Book Description

This study examined the differential effects of two instructional strategies, an explicit schema-based problem solving strategy (SBI) and a traditional general heuristic instructional strategy (TI), on the acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of mathematical word problem solving. In addition, this study examined students' self-perceptions regarding mathematics problem solving before and after instruction and their satisfaction with respect to using the assigned problem solving strategy. Twenty-two middle school students with learning disabilities and problems in mathematics were randomly assigned to treatment conditions (SBI and TI). A repeated measure with control group design was employed to compare the effects of two instructional strategies. On the measure of word problem solving performance, results indicated that the SBI group significantly outperformed the TI group on the posttest, maintenance test (administered 1 to 2 weeks later), and follow-up test (administered 3 weeks to 3 months later). The SBI group also significantly outperformed the TI group on solving transfer problems (i.e., structurally similar but more complex) following the assigned strategy instruction. In addition, the performance of the SBI group on the posttest, maintenance, and follow-up tests surpassed a normative sample of 6th graders. On the measure of students' self-perception and satisfaction, results indicated that the SBI group, especially, liked the schema-based problem solving strategy and liked to solve word problems more than they did prior to the intervention. Implications for practice are discussed.