Effective Mathematics Instrcution for Children with Learning Problems
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Campus where you would like to present
SURC 137B
Start Date
17-5-2012
End Date
17-5-2012
Abstract
Math is an essential component of school and life success. However, not every child learns how to communicate math ideas in real life. According to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, 2011), almost one fifth of students in 4th and 8th grades are below a basic level of math achievement. The situation is even worse for students with special needs (Wagner and Blackorby, 1996). To raise students’ performance, we need to emphasize effective math instruction. One effective strategy is concrete-representational-abstract instruction (CRA). A body of research demonstrated that CRA instruction can help students learn subtraction with regrouping (Flores, 2009), math facts (Mercer and Miller, 1992), and basic algebra (Maccini and Ruhl, 2000). CRA instruction is built on the work of Bruner and consists of three parts, each building on the previous step to promote student learning and retention (Witzel, Riccomini, and Schneider, 2008). In concrete instruction, manipulatives are used to enhance students’ conceptual understanding. When students master the concrete level, pictorial representations of the same math concept are introduced. Last, students use math symbols to solve problems (Morin and Miller, 1998; Witzel, Mercer, and Miller, 2003). This presentation will: •Describe major characteristics of students who struggle with math. •Introduce CRA instruction. •Discuss key issues related to the design of CRA instruction.
Recommended Citation
Tsai, Shu-Fei, "Effective Mathematics Instrcution for Children with Learning Problems" (2012). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 6.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2012/oralpresentations/6
Additional Mentoring Department
Education
Effective Mathematics Instrcution for Children with Learning Problems
SURC 137B
Math is an essential component of school and life success. However, not every child learns how to communicate math ideas in real life. According to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, 2011), almost one fifth of students in 4th and 8th grades are below a basic level of math achievement. The situation is even worse for students with special needs (Wagner and Blackorby, 1996). To raise students’ performance, we need to emphasize effective math instruction. One effective strategy is concrete-representational-abstract instruction (CRA). A body of research demonstrated that CRA instruction can help students learn subtraction with regrouping (Flores, 2009), math facts (Mercer and Miller, 1992), and basic algebra (Maccini and Ruhl, 2000). CRA instruction is built on the work of Bruner and consists of three parts, each building on the previous step to promote student learning and retention (Witzel, Riccomini, and Schneider, 2008). In concrete instruction, manipulatives are used to enhance students’ conceptual understanding. When students master the concrete level, pictorial representations of the same math concept are introduced. Last, students use math symbols to solve problems (Morin and Miller, 1998; Witzel, Mercer, and Miller, 2003). This presentation will: •Describe major characteristics of students who struggle with math. •Introduce CRA instruction. •Discuss key issues related to the design of CRA instruction.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Shu-Fei Tsai