Buckets of Fun: Impacts of Fraction Ball Activities on Students' Math-Related Emotions

Authors

• Siling Guo, University of CaliforniaFollow
• Drew H. Bailey, University of CaliforniaFollow
• Katherine Rhodes, University of CaliforniaFollow
• Kreshnik Nasi Begolli, University of CaliforniaFollow
• Vanessa N. Bermudez, University of CaliforniaFollow
• LuEttaMae Lawrence, Utah State UniversityFollow
• Daniela Alvarez-Vargas, University of DenverFollow
• Lourdes M. Acevedo-Farag, University of CaliforniaFollow
• June Ahn, University of CaliforniaFollow
• Andres S. Bustamante, University of CaliforniaFollow
• Lindsey E. Richland, University of CaliforniaFollow

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

Volume

92

Publisher

Elsevier Ltd

Publication Date

3-22-2024

Journal Article Version

Accepted Manuscript

First Page

1

Last Page

64

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Abstract

Rational number learning can cause frustration and negative emotions for elementary school students. Fraction Ball, a play-based math intervention, allows students to actively learn rational numbers through engaging and interactive activities. Based on a cluster-randomized trial with 16 teachers and 360 students, our pre-registered analyses showed moderate positive impacts of Fraction Ball on overall students' self-reported math-related emotions. Exploratory analyses indicated that students with higher negative emotions at pretest showed larger experimental impacts on decreasing negative emotions at posttest. Finally, we found that Fraction Ball evidenced no trade-off between rational number learning and emotional outcomes at the classroom block level, indicating that positive learning gains in rational number skills were associated with increases in positive emotions and decreases in negative emotions.

Recommended Citation

Siling Guo, Drew H. Bailey, Katherine Rhodes, Kreshnik Nasi Begolli, Vanessa N. Bermudez, LuEttaMae Lawrence, Daniela Alvarez-Vargas, Lourdes M. Acevedo-Farag, June Ahn, Andres S. Bustamante, Lindsey E. Richland, Buckets of fun: Impacts of fraction ball activities on students' math-related emotions, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, Volume 92, 2024, 101645, ISSN 0193-3973, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2024.101645.