Analysis of precurrent skills in solving mathematics story problems

Area of Science:

• Behavior Analysis
• Special Education
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Arithmetic word problems present significant challenges for students with developmental disabilities.
• Precurrent behaviors, which support subsequent problem-solving actions, are crucial for academic success.
• Systematic instruction in precurrent skills can potentially bridge the gap in arithmetic problem-solving abilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the effectiveness of teaching precurrent skills to facilitate arithmetic word problem solutions.
• To assess the impact of sequential instruction of specific precurrent responses on problem-solving performance.

Main Methods:

• Employed a multiple baseline design across behaviors to evaluate teaching procedures.
• Taught four precurrent responses (initial value, change value, operation, resulting value) sequentially to two students.
• Assessed skill acquisition and generalization to untaught problems during probe sessions.

Main Results:

• Teaching procedures effectively increased the correct performance of precurrent behaviors for untaught problems.
• The establishment of precurrent behaviors led to a significant increase in the number of correct arithmetic word problem solutions.
• The intervention demonstrated positive effects on both component skills and the overall problem-solving outcome.

Conclusions:

• Instruction in precurrent skills is a viable strategy for improving arithmetic word problem-solving in students with developmental disabilities.
• The sequential teaching of precurrent responses can lead to improved academic performance.
• This approach offers a promising avenue for targeted educational interventions.