Students with mental retardation have difficulties of attention, reading, comprehension of problems, using problem solving strategies, and applying problem solving strategies, and therefore they demonstrate a low achievement on mathematical problem so...
Students with mental retardation have difficulties of attention, reading, comprehension of problems, using problem solving strategies, and applying problem solving strategies, and therefore they demonstrate a low achievement on mathematical problem solving. With these difficulties, students with mental retardation experience would failure repeatedly on mathematical problem solving.
In an effort to promote mathematical problem-solving of elementary students with mild mental retardation, we will help them learn problem solving strategies and apply those novel problems. Schema-based transfer instruction is one of instructions to promote to acquire problem solving strategies and to apply them to noble problems. They also have a low self-confidence of academic successes. Teaching mathematics with use of a fairy tale will increase students' interest in mathematics and a positive attitude.
The purpose of this study was to examine to the effect of schema-based transfer instruction using mathematical fairy tales on mathematical problem solving of elementary student with mild mental retardation.
Students to participate in this study were three fourth and fifth graders with mild mental retardation, the experiment was conducted from March to August 2009, and the instruction was addressed twice or three times per week. To assess the contribution of this treatment, multiple probe design across subjects was used.
Schema-based transfer instruction consisted of problem-solution instruction and transfer instruction. Instruction on problem-solving rules involved five steps of reading, finding informations, thinking, calculations, and checking answers. With transfer instruction, the students were taught the four transfer features that a problem change without altering its type or solution. Four ways problems change meant different formatting, using unfamiliarvocabulary, posing a different question, and being a small part of larger problem-solving context. Consequently, the schema-based transfer instruction helped students to search novel problems for transfer features to identify familiar problem types and apply the solutions they knew.
The measures were five transfer story problems to measure transfer of problem-solution rules and problem-solving strategies. Five transfer story problems were scored in three dimensions: conceptual underpinning, computation, and labeling.
The result of the study was as follows :
First, all students showed that the level of development in the problem solving performance of schema-based transfer instruction was improved.
Second, all students showed that the level of development in the problem solving performance of schema-based transfer instruction was sustained.
As shown on these results, schema-based transfer instruction using mathematical fairy tales on mathematical problem solving that occurred with the development of schemes by which students group problems into types that required the same solution had effect on mathematical problem-solving.
The important value of this study was that it experimentally proved existing researches about the effects of schema-based transfer instruction on mathematical problem-solving. Moreover, It could be meaningful for this study to ascertain the effectiveness of schema-based transfer instruction on mathematical problem solving of elementary student with mild mental retardation.