An Intelligent Tutor-Assisted Mathematics Intervention Program for Students With Learning Difficulties

Abstract

About 5% to 10% of school-age children have been identified as having mathematics disabilities (Fuchs, Fuchs, & Hollenbeck, 2007), and students whose math performance was ranked at or below the 20th to 35th percentile are often considered at risk for learning disabilities or for having learning difficulties in mathematics (LDM; Bryant et al., 2011; Fuchs et al., 2007). Students with LDM lag behind their peers beginning in early elementary school and continue to fall further behind as they transition from elementary to secondary school. According to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP; 2015) mathematics assessment data, during the past 10 years, score gains were seen at Grades 4 and 8 for higher performing students at the 75th and 90th percentiles, but there were no significant changes over the same period for lower performing students. For instance, according to fourth-grade NAEP mathematic achievement data, the percentage of students without disabilities who performed below the basic level significantly decreased from 17% in 2005 to 14% in 2015. However, this improvement trend is absent for students with disabilities. In fact, the percentage of students with disabilities who performed below the basic level slightly increased from 43% in 2005 to 45% in 2015. It seems that the gap between students with disabilities and their same-age peers has become wider and certainly does not seem to be closing. In conjunction with this lack of growth in mathematics learning among students with disabilities, expectations for all students, including those with LDM, have been elevated in today's educational climate. In particular, the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM; Common Core State Standards Initiative [CCSSI], 2012) emphasize conceptual understanding of ideas and the connections between mathematical ideas. The CCSSM also emphasizes that students "model with mathematics." In particular, the Common Core emphasizes higher order thinking and reasoning as well as algebra readiness throughout elementary mathematics. The challenge of meeting the expectations of the Common Core Standards is compounded by the shortage of teachers certified to teach mathematics (Hutchison, 2012) and more so, the shortage of special education teachers that is "severe, chronic, and pervasive" and presents threats to the quality of educational services provided to these students (Billingsley & McLeskey, 2004, p. 2). As such, there is a need to explore potential intervention support that addresses the new emphasis of the Common Core to facilitate all students' access to higher order thinking and meeting the standards.

A Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis to Synthesize the Influence of Contexts of Scaffolding Use on Cognitive Outcomes in STEM Education

“…It is possible that such a large effect size is at least in part evidence of regression to the mean among the participants, who would likely have been performing at the low end of the scale before being exposed to the intervention. Indeed, six participants were excluded from the study “because their pre-assessment scores were above 60% correct” ( Xin et al, 2017 , p. 6). However, it is a very promising effect that warrants further research, as students with special needs constitute a group that is underrepresented in STEM ( Israel, Maynard, & Williamson, 2013 ; National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, National Science Foundation, 2013 ).…”

“…It is also clear that waiting until later grades to address underrepresentation of students with special needs is unwise ( Israel, Pearson, Tapia, Wherfel, & Reese, 2015 ). Rather, it is crucial to start early, which makes it especially promising that the included study ( Xin et al, 2017 ) was set in third and fourth grades.…”

“…Education population was coded as persons with learning disabilities when the majority of participants had a documented disability for which an individualized education program would be prepared and which would interfere with learning the target content. For example, of the nine elementary school students who used scaffolding in the context of mathematics instruction in Xin et al (2017) , three had learning disabilities, one had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and one had a mild intellectual disability.…”

An empirical investigation into student's mathematical word‐based problem‐solving process: A computerized approach

“…He showed that students bolster their problem‐solving abilities. Xin et al () explored the potential effects of the Please Go Bring Me Conceptual Model‐Based Problem Solving (PGBM‐COMPS) intelligent tutor system compared with traditional teacher‐delivered intervention when applied to multiplicative problem solving. According to the findings, the PGBM‐COMPS intelligent tutor seemed to yield better outcomes in enhancing participating students' multiplicative problem solving.…”

Learning Mathematics with Intelligent Tutors: Gender Wise Similarity and Differences

“…In an attempt to achieve the same effect as human tutoring, efforts are Since intelligent tutors are developed with the aim of improving learning outcomes, developers of intelligent tutors work towards achieving the same effect as the expert human tutoring effect [9], [10]. Intelligent tutors provide superior performance than any other computer assisted instruction program because they are developed by combining theories of cognitive science and techniques of artificial intelligence [11]- [15]. These tutoring software systems make personalized tutoring widely and inexpensively available.…”