured using judgment (i.e., decide whether a sequence of three digits is in order) and ordering tasks (i.e., order three digits from smallest to largest). However, the question remains whether performance on th...
Article
The hundreds chart is a valuable tool for teachers in elementary mathematics classrooms. The present study investigated the effects of spatial configurations of virtual hundreds charts on children's knowledge of base-ten concepts. Kindergarten and first-grade students were assigned to three instructional conditions in which they worked with a resea...
Article
Full-text available
Is the development of number line estimation (NLE) similar across regions? Data from Canada (Quebec, n = 67, Mage = 7.9 years; Manitoba, n = 177, Mage = 7.8 years), Chile (n = 81, Mage = 7.9 years), and Northern Ireland (n = 171, Mage = 7.3 years) were analyzed. Twice, approximately one year apart, students completed a 0–1000 NLE task and other mat...
Presentation
Full-text available
Understanding the base-ten numeration system relies on "unit coordination," which involves flexible regrouping processes in two directions: composing higher-level units from lower-level ones (e.g., creating one unit of 100 from 10 units of 10) and decomposing, which requires regrouping in the opposite direction. The present research focuses on the...
Chapter
Equal-sharing word problems involve sharing a quantity among a specified number of groups (e.g., four people share ten brownies equally). The nature of the specific object to be partitioned (e.g., pizzas, ribbons) may differentiate the strategies children use to solve such problems. The present chapter reports an investigation of how children’s sol...
Article
Transcoding is the process of translating between spoken and written numbers, and it is correlated with other mathematical skills. In the present study, we investigated the link between French number writing of 49 students in the third grade (aged 7 to 9 years) and their language skills. Transcoding in French is of particular interest because the s...
Article
Full-text available
In the current study, we used a multi-method approach to understand the quality of math homework-helping interactions between parents and their children and how parents’ and children’s own math achievement and math anxiety relate to the quality of the interaction. Forty Canadian parents and their children (ages 10–12 years; grades 5 to 7) completed...
Conference Paper
The primary aim of the present study was to examine whether the studs on LEGO® bricks act as irrelevant details when solving fraction division problems. We also investigated whether prior knowledge plays a role in the irrelevant details effect and in children's problem-solving strategies. Fifth-and sixth-grade students (N = 38) first completed a fr...
Article
Full-text available
We investigated the effect of conceptual transparency in the physical structure of manipulatives on place-value understanding in typically-developing children and those at risk for mathematics learning disabilities. Second graders were randomly assigned to one of three manipulatives conditions: (a) attachable beads that did not make the denominatio...
Article
Full-text available
The home learning environment includes parental activities, attitudes, affect, knowledge, and resources devoted to supporting children’s development, including literacy and mathematics skills. These factors are related to the academic performance of preschool children (aged 3 to 6 years), before formal schooling and possibly beyond. In the present...
Poster
Full-text available
Children’s understanding of the base-ten numeration system relies on the coordination of multiple levels of units (e.g., when the unit is 1, there are 10 units in ten; when the unit is a group of 10, there are 10 units in one hundred; Norton & Boyce, 2015). We investigated the effect of making units (i.e., denominations of ones, tens, and hundreds)...
Poster
Full-text available
Children’s understanding of the base-ten numeration system relies on the coordination of multiple levels of units (e.g., when the unit is 1, there are 10 units in ten; when the unit is a group of 10, there are 10 units in one hundred). We investigated the effect of making units (i.e., denominations) visible in pictorial representations of quantity...
Poster
Full-text available
La résolution de problèmes mathématiques à énoncé verbal est un défi pour les enfants au développement typique qui est d'autant plus importantes pour les enfants avec un trouble développemental du langage oral (TDL ; Cross et al., 2018). Toutefois, il n'existe pas de littérature décrivant leurs difficultés spécifiques. L'objectif de notre recherche...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
We examined the role of visual representations and knowledge of relational statements on children’s understanding of the structure of compare word problems. Second and third graders (N = 82) were randomly assigned to three representation conditions: (a) abstract pictures; realistic pictures that were (b) relevant, and (c) irrelevant to the story de...
