Duong, Shirley
(2024)
Exploring multi-dimensional profiles of families’ home math environments and the relations to children’s math skills.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Early math abilities set the foundation for later academic success and economic and social well-being. A large body of research suggests that the home math environment (HME) is a critical context where children develop math skills. The HME comprises of several dimensions, including (1) engagement in math activities, (2) use of number talk (NT), (3) caregivers’ math benchmark beliefs, and (4) caregivers’ math anxiety. There are mixed findings on the associations between these HME dimensions and children’s math skills. Moreover, despite scholars’ recognition of the HME as a multifaceted construct, it is often operationalized as single, isolated dimensions, and the reality is that children experience several of these dimensions simultaneously. In this dissertation, I explore the utility of deriving and using profiles of families’ HMEs, as combinations of these four dimensions, to predict children’s math skills. Caregivers and their 4-year-old children were enrolled in a longitudinal study examining socioeconomic variability in the home learning environment and children’s academic skills. A multi-method approach was used to measure the HME, including observations of caregiver-child interactions, online questionnaires, and phone interviews. First, I derived profiles of families’ HME using their home math activities, NT, caregivers’ math benchmark beliefs, and caregivers’ math anxiety as features. Second, I described the HME profiles in terms of caregiver and child characteristics (e.g., age and gender) and found that caregivers’ math skills consistently predicted membership in the HME profiles. Third, I used the HME profiles and the individual features that comprise the profiles to predict children’s math skills one year later. I found that the diversity of home math activities, but not families’ HME profiles, meaningfully related to children’s math abilities. Altogether, this work adds to our growing conceptualization of the HME, our knowledge of appropriate ways to model it, and our understanding of its role in the development of children’s math skills.
Share
| Citation/Export: |
|
| Social Networking: |
|
Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
|
| Date: |
27 August 2024 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
8 April 2024 |
| Approval Date: |
27 August 2024 |
| Submission Date: |
10 April 2024 |
| Access Restriction: |
2 year -- Restrict access to University of Pittsburgh for a period of 2 years. |
| Number of Pages: |
150 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Psychology |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
home math environment, math skills, caregiver-child interactions |
| Date Deposited: |
27 Aug 2024 14:29 |
| Last Modified: |
27 Aug 2024 14:29 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/46079 |
Metrics
Monthly Views for the past 3 years
Plum Analytics
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
![[img]](https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png)
![[feed]](/images/feed-icon-32x32.png){kind=icon}