母亲评价与幼儿数学认知发展的关系

母亲对幼儿数学能力的评价是母亲教育观念的重要组成部分。研究运用问卷法与个别测查法，考察母亲对子女数学能力的评价与幼儿数学认知能力，并通过二者的一致程度揭示母亲评价其子女数学能力的准确性。研究发现，母亲对子女数学能力的评价存在明显的高估倾向；与母亲受教育水平及子女性别等因素不同，子女前期的数学成绩对母亲评价其数学能力的准确性存在显著影响；母亲对子女数学能力评价的准确性与子女数学认知发展水平存在显著的正相关，适当的高估对子女未来数学认知的发展最为有利

Maternal Assessment and its Relationship with Children's Mathematical Development

Parental assessment of children’s mathematical ability plays an important role, either directly or indirectly, in a child’s mathematical development. In China, mothers look after children much more than fathers do. The present study explored (1) the characteristics of Chinese mother’s assessment of their children’s mathematical development, (2) the factors that influence the accuracy of Chinese mother’s assessment, and (3) the relationship between maternal assessment and children’s mathematical development. Fifty-one children (28 boys and 23 girls) aged 4–5 years from 9 different Kindergartens completed a child mathematics assessment (CMA, Klein, 1999; Cronbach’α = 0.92) in the first and second attempts; however, only 48 children completed the assessment in the third attempt. Children who passed in 1 item earned 1 point. Fifty-one mothers (25 with above high school education and 26 with high school and below high school education) were asked to predict their children’s total points in the CMA presented in the questionnaire only at the second attempt. An ANOVA revealed significant difference between mothers’ assessments of boys and girls (F(1, 47) = 8.98, p < 0.05), no significant difference in assessments of mothers with different educational levels (F(1, 47) = 1.22, p > 0.05), and no significant interaction between gender and mother’s educational level (F(1, 47) = 0.14, p > 0.05). Maternal assessments and children’s scores (the second test) did not correlate significantly (r = 0.23, p > 0.05). Further, 94% mothers gave inconsistent scores ranging from 1~18 points. An ANOVA with 2 (gender) × 2 (education) × 3 (children’s performance level in the first test) revealed that only the main effect of children’s performance level was significant (F(2, 40) = 4.67, p < 0.05). The maternal assessment accuracy and children’s scores (the second test) correlated significantly (r＝0.79, p < 0.001). When the children’s scores in the first and second tests were controlled, an ANCOVA revealed that the maternal assessment accuracy significantly predicted the development of children’s mathematical abilities (the third test) (F(2, 42) = 6.71, p < 0.01). In summary, mothers tend to overestimate their children’s mathematical ability. Different from maternal educational level and children’s gender, the maternal assessment accuracy varied with the children’s previous mathematical performance, and mothers more accurately assessed children with high mathematical ability. The maternal assessment accuracy was positively related to the children’s performance; moreover, overestimation by mothers to some extent could be propitious to promote their children’s mathematical development later. All these results suggest that the educators should be aware of the importance of scientific assessments of children’s mathematical abilities and adjust their thoughts and behaviors; thus, the development of children’s mathematical abilities was facilitated