The Calculator for Concept Formation: A Clinical Status Study

Kindergarten and first-grade children (N=30) used successive punches of a handheld calculator as a means for counting. Each child was presented 16 tasks in two individually videotaped interviews. Data concerning three questions were obtained: (a) Can children maintain a one-to-one correspondence between successive punches of a handheld calculator count and (i) an oral count, (ii) a manipulation of a set of objects, and (iii) a second calculator count?, (b) How do children account for an experimenter induced discrepancy in each of these correspondences?, and (c) With a calculator can children model counting strategies known to be used to process basic addition and subtraction facts? Data suggest an affirmative answer to each question. The authors conclude that it may be possible to facilitate a child's acquisition of addition and subtraction concepts by using the calculator to augment counting behaviors.