A study on the teaching of the concept of negative numbers

This study mainly aims to develop an effective strategy to overcome the known difficulties in teaching negative numbers. Another aim is to measure the success of this teaching strategy among a group of elementary level pupils in Izmir, Turkey. Learning negative concepts are supported by computer animations. The academic achievement test developed by the researchers was administered to 150 sixth-grade pupils at the beginning of and following the learning period. The teaching strategy was applied to the experiment group (n = 75) as stated above, while the traditional teaching model most frequently used in Turkey was applied to the control group (n = 75). At the end of the study, a significant difference was found in favour of the experiment group (t = 17.51, df = 148, p = 0.000 < 0.05). © 2010 Taylor & Francis