A Randomized Trial of the Effects of Schema-Based Instruction on Proportional Problem-Solving for Students With Mathematics Problem-Solving Difficulties

Abstract

This article reports results from a study investigating the efficacy of a proportional problem-solving intervention, schema-based instruction (SBI), in seventh grade. Participants included 806 students with mathematical difficulties in problem solving (MD-PS) from an initial pool of 1,999 seventh grade students in a larger study. Teachers and their students in the larger study were randomly assigned to an SBI or control condition and teachers in both conditions then provided instruction on the topics of ratio, proportion, and percent. We found that students with MD-PS in SBI classrooms scored on average higher than their counterparts in control classrooms on a posttest and delayed posttest administered 9 weeks later. Given students' difficulties with proportional problem-solving and the consequences of these difficulties, an important contribution of this research is the finding that when provided with appropriate instruction, students with MD-PS are capable of enhanced proportional problem-solving performance.

Problem-Solving Among English Language Learners: A Cognitive Linguistic Approach

“…In Jitendra et. al., [9], for instance, students were taught ratio, proportion, and percent/percent of change within the broad domain of proportion. In contrast, this study drew on cognitive linguistics and offered an examination of a problem-solving schema.…”

“…Despite the large sample sizes found in Jitendra et. al., [9,11], ELLs were not well represented. Just 5.3% of the sample participants were ELLs in Jitendra et.…”

“…Research into different instructional approaches to word problems is replete with intervention studies, many of which draw on SBI and focused on students with math difficulties (MD) [9][10][11][12]. A review of the SBI research follows.…”

“…al., [11] and 7.5% in Jitendra et. al., [9]. A model drawn from a cognitive perspective is, of course, based upon the premise that use of a schema can free up working memory for the higher order thinking needed during problem solving [13].…”

The effect of Cooperative Learning Model Think-Talk-Write Type on Mathematical Problem-Solving Abilities In Terms of Learning Habits

“…However, the ability of students to find solutions these days are still relatively low. Starting from elementary school to high school level, are having difficulty in solving unusual problems (Jitendra, Harwell, Dupuis, & Karl, 2016;Morin, Watson, Hester, & Raver, 2017;Spooner, Saunders, Root, & Brosh, 2017). There are several factors that affect the low level of mathematical problem-solving, among them are attitudes and learning habits that become a very complex set of learning activities in addition to involving one's individual mental-physical activities (Irwanto, 2016).…”