Manipulative versus Symbolic Approaches to Teaching Logical Connectives in Junior High School: An Aptitude × Treatment Interaction Study

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the interaction of mathematical achievement with manipulative and symbolic approaches to teaching logical connectives to seventh-grade students. The 147 participants were randomly assigned to a manipulative treatment, a symbolic treatment, and a control treatment. The manipulative and symbolic treatments were designed to be parallel in format, and instruction on logical connectives was given by videotape. An analysis of variance revealed significant differences (p<.01) between the main treatments and control treatment, but not between the manipulative and symbolic treatments. Mathematical achievement was found to interact disordinally with the two main treatments, p<.05. Low-achieving students benefited more from the manipulative approach, whereas high-achieving students found the symbolic approach to be more effective.