Title: THE MODALITY FACTOR IN TWO APPROACHES OF ABACUS-

BASED CALCULATION AND ITS EFFECTS ON MENTAL

ARITHMETIC AND SCHOOL MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENTS

Author : Kim Teng Siang

Affiliation: Teachers Education Institute, Tuanku Bainun Campus

Postal Teachers Education Institute, Tuanku Bainun Campus,

address:
14000 Bukit Mertajam, Penang, Malaysia

Fax: 604-5214955

Telephone: 604-5215227

Email kskim2007@gmail.com
address :
Presentation Paper
:
Study Group: Classroom Practice for Excellence

Abstract of the Study:

Mental arithmetic, in the form of Abacus Mental Arithmetic (AMA), has reemerged in its
importance to mathematics learning especially for young children in Malaysia. It was
introduced by the government in its effort to rectify the present weakness in
Mathematics curriculum and also imbalances in its achievements among the three
primary school streams (according to the language of instruction). This study aimed to
examine the effects of teaching AMA from the perspectives of Dual Coding and
Cognitive Load theories. A modality factor was proposed to be present between two
modes of treatment (teaching approaches), Oral First (oral-abacus, followed by written-
abacus and finally mental abacus) and Written First (written-abacus, followed by oral-
abacus, and finally mental abacus) on mental arithmetic and school Mathematics
achievements of Primary 1 pupils. This was because based on reviews on related
research findings, modality effect favoring the former, could be present between oral-
abacus and written-abacus modes of calculation. Thus it was postulated that by placing
oral-abacus first instead of written-abacus in the sequence of teaching approaches
above same effect could also be observed. The sample involved was 199 Malay pupils
from three neighbouring National Schools in the same vicinity. Modality factor was
detected, with the Oral First group significantly outperforming the Written First group for
both mental arithmetic and school Mathematics achievements. Component wise, the
oral administered part of the Mental Arithmetic Test was the same for both treatments
while the written administered counterpart was significantly different with the Oral First
group outperforming the Written First group. Similar trend also existed for the
Mathematics Test with the effects differed significantly only in the arithmetic component
but not the conceptual component. Thus, Oral First treatment had impacted more on
the written arithmetic components of both of the tests above but not the oral
administered part of Mental Arithmetic Test or conceptual part of Mathematics Test as
compared to Written First treatment. The reasons of these findings were discussed
based on the current development in cognitive theories and mathematics education
world wide. Their implications and suggestions to teaching and learning especially in
early primary stage would also be discussed in this paper.

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