Supporting the development of skills associated with self-determination (e.g., goal setting and attainment, problem solving) and providing opportunities to practice those skills impacts valued school and postschool outcomes of students with complex communication needs. To address this need, the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI)…

The authors examined the effectiveness of strategy instruction taught by general educators in mixed-ability classrooms. Specifically, the authors compared the mathematical word problem-solving performance and computational skills of students who received schema-based instruction (SBI) with students who received general strategy instruction (GSI).…

Represents a college professor's view of children doing math after seven consecutive years of working with approximately 150 children solving word problems. (ASK)

Describes the use of a structured, problem-solving dialog among teachers and between teacher and student to review successes in solving the instructional problems of a particular child and to develop an effective education plan which fosters student responsibility for learning and behavior. Uses a case study to illustrate the "What Works" process.…

Students in adult basic education/general educational development classes need skills in analyzing and solving programs, extending beyond those learned through word problems in the mathematics curriculum. The following strategies can help students broaden their problem-solving skills: (1) act it out, (2) construct a table, (3) draw a picture, (4)…

This article details an approach to teaching one step in a mathematics word-problem-solving strategy, that of organizing the facts. A lesson plan is offered which involves directed instruction and supervised practice in five strategies for organizing facts. (DB)

This article discusses the use of mnemonic techniques in helping students acquire new information and apply that information in problem-solving situations. It outlines common academic learning problems and the dynamics of mnemonic strategies and applies the strategies to remembering definitions, factual information, processes, functions, and…

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) describes a learning environment in which problems drive the learning; that is, learning begins with a problem to be solved and the problem is posed in such a way that students need to gain new knowledge before they can solve it. This ERIC Digest discusses many aspects of PBL including PBL and problem solving, PBL and…

Describes the "Two-Eight" instructional model for students who have arithmetic computational skills but lack the ability to select appropriate strategies to solve problems. Offers examples showing the replacement of the actual values used in a word problem with the simple numeric values of 2 and 8 to create a parallel, solvable problem. (DMM)

The Future Quest curriculum is a functional curriculum to teach drug abuse prevention skills to youth with mild disabilities. The curriculum is a one-semester instructional program of lesson plans that incorporate research-based effective teaching practices and are specifically designed to meet the needs of students with learning and behavior…

This article uses a cognitive problem-solving model to explore the application of hypermedia authoring software to mathematics in general and to mathematical problem solving in particular. Hypermedia is presented as a method of exploring alternative solution processes to remediate or prevent learning problems. (JDD)

This article on using mnemonics with students having learning and behavior problems first offers a case study of a 7th grade student and then describes the letter strategy, the keyword mnemonic method, and the pegword method. Seven steps for implementing mnemonic strategies are offered. An inset reviews the research literature on using mnemonic…

Students with language and learning disabilities may have difficulty solving mathematics word problems. Use of a sequential checklist, identifying clues and keywords, and illustrating a problem can all help the student identify and implement the correct computational process. (DB)

This study compared the effectiveness of 3 procedures for teaching 62 elementary students with learning disabilities to identify the correct algorithm in solving addition and subtraction word problems. The group receiving strategy teaching and sequencing practice problems and the group receiving strategy teaching only scored higher than…

RIDGES is a mnemonic device designed to give upper elementary and high school students a structure to follow when solving word problems. RIDGES stands for Read the problem; I know statement; Draw a picture; Goal statement; Equation development; and Solve the equation. (VW)