Article
Full-text available
Canadian students enrolled in either French-immersion or English-instruction programs were followed from Grades 2 to 3 (Mage = 7.8 years to 8.9 years; N = 244; 55% girls). In each grade, students completed two mathematical tasks that required oral language processing (i.e., word-problem solving and number transcoding from dictation) and two that di...
Conference Paper
Dans la communauté de professionnel·le·s gravitant autour de l'enfant en apprentissage, il est communément admis que manipuler des objets concrets aide le développement de la pensée mathématique de l'enfant. Toutefois, dans la communauté scientifique, le débat sur l'efficacité de la manipulation d'objets persiste et la question est loin d'être régl...
Article
Full-text available
Language skills play an important role in mathematics development. Students (7 to 10 years of age) learning school mathematics either in the same language used at home (first-language learners; n = 103) or in a different language (second-language learners; n = 57) participated in the study. Relations among cognitive skills (i.e., receptive vocabula...
Article
Full-text available
The present correlational study examined third- and fourth-graders’ (N = 56) knowledge of mathematical equivalence after classroom instruction on the equal sign. Three distinct learning trajectories of student equivalence knowledge were compared: those who did not learn from instruction (Never Solvers), those whose performance improved after instru...
Article
Full-text available
In the present research, we provide empirical evidence for the process of symbolic integration of number associations, focusing on the development of simple addition (e.g., 5 + 3 = 8), subtraction (e.g., 5 – 3 = 2), and multiplication (e.g., 5 × 3 = 15). Canadian children were assessed twice, in Grade 2 and Grade 3 (N = 244; 55% girls). All familie...
Article
Math anxiety is a common correlate of math performance for adults. Research on young chil- dren’s emotional reactions to math is limited, but critical for determining how math anxiety develops. Students (N=244) completed math measures (i.e., number comparison, arithmetic fluency, and math problem solving) and math anxiety assessments twice, in grad...
Poster
Full-text available
Manipulatives are concrete objects that are often used in mathematics classrooms. Our research on manipulatives centers on the notion of affordance, particularly on the ways in which their physical features (e.g., size, color, configuration) can direct and constrain action and cognition (Gibson, 1979). Recent research has shown that physical config...
Article
Little is known about whether manipulatives can support children’s inferences of the mathematical structure of word problems. The objective was to test the effects of using manipulatives during problem solving on students’ understanding of the additive relationships in word problems. Third and fifth graders (N = 45) solved one-step addition and sub...
Article
Full-text available
L'objectif est d'évaluer les qualités psychométriques de deux tests mathématiques dans le but de développer des normes franco-québécoises pour le dépistage et l'identification des enfants à risque de présenter un trouble des apprentissages en mathématiques : le Tempo Test Rekenen (TTR) visant l'évaluation des capacités de fluence arithmétique et le...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
The current study documented the conceptual challenges experienced by children at risk for Mathematics Learning Disabilities (MLD) and those with other difficulties in base-ten numeration. Using general mathematical and cognitive tests, three groups were identified: Non-strugglers, At-risk for MLD, and Other-strugglers. Analyses showed that student...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
The aim of the present study was to investigate whether analogical reasoning is predictive of-graders were assessed on their conceptual knowledge of place value and tested on their counting skill, arithmetic fluency, and analogical reasoning. Results showed that the most important predictor of place value knowledge was analogical reasoning after ac...
Poster
Full-text available
The types of items partitioned in equal-sharing problems can impact children’s solution strategies. For example, when students partition brownies into equal shares, their strategies may look different from those used to partition pieces of rope. In this poster, we use the research literature and our own work to present a more specified theoretical...
Poster
Full-text available
INTRODUCTION. Individuals with Mathematics Learning Disabilities (MLD) often have difficulties in accurately estimating the position of numbers on a number line; such deficits may thus explain why they find arithmetic so challenging. The aim of the present study was to investigate the number accuracy and arithmetic skill of children with MLD after...
Chapter
In this chapter, we introduce the focus of the book and each of the individual chapters. The main objective of this book is to explore early mathematical learning and cognition from interdisciplinary perspectives. The book aims to make a holistic contribution to understanding the conditions under which children sharpen and extend their mathematical...
Chapter
Concrete objects (otherwise known as “manipulatives”) are used often in elementary mathematics classrooms. Teaching effectively with manipulatives is in part contingent on the extent to which children acquire dual representation (DeLoache, 1995), the notion that the manipulatives are objects in their own right as well as objects that “stand for” ta...
