Investigating and comparing the effectiveness of methods of teaching mathematics to L.D. students of elementary schools

Abstract

Some school students, in spite of their normal intelligence and healthy visual and hearing sensation, are not able to follow educational instructions of the classroom and have difficulties to understand special concepts while are thought by the regular methods in schools. These students are usually named as learning disabled children. Mathematical learning disability is one of L. D. problems which lead to difficulty in understanding mathematical concepts. In this research, the effectiveness of three methods of teaching mathematics, i.e. task instruction, process or ability instruction, and task-process instruction in teaching mathematics, have been investigated. Research findings indicate that 1) there are significant differences between pre-test post-test marks on mathematical achievement as a result of applying different instruction methods; 2) task instruction method and process or ability instruction method are significantly influencing the L. D. students learning mathematics.