Browsing by Author "Van Hoof, Jo"

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Effectiveness of the Building Blocks program for enhancing Ecuadorian kindergartners’ numerical competencies
(2018) Bojorque Iñegues, Gina Catalina; Torbeyns, Joke; Van Hoof, Jo; Van nijlen, Daniel; Verschaffel, Lieven
We investigated the effectiveness of the Building Blocks program for enhancing Ecuadorian kindergart-ners’ early numerical abilities and spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON), after controlling forworking memory, intelligence, age, and SES. Following a pretest-intervention-posttest design, 18 classescomprising 355 children from varied SES backgrounds were randomly assigned to either an experimental(BB program) or a control (regular mathematics program) condition. Results showed that the childrenfrom the experimental group made more progress in their early numerical competencies than thosefrom the control group. Furthermore, the BB program was associated with higher quality mathematicseducation. We discuss the theoretical and educational implications for early numeracy development ingeneral, and for the Ecuadorian situation in particular.
Influencia del nivel socioeconómico en el desarrollo de las competencias numéricas de los niños ecuatorianos de jardín infantil
(2019) Bojorque Iñegues, Gina Catalina; Torbeyns, Joke; Van Hoof, Jo; Van Nijlen, Daniel; Verschaffel, Lieven
The aim of this study was to examine the influence of the socioeconomic level of preschoolers on their development of early numerical skills and spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON), after controlling for domain-general cognitive variables like intelligence and working memory and for age. On entering preschool, 355 boys and girls were given a battery of tests to evaluate their early numerical skills, SFON, intelligence, and working memory. The results indicate that there are individual differences in early numerical skills and SFON among Ecuadorian children entering preschool. Also, socioeconomic level was positively correlated with early numerical skills, but not with SFON. At the end, we discuss the theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the study.
Validating a home numeracy questionnaire in Ecuador using factor analysis
(2019) Van Nijlen, Daniel
The home numeracy questionnaire (HNQ) developed by LeFevre et al. (2009) is a self-report instrument to assess the home numeracy of young children. In this questionnaire, young children’s parents have to indicate how often their child participates both in direct (e.g., counting down: 10, 9, 8, …) and indirect numeracy activities (e.g., playing board games with die or spinner). Based on a principal component analysis, LeFevre and colleagues found a four factor structure of the HNQ. Using a sample of 176 Ecuadorian parents, we investigated the validity and reliability of the HNQ in a developing country. A confirmatory factor analysis indicated that, with minor changes to the model, the same four factor model could be found as by LeFevre et al. (2009). This study not only confirmed the validity and reliability of the HNQ, but also showed its usefulness for investigating young children’s home numeracy beyond developed countries.