Preliminary adaptation of motor tests to evaluate fine motor skills associated with mathematical skills in preschoolers

Flores, Pedro Miguel; Coelho, Eduarda; Mourão-Carvalhal, Isabel; Forte, Pedro

Publication

Preliminary adaptation of motor tests to evaluate fine motor skills associated with mathematical skills in preschoolers

2023Journal article

dc.contributor.author	Flores, Pedro Miguel
dc.contributor.author	Coelho, Eduarda
dc.contributor.author	Mourão-Carvalhal, Isabel
dc.contributor.author	Forte, Pedro
dc.date.accessioned	2024-01-03T12:18:09Z
dc.date.available	2024-01-03T12:18:09Z
dc.date.issued	2023
dc.description.abstract	Mathematics is the subject in which many school-age children reveal difficulties. The literature has shown that fine motor skills, namely fine motor coordination and visuomotor integration, have been more robustly associated with mathematical performance. Studies have shown the importance that instruments have to evaluate these skills, however, the characteristics of these instruments do not fit the reality of kindergartens, they are usually time consuming and expensive and are usually administered by specialists. Thus, the main objective of this study was to identify, select, adapt and validate motor tests to evaluate fine motor skills associated with mathematical skills to allow the kindergarten teachers to apply them simultaneously to the class, with few material resources, in a short period of time and without the need for a lot of training to apply, score and classify. For this purpose, firstly, it was necessary to understand the main difficulties highlighted by kindergarten teachers regarding the use of instruments to evaluate fine motor skills and, thus, elaborate criteria to identify and select the tests that best fit the reality of kindergartens. The test identified, selected and adapted to evaluate fine motor coordination was threading beads from the Movement Evaluation Battery for Children, 2nd Edition. The main adaptation of the test was related to time, that is, instead of counting the time it takes the child to string the total number of cubes on the string, we counted the number of cubes the child strung on the string in a pre-defined time. To evaluate visual–motor integration, the test identified, selected and adapted was the Visual–Motor Integration (6th Edition) test. The main adaptation was related to material resources, that is, it will be possible to apply the test using only one sheet per child instead of the seven suggested by the original test. After the preliminary adaptation of the tests, their validation was performed by means of the degree of reliability (test-retest) and predictive validity. The results indicated that the adapted tests presented an excellent degree of reliability (>0.9) and could therefore be used to administer them simultaneously to the class group. The adapted Visual–Motor Integration test seems to be the most suitable one to be used by kindergarten teachers, in a classroom context, to simultaneously evaluate students’ fine motor skills and associate their results with mathematical skills.	pt_PT
dc.description.sponsorship	FCT—Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology: UIBD/DTP/04045/2020.	pt_PT
dc.description.version	info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion	pt_PT
dc.identifier.citation	Flores, Pedro Miguel; Coelho, Eduarda; Mourão-Carvalhal, Maria Isabel; Forte, Pedro (2023). Preliminary adaptation of motor tests to evaluate fine motor skills associated with mathematical skills in preschoolers. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education. ISSN 2174-8144. 13:7, p. 1-32	pt_PT
dc.identifier.doi	10.3390/ejihpe13070098	pt_PT
dc.identifier.eissn	2254-9625
dc.identifier.issn	2174-8144
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10198/29067
dc.language.iso	eng	pt_PT
dc.peerreviewed	yes	pt_PT
dc.publisher	MDPI	pt_PT
dc.relation	Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health and Human Development
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/	pt_PT
dc.subject	Preschool	pt_PT
dc.subject	Motor tests	pt_PT
dc.subject	Fine motor skills	pt_PT
dc.subject	Mathematical skills	pt_PT
dc.subject	Identification	pt_PT
dc.subject	Selection	pt_PT
dc.subject	Adaptation	pt_PT
dc.subject	Validation	pt_PT
dc.title	Preliminary adaptation of motor tests to evaluate fine motor skills associated with mathematical skills in preschoolers	pt_PT
dc.type	journal article
dspace.entity.type	Publication
oaire.awardTitle	Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health and Human Development
oaire.awardURI	info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDB%2F04045%2F2020/PT
oaire.citation.endPage	32	pt_PT
oaire.citation.issue	7	pt_PT
oaire.citation.startPage	1	pt_PT
oaire.citation.title	European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education	pt_PT
oaire.citation.volume	13	pt_PT
oaire.fundingStream	6817 - DCRRNI ID
person.familyName	Forte
person.givenName	Pedro
person.identifier.ciencia-id	351B-B16B-79C7
person.identifier.orcid	0000-0003-0184-6780
project.funder.identifier	http://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.name	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
rcaap.rights	openAccess	pt_PT
rcaap.type	article	pt_PT
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