A Novel Way to Teach Kids Numbers

PhD student Akshita Srinivasan shares her research on the challenges children face in learning arithmetic—specifically her study of 5- to 7-year-old Hindi- and Tamil-speaking children. Her research suggests that language might play a role in shaping mathematical cognition. Based on that work, she and her colleagues have developed a board game that improves the comprehension of number concepts in kindergarten and first-grade children. Srinivasan’s mission is to inform educational interventions by deepening understanding of how children learn in their real-world environments, showcasing the transformative potential of her research for math education.