Indigenous Symbols Indigenize Concreteness Fading in Multiplication of Numbers Concreteness Fading

Abstract

This study sought to use indigenous (“Adinkra”) artefacts to present “Concreteness Fading” in multiplication of one-digit and one-digit numbers. The researcher used simple random sampling technique to select 51 participants from 300 student teachers. Two sets of tests were used to collect the data. The results were equally presented in two stages. The first stage analysed the tasks the student teachers solved using “Concreteness Fading”. The results revealed smooth and joyful navigations of the stages of “Concreteness Fading”. The second stages analysed the performance of the student teachers with T-test statistics. The results of one sample t-test and paired samples t-test showed that student teachers solved more problems correctly using “Concreteness Fading” than the conventional concrete manipulatives. Following the findings, we concluded that heavy use of only concrete objects and examples without abstracting can be detrimental to teaching mathematics. We therefore, recommended that student teachers must always avoid rushing to symbols and symbolic manipulations of mathematics but rather align their methods, techniques and strategies in the transition through the three stages of “Concreteness Fading”.