Chapter
Children who have learning difficulties or intellectual disabilities have similar challenges when solving mathematical word problems, including creating an internal representation of the problem structure and organizing the information to generate a solution strategy. Students with learning difficulties in mathematics and those with intellectual di...
Article
Full-text available
Manipulatives are concrete or virtual objects (e.g., blocks, chips) often used in elementary grades to illustrate abstract mathematical concepts. We conducted a systematic review to examine the effects of interventions delivered with manipulatives on the learning of children with Mathematics Learning Disabilities (MLD). The outcomes observed in the...
Article
Full-text available
Relational thinking involves understanding equivalence and numerical relationships. The present study examined the relational thinking of seventh graders before and after a 15-day mental mathematics intervention in the context of whole number arithmetic. Using two intact seventh-grade classes and a staggered treatment design, students were assessed...
Article
Full-text available
This paper describes a research collaboration between an educational psychologist and a mathematics education researcher, namely a didacticien des mathématiques. Our joint project aimed to explore the mental computation strategies of preservice teachers in an elementary mathematics methods course and to investigate the relationship between mental c...
Poster
Full-text available
Manipulatives are concrete objects (e.g., blocks, plastic chips) often used by teachers in elementary grades to illustrate abstract mathematical concepts. The use of manipulatives is becoming increasingly popular with psychologists in their work of students with mathematics difficulties. A meta-analysis by Carbonneau, Marley, and Selig (2013) indic...
Article
The effects of prior encodings of manipulatives (red and blue plastic chips) on children's ability to use them as representations of quantity were tested. First graders (N = 73) were assigned to four conditions in which the encoding of plastic chips was experimentally manipulated. All children then participated in an addition activity that relied o...
Article
Full-text available
Concrete objects used to illustrate mathematical ideas are commonly known as manipulatives. Manipulatives are ubiquitous in North American elementary classrooms in the early years, and although they can be beneficial, they do not guarantee learning. In the present study, the authors examined two factors hypothesized to impact second-graders’ learni...
Chapter
Our objective in this chapter is to present a framework that can be used as a guide for designers of virtual manipulatives and for researchers who study their effects on student learning in mathematics. Because a significant amount of research has been devoted to the effects of concrete manipulatives on student learning, the crux of the framework i...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
We explored the instructional conditions that support the development of children's dual representation (DeLoache, 1995) of mathematics manipulatives and the moderating effects of prior knowledge. Explicit instruction on using base-ten blocks as representations of quantity was delivered over six lessons in two kindergarten classrooms. The participa...
Article
Sibling-directed teaching of mathematical topics during naturalistic home interactions was investigated in 39 middle-class sibling dyads at two time points. At time 1 (T1), siblings were 2 and 4 years of age, and at time 2 (T2), siblings were 4 and 6 years of age. Intentional sequences of sibling-directed mathematical teaching were coded for (i) to...
Article
Over the last two decades, researchers have shown increased interest in problem posing in mathematics professional development. In the context of teaching mathematics, problem posing can entail asking questions during classroom interactions to assess student understanding, modifying existing problems to adjust the difficult level of a task, and cre...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Our study our study centered on the differential effect of instruction on aspects preservice teachers’ specialized content knowledge of division with fractions (SCK-DF). The CMG instruction (N =4) emphasized the use of one model and one type of representation to justify the standard algorithm. The CMIG instruction (N = 4) used of multiple models an...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Most studies of mental mathematics concerned with analyzing students' strategies are based on an assumption that is known as the "toolbox metaphor," which implies that in solving a problem, students choose a strategy (a "tool") from a group of predetermined strategies they have acquired in the past (the "toolbox"). Recently, this metaphor has been...
Article
This study evaluated the effects of Adapted Reciprocal Teaching (ART) on the receptive and expressive flight-word vocabulary of 1st-grade students. During ART, classroom interactions produced narrative contexts within which students assumed responsibility for applying new flight words in personally meaningful ways. Students in the control group als...
Article
Three specific sites, or points in real time, during problem solving gave fifth and sixth graders conceptual understanding, procedural skill, and the ability to justify their mathematical thinking about fractions.
