The Effects of Computer-Assisted Instruction on the Mathematical Problem Solving of Students With Learning Disabilities

Abstract

This study was intended to determine (a) whether students with learning disabilities (LD) can benefit from a computer-assisted instructional tutorial program to learn math word problem solving on immediate and delayed online computer and paper- and-pencil tests, and (b) whether one of three variations of computer-assisted in- structional programs will produce superior learning. Two of the computer-assisted instructional programs included a seven-step cognitive strategy for solving word problems. Both programs employed identical teaching procedures except that ani- mated pictures were used in one condition and static pictures were used in the other condition. The third condition served as a comparison group that employed similar instruction with static pictures but without the explicit seven-step cognitive strategy. Thirty elementary students with LD were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions. Results indicated that students in all conditions improved significantly on math word problem solving f...