The general aim of the current study was to investigate the role of definitional skills in promoting primary school achievement (third- to fifth-graders) and how school learning may shape defini-tional skills. Marks from four school-subjects, linguistic (Italian and English) and scientific (Math and Science) were collected as well as scores in a Definitional Task. These two domains were cho-sen as they clearly entail the two different definition types, that is lexicographic and scientific. Re-sults indicated that scientific school-subject marks are more predictive of definitional skills than linguistic school-marks are. The opposite direction (i.e., how definitional skills are predictive of school achievement) appears less clear. In sum, results, yet preliminary, suggests that definitional skills represent a bridge towards school achievement as they promote good marks in all disci-plines. Moreover, definitional skills are predicted from levels of competence acquired especially in scientific school-subjects that request a higher degree of formal/organized learning. It is then of primary importance to promote interaction-integration between these two kind of concepts via formal schooling.
Definitional skills as a bridge towards school achievement
Artuso C.
;Palladino P.;Valentini P.;Belacchi C.
2022
Abstract
The general aim of the current study was to investigate the role of definitional skills in promoting primary school achievement (third- to fifth-graders) and how school learning may shape defini-tional skills. Marks from four school-subjects, linguistic (Italian and English) and scientific (Math and Science) were collected as well as scores in a Definitional Task. These two domains were cho-sen as they clearly entail the two different definition types, that is lexicographic and scientific. Re-sults indicated that scientific school-subject marks are more predictive of definitional skills than linguistic school-marks are. The opposite direction (i.e., how definitional skills are predictive of school achievement) appears less clear. In sum, results, yet preliminary, suggests that definitional skills represent a bridge towards school achievement as they promote good marks in all disci-plines. Moreover, definitional skills are predicted from levels of competence acquired especially in scientific school-subjects that request a higher degree of formal/organized learning. It is then of primary importance to promote interaction-integration between these two kind of concepts via formal schooling.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
