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

Thesis (M. Ed(Curriculum studies)--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Syftet med arbetet var att åskådliggöra innebörden av att vara i matematiksvårigheter och elevers syn på hur de hanterar sin vardag. Undersökningen utgår från ett elevperspektiv och ambitionen var att elevens egna tankar och känslor skulle komma fram. Jag har använt mig av en kvalitativ ansats med observationer och semistandardiserade intervjuer. För alla eleverna i studien påverkas vardagen och skolan av att de har svårigheter i matematik. Det är allt från att planera sina fritidsaktiviteter till att veta när ett arbete i skolan ska vara inlämnat. Detta gör att föräldrar måste hjälpa till i denna planering i stor utsträckning även nu när barnen är tonåringar och borde klara sig själva lite mer. Eleverna själva är ofta inte medvetna om sina strategier för att klara de svårigheter som uppstår på grund av matematiksvårigheterna. Föräldrarna kan dock berätta mer om hur dessa strategier tar sig ut. Känslorna inför matematiklektionerna är ofta en uppgivenhet, ska de misslyckas idag igen och de känner sig stressade inför att kanske inte uppnå målen. Lärarens bemötande spelar här en stor roll och ett icke positivt bemötande gör att eleverna upplever att de är till besvär för läraren. Det leder till att eleverna får ett svagt självförtroende och olustkänslor inför matematiken. I jämförelse med andra studier så upplever eleverna i min studie inte att de blir stämplade till följd av att de får särskilt stöd, utan tvärtom så är det en lättnad att gå till stödgruppen. / This study focuses on pupil’s view how they handle mathematics learning disabilities in their daily life. The study is from pupil’s point of view and the ambition was to capture the pupil’s own thoughts and feelings. Observations and interviews were carried out with three pupils, in the age of 13, and their parents. The results show that all three of the pupils have difficulty in their daily life due to the mathematics learning disabilities. They have different problems from to plan their free time to plan when schoolwork should be submitted. The result of this is that the parents have to plan for them, even now when they are teenager’s and should be able to handle things like this by themselves. The pupils are not aware of the strategies they use to cope with the difficulties in mathematics. However, their parents are able to explain the strategies their children have developed. The emotions the pupils feel when they think about math class are that they feel dejected and they are under stress with thoughts as “will I fail again today”. It is very important how the teacher do talk to the pupils and this will affect the pupil’s self-confidence and they develop discomfort to mathematics. This study, unlike some other studies, does not show that pupils feel uncomfortable because they have special support. Instead they feel relief in visiting the support group.

<p>Syftet med arbetet var att åskådliggöra innebörden av att vara i matematiksvårigheter och elevers syn på hur de hanterar sin vardag. Undersökningen utgår från ett elevperspektiv och ambitionen var att elevens egna tankar och känslor skulle komma fram. Jag har använt mig av en kvalitativ ansats med observationer och semistandardiserade intervjuer. För alla eleverna i studien påverkas vardagen och skolan av att de har svårigheter i matematik. Det är allt från att planera sina fritidsaktiviteter till att veta när ett arbete i skolan ska vara inlämnat. Detta gör att föräldrar måste hjälpa till i denna planering i stor utsträckning även nu när barnen är tonåringar och borde klara sig själva lite mer. Eleverna själva är ofta inte medvetna om sina strategier för att klara de svårigheter som uppstår på grund av matematiksvårigheterna. Föräldrarna kan dock berätta mer om hur dessa strategier tar sig ut. Känslorna inför matematiklektionerna är ofta en uppgivenhet, ska de misslyckas idag igen och de känner sig stressade inför att kanske inte uppnå målen. Lärarens bemötande spelar här en stor roll och ett icke positivt bemötande gör att eleverna upplever att de är till besvär för läraren. Det leder till att eleverna får ett svagt självförtroende och olustkänslor inför matematiken. I jämförelse med andra studier så upplever eleverna i min studie inte att de blir stämplade till följd av att de får särskilt stöd, utan tvärtom så är det en lättnad att gå till stödgruppen.</p> / <p>This study focuses on pupil’s view how they handle mathematics learning disabilities in their daily life. The study is from pupil’s point of view and the ambition was to capture the pupil’s own thoughts and feelings. Observations and interviews were carried out with three pupils, in the age of 13, and their parents. The results show that all three of the pupils have difficulty in their daily life due to the mathematics learning disabilities. They have different problems from to plan their free time to plan when schoolwork should be submitted. The result of this is that the parents have to plan for them, even now when they are teenager’s and should be able to handle things like this by themselves. The pupils are not aware of the strategies they use to cope with the difficulties in mathematics. However, their parents are able to explain the strategies their children have developed. The emotions the pupils feel when they think about math class are that they feel dejected and they are under stress with thoughts as “will I fail again today”. It is very important how the teacher do talk to the pupils and this will affect the pupil’s self-confidence and they develop discomfort to mathematics. This study, unlike some other studies, does not show that pupils feel uncomfortable because they have special support. Instead they feel relief in visiting the support group.</p>

