Thesis (EdD)-Open University.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 198-212). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--York University, 2003. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 189-205). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ82806.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Iowa, 2009. / Thesis supervisor: J.B. Tomblin. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-133).

Thesis (M.S.)--Rowan University, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Jaye K. Luke Numeracy skills are needed for daily living. For example, time management and budgeting are tasks that adults face on a frequent basis. Instruction for numeracy skills begins early and continues throughout childhood. Obtaining numeracy skills is difficult for some students. For example, there may be an inadequate fit between the student’s knowledge and the design of the instruction, the student may be unable to select an appropriate strategy for solving the problem, or the student may have a learning disability. Students with a learning disability comprise approximately 40% of identified children with disabilities who receive special education services (U.S. Department of Education, 2005). The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics helps teachers mediate the difficulties students may have in math. The council recommends problem solving and representation with physical objects as a teaching method. Chapter 1 presents a literature review on children with a learning disability, the use of manipulatives, and problem solving. The literature review indicates that children with a learning disability are poor problem solvers, but that further research is needed to investigate best instructional strategies. Chapter 2 presents a study on the impact of manipulatives on the accurate completion of money word problems. Three populations were included: adults who struggle with numeracy (n = 20), children with a learning disability (n = 20), and children who are typically developing (n = 23). Participants were administered a measure of 10 money word problems and were asked to solve them without the use of manipulatives. Participants were then randomly assigned to one of two groups: perceptually rich and perceptually bland manipulatives. Results indicate that none of the participants performed better with manipulatives than they performed without manipulatives. There was an interaction of Condition x Type of participant with the participants with a learning disability in the bland condition performing significantly worse than the other participants. More research is warranted to understand the impact of manipulative use in mathematics instruction for adults who struggle with numeracy, children with a learning disability, and children who are typically developing.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-105).

I dagens samhälle finns det ett stort antal elever som har språksvårigheter i matematikämnet, vilket påverkar elevernas prestationer vid lösningar av matematiska textuppgifter. Denna fallstudie syftar till att undersöka pedagogers och elevers perspektiv när det gäller språksvårigheter inom matematiska textuppgifter. Vi belyser även hur pedagogerna tar hänsyn till elever som har språksvårigheter och hur de agerar för att hjälpa och stötta dem i textuppgifter. Vi blev intresserade av att lyfta fram elevers affektiva och kognitiva hantering av matematiska textuppgifter eftersom vi har personliga erfarenheter om detta sedan tidigare. Fallstudien är uppbyggd kring kvalitativa intervjuer och observationer. I studien deltog 2 klasslärare, en specialpedagog och 24 elever. Resultatet visar att det finns elever som har språksvårigheter inom matematiska textuppgifter på grund av olika påverkande faktorer. Alla pedagoger i intervjuerna är överens om att elevers prestationsförmåga inom matematikförståelse kan bli påverkade av olika faktorer. Pedagoger samarbetar för att hjälpa och stötta dessa elever genom att använda olika metoder och arbetssätt. Språkförståelsen och svåra matematiska begrepp i textuppgifter kan leda till att olika kognitiva och affektiva svårigheter kan dyka upp vid hanteringen av matematiska textuppgifter. Vissa elever var väldigt motiverade i att klara av textuppgifterna, medan andra med svårigheter i språkförståelse fann uppgifternas nivå och struktur alldeles för krävande.

The unique language of mathematics incorporates words, numbers, symbols and diagrams. These elements and their associated mathematical concepts introduce reading and comprehension requirements that are not experienced in other disciplines. It is the responsibility of teachers to ensure that students are educated about, and encouraged to apply mathematical language in a variety of contexts. This is essential to the development of mathematical problem solving, where word problems often feature in classroom instruction and assessment, and where mathematical language is expected within student responses. Mathematics teachers need to be mindful that the validity of test items used to assess student mathematical problem solving ability are not influenced by other variables such as vocabulary comprehension difficulty. This study discusses the vocabulary which Year 9 students identify as difficult when undertaking word problem tasks in pen and paper test situations. To challenge generalised assumptions that teachers may make, this study focused on development of an instrument to monitor and evaluate the vocabulary comprehension of individual students within the classroom, and with respect to their particular school context. Analyses of findings support the requirement of reading proficiency in mathematics, and in particular, of vocabulary comprehension to student performance on mathematical problem solving assessment comprised of word problems.