مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - View of Teachers about Computation Errors of Students Learning Disabilities and Mathematic Disabilities

Abstract :

The aim of this study was to examine the views of third grade elementary school teachers on computation errors of their students learning disabilities and mathematic disabilities. In this study, addition and subtraction errors of students experiencing learning disability and mathematics difficulties were examined. The study group was consisted of 30 students with learning disability, 30 with mathematic difficulties. All participants attended third grade. In addition, a likert scale survey was given to the teachers of the participating students in order to determine whether they correctly identified their students’ mathematical errors. When the teachers’ identification of students’ errors were compared to the types of errors their students actually made, results revealed that teachers were not able to identify the errors correctly. It is suggested to spare enough lesson time for mathematics instruction and to include activities in these lessons about noticing student errors, explaining their reasons and analyzing the errors in the training of the teacher candidates in order to improve these results which are thought to be related to the teachers’ low expectations, prejudice and inadequate knowledge and big classroom sizes. Furthermore, it is regarded as important to increase the studies on making in-service training programs more effective and to determine effective teaching methods.