This thesis reports the findings of my study of students with visual-spatial deficits in my specialist school in the city of New York. It is comprised of a pilot study, mathematical interviews, and interventions with students and teachers. This study is qualitative and primarily uses case studies to explain the interventions with both the students and the teachers. The study is made up of interventions with two students, and interventions with several teachers who work in my specialist K-12 school which includes both primary and secondary school teachers. Since very little research has been conducted in this field to this point, the findings presented in this thesis aim to give teachers, especially secondary school mathematics teachers, an understanding of the challenges that secondary school students with visual-spatial deficits face when they are learning mathematics. In addition, this research also discusses intervention sessions that I conducted with teachers that gives some insights into educating secondary school mathematics teachers about mathematics learning disabilities and their impact on the students that they teach. The main findings of this research are that there are effective interventions for both students and teachers that help students with visual-spatial deficits learn mathematics. A successful theme that has emerged is centring which helps students to start questions that they find challenging, and also focus their attention on obtaining a solution. It can sometimes lead to a greater understanding of mathematics as well.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a game-based app (Motion Math: Fraction) to help students with Mathematics Learning Disabilities (MLD) to gain fraction skills including comparison, estimation, and word problem solving in an after school program. The researcher used multiple baseline design by extending with follow-up phase to determine whether students retained the knowledge they learned while engaging with the app. Even though six students participated to the study, the researcher withdrew two of them and analyzed data came from four students. The result o the study showed that all of the students improved their fractions skills after engaging with Motion Math: Fraction and maintained the knowledge after no longer playing. The researcher presented recommendations for further studies, for implementation into classroom, and recommend for app developers to increase app efficiency for students who have different learning profiles, and needs variety learning materials while learning the content matters.

Approximately 5 to 14% of school age children are affected by mathematics learning disabilities. With the implementation of inclusion, many of these children are now being educated in the regular education class- room setting and may require additional support to be successful in algebra. Therefore, teachers need to know what interventions are available to them to facilitate the algebraic learning of students with mathemat- ics learning disabilities. This systematic literature review aims to identify, and critically analyze, interventions that could be used when teaching algebra to these students. The five included articles focused on interven- tions that can be used in algebra, specifically when solving equations. In the analysis of the five studies two types of interventions emerged: the concrete-representational-abstract model and graphic organizers. The concrete-representational-abstract model seems to show it can be used successfully in a variety of scenarios involving solving equations. The use of graphic organizers also seems to be helpful when teaching higher- level algebra content that may be difficult to represent concretely. This review discovered many practical implications for teachers. Namely, that the concrete-representational-abstract model of intervention is easy to implement, effective over short periods of time and appears to positively influence the achievement of all students in an inclusive classroom setting. The graphic organizer showed similar results in that it is easy to implement and appears to improve all students’ learning. This review provided a good starting point for teachers to identify interventions that could be useful in algebra; however, more research still needs to be done. Future research is suggested in inclusive classroom settings where the general education teacher is the instructor and also on higher-level algebra concepts.