The Nurturing Multiplicative Reasoning in Students with Learning Disabilities project is a five-year research and development project that will help teachers better serve students with learning disabilities.
Now in year four, the $2.9 million grant, awarded by the National Science Foundation, is resulting in the development of computerized teaching programs that promote learning of multiplication and division for students with learning disabilities.
Yan Ping Xin, associate professor of special education and principal investigator, said the project will improve current teaching practices by providing tools for analyzing how students with learning disabilities conceptualize new mathematical ideas. This analysis will then be used to offer flexible teaching strategies targeted to an individual student's needs. The effects of the research-based computer system will be compared with the effects of traditional teacher-delivered instruction.
"We anticipate this project to impact these student outcomes, including diminishing the gap between students with disabilities and their normal-achieving peers," Xin said.
The team hopes the project will help students with learning disabilities in subjects beyond mathematics, as well as other students who have difficulties learning mathematic concepts.
Funded by the
National Science Foundation