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This integrative literature review examined how assistive technology (AT) can help students with visual impairment (VI) in middle primary and secondary schools (aged 11–18 years) engage in learning Mathematics. To collate the relevant findings across studies, an integrative literature review approach was employed and supported by an evidence-based synthesis method. Automatic search phrases were used to find research articles related to the topic in the Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, and Springer Link databases. A total of 628 articles were identified during the initial search of which only 11 were included after putting them under rigorous selection criteria. In addition, a mixed-method appraisal technique (MMAT) was used to examine the methodological quality of the papers that were included. The synthesis result came up with three overarching themes: the availability of AT to support learning mathematics, the usability of AT in mathematics classes, and the role of AT in the inclusion of visually impaired students. The findings based on the results of the 11 academic articles published from 2007 to 2021 revealed that effective engagement of students with VIs in Mathematics instruction is achieved by providing students with VI equitable access to the swiftly evolving AT, addressing issues related to affordability, testing the usability and appropriateness of existing AT and enhancing accessibility of AT for all by breaking the social stigma against students with VI in using AT. It is concluded that easily affordable and accessible assistive technologies with multiple non-visual display formats that enable students with VI to access mathematical symbols, notations, expressions, and tactual contents should be in place to actively engage students with VI in learning mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whole number computations are a critical skill that serves as a foundation upon which higher-order concepts in mathematics are taught to children. To facilitate their instruction, educators often use multiple representations to support a child's cognition. Representations with physical manipulatives are widely studied through a graduated instructional sequence featuring concrete, representational, and abstract stages of learning. In contrast, research on representational sequences featuring virtual manipulatives is less robust. Thus, this study evaluated an instructional strategy with virtual manipulatives, static representational drawings, and abstract algorithms to teach multiplication to three U.S. elementary students with mathematics difficulty. A functional relation was established via a single-subject multiple probe design between the treatment and students' accuracy performance. Baseline-corrected Tau estimates confirmed a medium effect size for all three students, while student performance on measures assessing the number of errors committed and the duration of sessions also returned favorable findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childhood wellbeing is essential for positive outcomes in adulthood, as is academic attainment. Schools play a pivotal role in laying the foundations for children to live well. However, research investigating the relationship between wellbeing and attainment has relied on conceptualisations of wellbeing that are too broad (i.e. overall and domain-general wellbeing) or samples spanning large age ranges (thereby overlooking developmental differences). Additionally, the role of mindset, a potentially co-occurring psychological state of both wellbeing and attainment, has been neglected. This study therefore investigated the wellbeing-attainment relationship in 942 children aged 9–11 (447 male, M age = 10.5; 495 female, M age = 10.6) across 17 schools in England (UK). Structural equation models distinguished between overall wellbeing, life satisfaction, and eudaimonia, examining associations of each with children's attainment on standardised tests, accounting for mindsets, achievement goals, and sociodemographic factors. Results indicated lower life satisfaction was significantly associated with higher attainment on average, and in English and Mathematics, while eudaimonia was not significantly related to attainment. Overall wellbeing was negatively associated with Mathematics attainment only. A growth mindset was positively associated, while a fixed mindset was negatively associated, with wellbeing. In turn, a growth mindset was significantly positively associated, while a fixed mindset was negatively associated, with attainment. Implications for policy and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Expectancy-Value model has been extensively used to understand students' achievement motivation. However, recent studies propose the inclusion of cost as a separate construct from values, leading to the development of the Expectancy-Value-Cost model. This study aimed to adapt Kosovich et al.'s (The Journal of Early Adolescence, 35, 5–6, 2015) instrument for assessing achievement motivation in science and math among Spanish-speaking students aged 9–12. The psychometric evaluation encompassed examining validity, reliability, and measurement invariance for gender. The findings support the applicability of the expectancy-value-cost model in elementary school students, providing a valid and reliable tool for assessing achievement motivation in the science and math domain. However, the findings for the measurement invariance for gender are less conclusive and warrant future psychometric evaluations. This study opens avenues for future research on achievement motivation in Spanish-speaking contexts and populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study extends prior research by manipulating both intervention and skill difficulty using a multiple baseline across participants design with changing phases in a virtual tutoring environment. Participants were four U.S. students from third and fifth grades for whom appropriate and challenging instructional targets were selected following diagnostic assessment using curriculum-based measurement. Instructional strategies were selected to align or misalign with those instructional targets. The multiple baseline design was used to determine the functional relationship between the instructional strategies (acquisition or fluency-building) with appropriate and challenging skills. Results suggested that indicated intervention strategies aligned with students' skill proficiency resulted in improvements but that contraindicated intervention strategies that were misaligned with students' skill proficiency did not. Furthermore, most students rated the contraindicated intervention strategies as less acceptable or reported higher levels of math anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this convergent mixed methods design study, single-subject and qualitative data were collected concurrently to provide an in-depth picture of the impact of a modified schema-based instructional intervention. The intervention was delivered using instructional trials embedded across general education math lessons and a modified concrete-semi-concrete-abstract instructional sequence. This study investigated the impact of the intervention on the word-problem-solving, strategy use, and concept acquisition of three students with extensive support needs. The paraprofessional-delivered intervention was implemented in elementary general education mathematics classrooms using embedded instruction and focused on teaching students to solve addition and subtraction word-problems. Single-subject data indicated that all three students learned to solve word-problems given concrete materials but needed more time to master the use of semi concrete supports. Qualitative data indicated that students used taught and untaught strategies to solve word-problems, and mastered addition word-problems before subtraction when they were taught simultaneously. Data were integrated in narrative format to explore how strategy use and concept acquisition related to student word-problem-solving performance. Limitations and implications for research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the concrete-representational-abstract–integrated (CRA-I) sequence on students with learning disabilities' performance when learning fraction and decimal concepts. Three elementary-level students in Grades 4 and 6 participated in a single-case multiple probe across behaviors study. The intervention involved explicit use of fraction blocks, coins, base ten blocks, number lines, pictures, and abstract symbols to teach unit fractions, fraction and decimal equivalence, addition of fractions with unlike denominators, and writing fractions as decimals. The researchers demonstrated a functional relation between CRA-I and three different behaviors related to fraction concepts: decreased error in estimating fraction magnitude, addition of unlike fractions, and writing fractions as decimals. The findings show promise in the use of CRA-I for teaching fraction concepts to students with learning disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mathematics training is a challenge for students with visual impairments (VI). However, there are few protocols to assess math skills for them, especially the content related to counting and measurement. The objective of this article was to develop and test the applicability of a protocol to assess math skills in counting and measuring for children and adolescents with VI. The work was organized into two studies. The first dealt with the development of a protocol for assessing pre-arithmetic skills and knowledge and the second study assessed its applicability. In the first study, the protocol was developed from the few papers found on a literature review. In the second study, the protocol was applied to 12 participants with VI aged 5 and 16 years. The results showed that 8 of the 12 participants had performance ranging from 83% to 100% of correct responses in the protocol application, both for counting and measuring skills. The protocol applicability and difference in participants' performance are discussed. The study concludes that the protocol can be used as a tool to assess math knowledge for children at the end of Early Childhood Education or at the beginning of Elementary School, with or without VI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]