Conference Paper
Full-text available
There is longstanding interest in factors that promote the transfer of knowledge and skills beyond the classroom. While there is evidence that supports transfer (see Bransford & Schwartz, 2001), some (e.g., Detterman, 1993) maintain that the possibility for transfer is unlikely. In this study we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of th...
Article
Background. Although making explicit links between procedures and concepts during instruction in mathematics is important, it is still unclear the precise moments during instruction when such links are best made. Aims. The objective was to test the effectiveness of a 3-week classroom intervention on the fractions knowledge of grade 5/6 students. Th...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
We present preliminary results from our analysis of multiplication and division tasks included in the teachers' manuals of the Nelson curriculum series. Our analysis of tasks from 14 manuals for grades 1 through 6 focused on (a) the relative proportion of tasks that require problem solving, (b) the ways in which the tasks were presented, (c) the re...
Article
This paper presents some results of research aimed at contributing to the development of a professional knowledge base for teachers of elementary mathematics methods courses, called here ‘teacher educators’. We propose that a useful unit of analysis for this knowledge could be the tasks in which teacher-educators engage pre-service teachers, and th...
Article
In this study, we implemented one-on-one fractions instruction to eight preservice teachers. The intervention, which was based on the principle of Progressive Formalization (Freudenthal, 1983), was centered on problem solving and on progressively formalizing the participants’ intuitive knowledge of fractions. The objectives of the study were to exa...
Article
Full-text available
The objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between mathematics anxiety and the procedural and conceptual knowledge of fractions in prospective teachers. Thirty-two preservice teachers enrolled in an elementary mathematics methods course were administered the Revised Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (RMARS, Baloğlu, 2002). Pr...
Article
Full-text available
This study extended the work of S. Siddiqui, R. F. West, and K. E. Stanovich (1998), who studied the link between general print exposure and syllogistic reasoning. It was hypothesized that exposure to certain text structures that contain well-delineated logical forms, such as popularized scientific texts, would be a better predictor of deductive re...
Article
Full-text available
The objective of this study was to examine the nature of preservice teachers’ evaluations of elementary mathematics problems using the Mathematical Tasks Framework (MTF), a model designed to discriminate among tasks according to their cognitive complexity. We also tested the relationship between mathematics content knowledge and problem length on t...
Article
A nine-day intervention was implemented in a 7th-grade all-girls classroom with the objective of improving the students’ evidential argumentation through the use of statistical sampling concepts. The 12 student participants were from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and were considered at-risk for dropping out of school. During the interventi...
Article
The authors implemented a cognitive apprenticeship learning community (Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989) in a class of preservice teachers at the University of Missouri - Columbia to enhance their argumentation and critical thinking skills about complex, educational problems. A detailed rubric based on the literature in argumentation and scientific r...
Article
The nature of adolescent decision making was investigated using a task that hinged on gender equity, a central concept in citizen education classrooms. Eighteen 10th-grade students were individually interviewed and asked to make a decision about allocating scholarship money to four pairs of fictional candidates seeking either nursing or engineering...
Article
The effectiveness of Reciprocal Teaching, a reading comprehension instructional technique, has been repeatedly demonstrated. According to Brown and Campione (Innovations in Learning, Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, pp. 289–325, 1996) “lethal mutations” are abundant because of teachers’ focus on how to do the procedures of Reciprocal Teaching and lack of under...
Article
Community career partnerships can draw into working alignment the critical aspects of career development for students (K-16) and the key social contexts that either promote or inhibit growth. The authors, using a qualitative research methodology, describe challenges faced by practitioners when attempting to create and implement a community career p...
Article
Current research and theory indicate that college students' scientific and statistical reasoning skills are deficient, but can be improved through instruction. Accordingly, an innovative statistics course was developed for the undergraduate education curriculum at the University of Wisconsin—Madison. The course promoted the idea “that the purpose o...
Article
Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1998. Includes bibliographical references.
Article
Full-text available
This study describes the barriers we encountered while engaging in professional development with three elementary mathematics teachers. We adjusted our work with the teachers by creating DVDs of their own students solving mathematics problems, which were then used to achieve the original goals of the professional development. Observational data and...
Article
Vita. Thesis (M.A.)--University of British Columbia, 1989. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-104).

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