Math and language competence tests for Grades three and six were created as a part of the project I ja II kooliastme üldpädevuste hindamisvahendite rakendamine põhikoolides: matemaatilise ja funktsionaalse kirjaoskuse hindamise pilootprojekt (Using I and II school level general competence assessment tools in middle school: a pilot project to assess math and functional literacy)“ (duration of the project 1.06.2019-28.02.2020). The purpose of the study was to create electronical math and language tests for Grades three and six in both the Estonian and Russian languages. This project enabled to create math and language competence tests for Grades three and six for teachers in Estonia to use to evaluate their students’ skills and knowledge. Detailed information about the tests and the use of these tests is available on the Republic of Estonia Education and Youth Board webpage (in the Estonian and Russian languages). The project leader was professor Aaro Toomela and the project was carried out by Piret Soodla, Kaja Mädamürk and Eliis Härma. 

The project Assessment of the development of mathematical competence in basic school (project duration 1.02.2021-31.11.2022) was a continuation of evaluating math competence by creating and using math and language competence tests. The purpose of the study was to evaluate math competence development between the Grades of three and five and the Grades of six and eighth. This research enables us to evaluate how students math competence develops, how earlier skills and knowledge predict math competence in Grades five and eighth and how language competence relates to math competence development. Math and learning related anxiety and motivation were also evaluated. This project gives important insights into how students’ skills develop and what aspects may hinder or assist in the development of these skills. 

The project leader was Senior Researcher in School Psychology Kaja Mädamürk from the School of Natural and Health Sciences and the project was also carried out by doctoral students from the School of Natural and Health Sciences Triinu Kilp-Kabel and Hardi Sigus, in addition to collaboration with other researchers and students from Tallinn University and researchers from the University of Turku.

The project Developing math competence in middle school: Applying math outside of the classroom (project duration 1.01.2022-31.12.2025) is a continuation of the previous projects of evaluating math competence development from Grade six to Grade eighth. The subjects in the project are students that participated in the first project in Grade three, who will graduate from Grade eighth by the end of this project. In addition, an intervention program will be developed for Grade seven to study ways of supporting math competence and to offer teachers a supplementary tool to use alongside their regular classroom curriculum to support math comptence. This research enables us to evaluate how students’ math competence subskills and motivation develop and what types of math competence profiles and developmental pathways form between Grades three and eighth. Additionally, this research enables us to find what effect a math competence intervention has on students’ math competence development compared to students that do not take part in the intervention.

The project leader is Senior Researcher in School Psychology Kaja Mädamürk from the School of Natural and Health Sciences and the project is also carried out by doctoral students from the School of Natural and Health Sciences Triinu Kilp-Kabel and Hardi Sigus and visiting researcher Serhii Petrovych. In addition to collaboration with other researchers and students from Tallinn University and researchers from the University of Turku. 

Intervention

During the 2022/2023 school year a pilot intervention about linear functions and math competence was conducted as a part of the third project. Students also took part in assessments based on functions, which included questions about interest and utility regarding math and functions, before and after the pilot intervention. The students in the control group learned linear functions the way they normally would, while the students in the intervention group solved at least three tasks in class and two tasks abour real-life situations as homework assignments instead of regular textbook or workbook tasks. Teachers could choose between six tasks: running speed, anxiety, boiling water, hair growth, financial literacy and candle burning. 

Each task consisted of background information about the subject, finding correct lines on a graph based on descriptions, solving a linear function task from a word problem using the formula, table and graph, and questions for discussion. Following each task the students had to assess their own abilities regarding linear functions by choosing one of the three options for six statements: 1) I need to study more, because I did not understand, 2) I understand but do not know how to explain it to someone else, or 3) I understand and know how to explain it to someone else. Students could also write feedback about what they thought of the tasks inside of the intervention textbooks. 

The results of the pilot intervention showed that students in the intervention group were better at solving a real-life linear function task after the intervention when compared to the control group. More specifically, students in the intervention group were better at identifying the slope, y intercept and the linear equation when compared to the control group. Additionally, the assessments of the utility of math increased for the intervention group. 

Amendments to the intervention tasks and assessment tools were made based on the feedback from students and teachers that took part in the pilot intervention. Based on these amendments an intervention will be conducted during the 2023/2024 school year. 

The leader of the pilot intervention was Senior Researcher in School Psychology Kaja Mädamürk from the School of Natural and Health Sciences and the pilot intervention was carried out by doctoral students from the School of Natural and Health Sciences Triinu Kilp-Kabel and Hardi Sigus.

1. Kilp-Kabel, Triinu; Mädamürk, Kaja (2023). A pilot intervention using real life linear function tasks and its relation to self-reported math and function interest and utility. ICERI2023 Proceedings.  ICERI2023 Proceedings, 2601−2610. (ICERI2023 Proceedings; 1). DOI: 10.21125/iceri.2023.0696.
2. Petrovych, Serhii; Mädamürk, Kaja (2023). Math motivation, anxiety, and teachers’ emotional support related to calculation and word problem solving skills in middle school. ICERI2023 Proceedings.  IATED , 3408−3413. (ICERI2023 Proceedings; 1). DOI: 10.21125/iceri.2023.0881.
3. Sigus, H.; Soodla, P.; Mädamürk, K. (2023). Tava- ja eriklassis õppivate hariduslike erivajadustega õpilaste lugemis- ja matemaatikaoskused. Eesti Haridusteaduste Ajakiri = Estonian Journal of Education, 11 (1),  159−186. DOI: 10.12697/eha.2023.11.1.07.
4. Kikas, Eve; Mädamürk, Kaja; Silinskas, Gintautas (2022). Parental homework-help profiles throughout grades 6-9: Relations to motivation and mathematics skills. Frontiers in Education, 7,  ARTN 914992. DOI: 10.3389/feduc.2022.914992.

1. Kilp-Kabel, Triinu; Mädamürk, Kaja. (2023). A pilot intervention using real life linear function tasks and its relation to self-reported math and function interest and utility. In:  ICERI2023 16th annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, Seville, Spain, 13-15 November, 2023.
2. Petrovych, Serhii; Mädamürk, Kaja (2023). Math motivation, anxiety, and teachers’ emotional support related to calculation and word problem solving skills in middle school. ICERI2023 Proceedings.  IATED, 3408−3413. (ICERI2023 Proceedings; 1). DOI: 10.21125/iceri.2023.0881.
3. Mädamürk, Kaja; Kurvits, Jüri; Kikas, Eve (2023). Profiles of mathematical relational reasoning and students’ motivation in fifth grade. In: (302). EARLI  2023 The 20th Biennial EARLI Conference for Research on Learning and Instruction, Thessaloniki, Greece, 22-26 August 2023.
4. Kilp-Kabel, Triinu; Mädamürk, Kaja (2023). The development of math competence and its relation to math interest. In:  EARLI 2023 The 20th Biennial EARLI Conference for Research on Learning and Instruction, Thessaloniki, Greece, 22-26 August 2023.
5. Mädamürk, Kaja; Kikas, Eve  (2023). Development of Mathematical Skills: Variable- and Person-Oriented Approaches. In:  2023 AERA Annual Meeting, Chicago, 13.04-16.04.2023.