1. Facilitating Adolescents with Disabilities Understanding of Area and Perimeter Concepts via Manipulative Instruction.
- Author
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Cass, Mike, Cates, Dennis, Jackson, Cynthia W., and Smith, Michelle
- Abstract
A study examined the effect of manipulative instruction on the acquisition and maintenance of perimeter and area problem-solving skills by students with learning disabilities in math. Three rural students with learning disabilities in mathematics in grades 7-10 participated in the study. All training was conducted daily for 15-20 minutes on a one-on-one basis by a certified special education teacher using a geoboard. The procedures for teaching perimeter and area problem solving are detailed. None of the students could solve the problems presented to them during the baseline condition. With each intervention, there was a marked increase in problem-solving ability. Using the geoboard, the students reached performance criterion (at least 80 percent of problems solved correctly on 3 or more consecutive days) in the two types of problem solving after 5-7 days of practice. Maintenance checks performed in each of 3 consecutive weeks following treatment revealed that all students solved all area and perimeter problems correctly when using the geoboard. Immediately following Christmas vacation, the students were given four area and four perimeter problems and asked to solve them using only paper and pencil. They scored 90-100 percent. The findings revealed that the use of concrete manipulatives promotes the maintenance of skills. (Contains 16 references.) (TD)
- Published
- 2002