Mathematics instruction and practice: Teaching young children with developmental delays
Abstract
One purpose of the study was to determine whether a specific short-term instructional intervention with different practice opportunities was effective in facilitating the counting skills of preschool children with developmental delays. Another purpose of the study was to determine whether computer game practice was an effective practice opportunity in addition to classroom mathematics instruction with this particular population. The participants received a 6-week instructional intervention which included classroom instruction provided 2 times per week and brief practice opportunities in small groups outside the classroom 1 time per week. There were 41 participants in total, although the control group participants received no specific mathematics instruction. The practice opportunities included (a) the basic practice condition in which the participants practiced counting manipulative objects, (b) a board game condition in which the participants practiced counting in game context, and (c) a computer game condition in which the participants practiced counting in a computer game context. Early numerical abilities were measured using a standardized device, which was the Early Number Concepts (ENC) of the Differential Ability Scales (DAS) and an informal counting assessment procedure (ICAP) developed specifically for the purposes of this study. The specific components of counting skills measured by the ICAP were mastered and instructional set size, correspondence errors, knowledge of cardinality, and ability to count circular arrays of 5 and 10 objects. The results included the following: (a) no significant differences in terms of early numeric concepts, as measured by the ENC; (b) significant differences regarding specific components of counting skills, including mastered set size and knowledge of cardinality; and (c) no significant differences among the 3 practice groups. Directions for future research were indicated.
Subject Area
Early childhood education|Special education|Mathematics education|Curriculum development
Recommended Citation
Chituk, Renee Annette, "Mathematics instruction and practice: Teaching young children with developmental delays" (2003). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI3084887.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI3084887
