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TEACHING
MATHEMATICS TO STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES
by Ruth Feigenbaum, Ph.D.
At Bergen Community College, the number of self-disclosed students
with learning disabilities has been increasing. If these students
are enrolled in a degree program, they must, at a minimum, successfully
complete the developmental mathematics requirements. In order to
provide for the special needs and learning styles of these students,
Bergen Community College offers dedicated sections of basic mathematics
and elementary algebra for LD students. The purpose of these special
classes is to establish a classroom environment that promotes learning,
while focusing on the specific needs and learning styles of each
individual student, without compromising the content of the course
and the standards of the mathematics department.
For most LD students, it is the learning disability not the subject
matter that interferes with the learning process. In order to "level
the playing field", instruction in the LD mathematics classes
emphasizes techniques that allow students to circumvent their learning
disabilities and focus on the learning of mathematics. To accomplish
this, individual teaching and learning strategies are developed
cooperatively by the instructor and the student, techniques that
focus on the student's strengths.
Modes of instruction, emphasizing the proper reading and writing
of mathematics, are an integral part of the course. In order to
work with mathematical expressions, students must be able to distinguish
between the terms and the factors comprising an expression To avoid
errors in simplifying expressions, students must develop the ability
to write out their work one step at a time. When working with applications,
a correct reading of the words of the problem and an accurate mathematical
representation of the meaning of the problem are prerequisite to
solving the problem.
Many of the teaching and learning strategies developed emphasize
the use of color or space. Colored pencils or pens are used to highlight
items which might be visually misinterpreted, thereby minimizing
copy errors and inaccurate reading. Color is also used to focus
a student's attention to a particular area of weakness. The appropriate
use of space can be a significant aid to the LD student. Increasing
the workspace by using large sheets of paper or the blackboard helps
students organize their work. Limiting the problems to one per page
avoids distractions. Subdividing a page so that subtasks are separated
from the main procedure of the problem permits students to focus
on individual tasks.
Many of the problems encountered by the LD student in learning
mathematics are similar to those of the general population, only
more pronounced. Thus, many of the strategies used in the LD mathematics
classes are applicable to all students; they are just good teaching
and learning techniques.
If you would like more information on the topic of teaching algebra
to LD students, please see the article "Algebra for Students
with Learning Disabilities" published in The Mathematics Teacher,
April 2000, a publication of the National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics.
If you would like further to discuss the teaching of mathematics
to LD students, feel free to contact Ruth Feigenbaum at rfeigenbaum@bergen.edu
or Linda Kass at
lkass@bergen.edu.
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