Teaching addition strategies to students with learning difficulties.

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Special Education
• Mathematics Education

Background:

• Growing interest in adapting math instruction for students with learning difficulties.
• Importance of understanding informal strategies for arithmetic development.
• Need to analyze strategy acquisition in children with learning challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of explicit instruction in the minimum addend strategy.
• To analyze the difficulties encountered by students during strategy acquisition.
• To understand strategy development in children with learning difficulties.

Main Methods:

• Adapted multiple-probe design across students.
• Microgenetic approach to observe strategy development.
• Instructional sequencing based on abstraction levels (with/without manipulatives).
• Participants: three primary school children with learning difficulties (one with autism spectrum disorder).

Main Results:

• All three participants successfully acquired the minimum addend strategy.
• Students demonstrated the ability to transfer the strategy to two-step problems.
• Common difficulties included quantity comparison, with individualized instruction provided.
• The microgenetic approach revealed spontaneous strategy use and variation in response to instruction.

Conclusions:

• Explicit teaching of the minimum addend strategy is effective for students with learning difficulties.
• The study highlights the utility of the microgenetic approach for observing strategy use, particularly in students with autism spectrum disorder.
• Findings offer insights for educators to support students in advancing mathematical strategies.