Playing Fingu - a follow-up qualitative study of an early intervention in mathematics

The aim of this master thesis was to explore what learning students developed in mathematics when using an interactive digital tool. The issue the study focused was what cardinality skills five-year-old students established when playing Fingu by investigating how they handled the critical aspects of cardinality. Research agrees that the ability to compose and decompose numbers in a flexible way is a basic mathematical competence and an important prerequisite for developing arithmetic skills (Anghileri, 2006; Locuniak & Jordan, 2008; Neuman, 1987; Nunes & Bryant, 2007). Another basic competence in developing counting skills is the ability to rapidly perceive the exact number of objects in a group instead of counting one-by-one (Clements & Sarama, 2014). Fingu, is a game where to two different sets of fruits are visable on a screen and the player are supposed to represent the total amount of fruits with an equal number of fingers by touching the screen. In total there are 60 different tasks with different configurations, combinations and different sums up to ten. In a research project between the university of Gothenburg and the University of Kristianstad, called Conditions and tools for development of arithmetic competencies (CoDAC), 112 students between five to eight years old participated in an intervention where they played Fingu regularly over an eight-week period. The results from the CoDAC-project showed that there was a small positive effect for all ages on a standardized test. Data base for this follow-up study was derived from the CoDAC project. The method used was mainly video-observations and the results were presented as case studies where students' changed ways of representing and transforming numbers were qualitatively analysed. Variation theory and Nunes & Bryants (2007) further development of Piagets theory of how children develop an understanding of cardinality was used for interpreting what learning in mathematics Fingu support and what cardinality skills five-year-old students established when playing Fingu. The results of the study showed that all students increased their understanding of the cardinal aspect of numbers but also that there was a variation in the skills that the students developed. Furthermore, it can be noted that the students' subitize competence were developed. The implication of this study is that it seems promising to use Fingu as an early intervention in pre- and primary school. The results are also consistent with previous findings that digital tools can have a positive effect even though the intervention is limited in time