ABSTRACT
The present research aimed to reveal how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the mathematical reasoning of primary school students through mediation analysis. It was designed as ex post facto research. The research sample consisted of two cohorts. Cohort 1 included 415 primary school children who received face-to-face instruction by attending school for six months until COVID-19 emerged. Cohort 2 included 964 children who were taught curricular skills through distance education due to COVID-19 and school closures. In total, 1,379 primary school children were recruited into the research sample. Data were collected through a mathematical reasoning test by sending items from the instrument via Google Docs. The data were analysed with mediation analysis. Results demonstrated that the school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic negatively influenced mathematical reasoning skills. Findings are discussed in the light of human interaction and Cattell's intelligence theory.
ABSTRACT
The purpose of the present research was to disclose the impact of school closures due COVID-19 on phonemic awareness of first-grade primary school students. The research sample comprised two cohorts. Cohort-1 consisted of 59 first-grade primary school students, while there were 193 students in Cohort-2. A total of 252 first-grade primary school students were recruited into the research sample. Data were collected with the Phonemic Awareness Test which was specifically designed for the research. Mediation analysis was used for data analysis. Results of the mediation analysis indicated that school closures due to COVID-19 led to significant decreases in phonemic awareness of first-grade primary school students. Results are also discussed along with student–teacher interactions.