Date of Award
6-2018
Culminating Project Type
Starred Paper
Degree Name
Special Education: M.S.
Department
Special Education
College
School of Education
First Advisor
Marc Markell
Second Advisor
Jerry Wellik
Third Advisor
Susan Haller
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
autism, special education, math, academic needs, project-based learning, problem- based learning, direct instruction
Abstract
The attention toward the mathematics achievement of U.S. students in general education, when they took the national and international assessments, has risen (Przychodzin et al., 2004). However, a limited amount of research focusing on effective mathematics instruction was completed (Baker, Gersten, & Lee, 2002).
Mathematics is an important academic area for students with disabilities, including autism, because people with disabilities can increase work or volunteering opportunities and enrich their post-secondary life if they perform functional math skills well (Brown & Snell, 2000). However, Su et al. (2010) described that few studies focusing on learning strategies to support students with autism have been done. Specifically, research on mathematics for students with autism is significantly limited, although some studies in reading were done (National Research Council [NRC], 2001).
The purpose of this paper was to review the literature that studied the effectiveness of Direct Instruction (DI) and Problem-/Project-based Learning (PBL) for students with low-functioning autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in math. Eleven studies were chosen for review that evaluated the effectiveness of DI and PBL. The foci of this paper are: characteristics of ASD, instructional requirements or needs for students with low-functioning ASD, higher order of thinking, and the differences of effectiveness of DI and PBL.
Recommended Citation
Hosokawa, Maiko, "The Comparison of the Effects of Direct Instruction and Project-/Problem-Based Learning to Teach Basic Math Skills for Students with Low-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder" (2018). Culminating Projects in Special Education. 64.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/sped_etds/64
