The Effect of Montessori Sensory Materials on the Development of Executive Functions and Mastery Orientation
Project no. 21446 · Status: Kapanmış · 2020
Summary
The aim of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of Montessori materials, which are very popular today and are highly preferred by parents. In the study, the effects of Montessori sensory materials on the development of executive functions of kindergarten children were investigated. Touch tablets and sound tubes were selected from the sensory materials to be used in the research. The dependent variables of the research are working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility skills and mastery orientation; Montessori sensory materials are the six-week studies whose independent variable is applied to the experimental group. This research is a semi-experimental study designed in a controlled pretest-posttest model and its sample consists of 4-5 age group students of two kindergartens who provide education according to the Ministry of National Education Preschool Education Program. To the research, 24 experimental groups; A total of 50 children, including 26 control groups, were included. These groups were created by random assignment method. The EF measures were Eight- Box Task, Dimensional Change Card Sort Task and Day-Night Task. The puzzle selection task developed by Smiley and Dweck (1994) was used to determine their mastery orientation. The tests were applied to the experimental and control groups two times, before and after the application, with an interval of 6 weeks. Montessori sensory materials were studied for 6 weeks between pretest and posttest. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak that occurred during the implementation phase, education and training were interrupted and the study had to be stopped before reaching sufficient data. Mann Whitney U tests were used to examine the relationship between the data obtained and the executive function skills and demographic variables, and Spearman Correlation Analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between executive functions and mastery orientation. Keywords: Montessori sensory materials, executive functions, mastery orientation, cognitive development