EXAMINING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF READER STRATEGY IN INTELLECTUALLY DISABLED STUDENTS’ MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM SOLVING

Abstract

Mnemonic strategies provide information about which steps should be followed respectively while solving students' mathematical problems. The main purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of READER problem solving strategy, which is one of the mnemonic strategies, on problem solving performances of students with intellectual disabilities. In the study, the generalization of students' performances in change problems to classification and comparison problems and their ability to maintain this performance were determined. Three students participated in the study and "Multiple Probe Design", one of the experimental designs with a single subject, was used in the study. READER strategy teaching was carried out with the Self Regulation Strategy Development teaching approach. Findings were graphically illustrated and analysed. Research findings showed that the READER strategy was effective in solving change problems for students with intellectual disabilities and that the students who gained this strategy continued their problem solving performance 1, 3 and 5 weeks after the intervention ended. In addition, it was found that students generalized their change problem-solving performances to classification and comparison problem types, and continued their generalized performance even after 2, 3 and 4 weeks. Research findings were discussed within the framework of problem solving literature and theoretical views. Suggestions were also made for future research.

Keywords: READER strategy, math problem solving, SRSD, intellectually disabled.

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