Effects of cognitive strategy instruction on the mathematical problem solving of middle school students with learning disabilities
Year: 2003
Type: article
Abstract: Recent pedagogical standards voiced by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2000) have increasingly stressed the development of students strategic knowledge of mathematics.Such knowledge extends students procedural and declarative understanding of mathematics and stretches their cognitive application of mathematics to greater conceptual and applied heights.The value of learning and applying mathematics strategically is often not appreciated by students who are learning disabled.Representing mathematical problems, deriving goals for solving such problems, choosing among appropriate strategies for problem-solving, and engaging in self-monitoring processes are of greater challenge to students with learning disabilities.Further, students with learning disabilities often experience lower self-efficacy toward mathematics and attribute their mathematical learning outcomes to forces external to their effort and behavior.This study assessed the efficacy of an intervention targeting the mathematical word problem-solving of middle school students with learning disabilities that is inclusive of cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational components.The intervention was based on the Mathematical Problem-Solving Model of Montague (1995Montague ( , 1997Montague ( , 2000) ) and taught iii students a strategy based on principles of self-regulated learning.Additionally, the intervention encouraged students to attribute their learning outcomes to the application of the strategy and sought to foster the development of self-efficacy through the promotion of the strategy s knowledge, use, and control.Results of the present investigation are meaningful in terms of each of the four research objectives.First, strategy instruction was efficacious in improving the mathematical word problem solving of students with learning disabilities.Second, important and significant gains were evidenced in the LD students knowledge, use, and control of math word problem-solving strategies, such that their awareness of these domains approximated that of average-achieving students.Third, prior research was replicated and validated through the use of a comparison group.Fourth, although significant changes were not realized across the two motivational constructs -self-efficacy and attribution of effort -important insights were gained.iv
Author: Gretchen Elisabeth Daniel
Institution: The Ohio State University
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W198216369