Article
Developing mathematical understanding and students with emotional and behavioural disorders: a review of the literature
Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties
(2016)
Abstract
Recent shifts in focus on academic interventions for students diagnosed with emotional and behavioural disorders (EBD) create a need to evaluate existing interventional research in content areas such as mathematics. Literature reviews in the area of mathematics interventions for students with EBD have mostly focused on the outcomes and the rigour of existing studies with limited attention to the quality of the pedagogical methods used in those studies. The purpose of this conceptual review was to use a teaching-for-understanding lens to examine existing research interventions in mathematics for students with EBD. Teaching-mathematics-for-understanding requires pedagogical methods that aim to activate and capture students’ mathematical reasoning and thinking. An iterative electronic and hand search of the literature found 30 studies covering three decades (1985–2015) that met the criteria for inclusion in this review. Results of the analysis include: (1) mathematics assessments utilised ranged from very basic to comprehensive, with most studies applying basic assessments; (2) a majority of the studies focused on intervention strategies targeting procedural and rote knowledge; (3) most studies utilised quantitative inquiry methods; and (4) in more recent years, studies have increasingly examined conceptual mathematical understanding and incorporated qualitative inquiry methods.
Keywords
- Mathematics education,
- emotional and behavioural disorders,
- intervention,
- disabilities
Disciplines
Publication Date
2016
DOI
10.1080/13632752.2016.1201639
Citation Information
Paolo Tan. "Developing mathematical understanding and students with emotional and behavioural disorders: a review of the literature" Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties Vol. 21 Iss. 4 (2016) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/paolo-tan/12/