Virtual and Concrete Manipulatives: A Comparison of Approaches for Solving Mathematics Problems for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are included in general education classes and expected to participate in general education content, such as mathematics. Yet, little research explores academically-based mathematics instruction for this population. This single subject alternating treatment design study explored the effectiveness of concrete (physical objects that can be manipulated) and virtual (3-D objects from the Internet that can be manipulated) manipulatives to teach single- and double-digit subtraction skills. Participants in this study included three elementary-aged students (ages ranging from 6 to 10) diagnosed with ASD. Students were selected from a clinic-based setting, where all participants received medically necessary intensive services provided via one-to-one, trained therapists. Both forms of manipulatives successfully assisted students in accurately and independently solving subtraction problem. However, all three students demonstrated greater accuracy and faster independence with the virtual manipulatives as compared to the concrete manipulatives. Beyond correctly solving the subtraction problems, students were also able to generalize their learning of subtraction through concrete and virtual manipulatives to more real-world applications.

The Comparison of Divided, Sustained and Selective Attention in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Children with Specific Learning Disorder and Normal Children

“…Aligned with results of this study, Wong et al (2015) showed in the study that children with math learning disorder in comparison with healthy children have significant inhibition (18). Also other study showed significant difference between children with mathematics learning disorder and normal children in inhibition (19). It should be noted that selective attention is affected by inhibition and is associated with it because one who can't inhibit his behavior, distinguish intended stimuli among different stimulus and select it reflectively.…”

Math Manipulatives for Students with Severe Intellectual Disability: A Survey of Special Education Teachers

“…Research is needed that will expand the limited numeracy research and provide the foundation for technology and math education for this population. Virtual manipulatives have been proven as an effective mode to provide math instruction to students with high-incidence disabilities and autism spectrum disorders (Bouck & Flanagan, 2010;Bouck, Satsangi, Taber-Doughty, & Courtney, 2014). Virtual manipulatives, delivered by way of a technology based interface (e.g., an iPad) can provide students a more cohesive mode to "manipulate" theme-based engaging materials.…”

Estudio Exploratorio sobre Estrategias y Errores de un Estudiante con Trastorno del Espectro Autista al Resolver Problemas de División Partitiva

“…The work by Yakubova, Hughes and Shinaberry (2016) has shown the effectiveness of a video modeling intervention with CRA instructional sequence when teaching mathematics concepts to students with ASD. Some other intervention studies have successfully used virtual and concrete manipulatives to teach students with ASD arithmetic facts (Bouck, Satsangi, Doughty, & Courtney, 2014) and problem solving (Root, Browder, Saunders, & Lo, 2016).…”