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Funding was provided by Fundacion Espanola para la Ciencia y la Tecnologia, FECYT (Grant No. FCT-16-10952).

Analysis of institutional authors

Gomezescobar, AriadnaAuthor

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Article

How Long Is It? Difficulties with Conventional Ruler Use in Children Aged 5 to 8

Publicated to:Early Childhood Education Journal. 48 (6): 693-701 - 2020-11-01 48(6), DOI: 10.1007/s10643-020-01030-y

Authors: Gomezescobar, Ariadna; Guerrero, Silvia; Fernandez-Cezar, Raquel;

Affiliations

Castilla La Mancha Univ, Fac Educ Toledo, Campus Real Fabrica Armas Avda Carlos III S-N, Toledo 45071, Spain - Author
Univ Castilla La Mancha, Dept Math, Didact Area, Toledo, Spain - Author
Univ Castilla La Mancha, Dept Psychol, Dev & Educ Area, Toledo, Spain - Author

Abstract

The ruler is the standard measuring instrument used for measuring lengths. However, measuring lengths with a ruler is a challenge for children. For this reason, this study explores how children who have not received specific school instruction on its use, measure lengths with a conventional ruler. The relative object-ruler position, the strategy to justify the measurement, and the combination between them are analysed. Additionally, the possible influence of the grade and the transition from Kindergarten to Primary School is also studied. To achieve this aim, 99 children were asked to measure a cardboard strip in both a free and a directed situation. The results showed that in free measurements children tend to situate the object in the 2 hash mark of the ruler, the reading of the endpoint was identified as the most used strategy, and the combination of this strategy with lining up the object at 0 was the most commonly used in correct measurements. On the other hand, the results also showed marginal significant differences between age groups in such a way that children in the last year of kindergarten measured better than those in the first year of primary school. To conclude, the educational implications of these results are discussed.

Keywords

Conventional rulerIntervalsKindergarten educationLengthLength measurementLinear measurementMeasurement strategiesPrimary schoolTransition

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Early Childhood Education Journal due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2020, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Education. Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q3 for the agency WoS (JCR) in the category Education & Educational Research.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 3.29, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-16, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 4
  • Scopus: 5
  • Google Scholar: 9
  • OpenCitations: 4

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-16:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 38.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 38 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 0.25.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (GOMEZ ESCOBAR CAMINO, ARIADNA) .