Search

Fractions and the understanding of fraction concepts affect later conceptualization of advanced mathematics and affect how people live their everyday lives. Research shows that many deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) students have not mastered fraction skills even by the time they enter college. In the present article, the author looks at literature related to the teaching of fractions in general education and deaf education settings. On the basis of this literature, the author then provides pedagogical suggestions, including highlighting mathematical relationships, using problem-solving approaches, and promoting discussion in order to achieve conceptual and procedural understanding. New questions for future research are generated regarding the teaching of fractions and DHH learners' development of fraction concepts.

Seventy-three deaf college students completed a survey examining perceptions about tutoring outcomes and emphases, characteristics of tutors, and responsibilities associated with learning through tutoring. The comparisons revealed that while baccalaureate and sub-baccalaureate students have many similar perceptions about tutoring, there are also some striking differences. In particular, as compared to the sub-baccalaureate students, baccalaureate students have a stronger preference for focusing on course content and for working with tutors who actively involve them during the tutoring sessions. In addition, baccalaureate students prefer to decide the focus of the tutoring themselves while sub-baccalaureate students tend to leave the decision to the tutor. The results of the analyses with three scales measuring perceptions of tutoring dimensions are summarized and recommendations for the selection and preparation of tutors, as well as for future research, are provided.

In this study of deaf college students' performance solving compare word problems, relational statements were either consistent or inconsistent with the arithmetic operation required for the solutions. The results support the consistency hypothesis Lewis and Mayer (1987) proposed based on research with hearing students. That is, deaf students were more likely to miscomprehend a relational statement and commit a reversal error when the required arithmetic operation was inconsistent with the statement's relational term (e.g., having to add when the relational term was less than). Also, the reversal error effect with inconsistent word problems was magnified when the relational statement was a marked term (e.g., a negative adjective such as less than) rather than an unmarked term (e.g., a positive adjective such as more than). Reading ability levels of deaf students influenced their performance in a number of ways. As predicted, there was a decrease in goal-monitoring errors, multiple errors, and the number of problems left blank as the reading levels of students increased. Contrary to expectations, higher reading skills did not affect the frequency of reversal errors.

Deaf and hearing college students were given 30 mathematics problems to solve. The initial 15 were presented as numeric/graphic problems, followed by 15 corresponding word problems, with both conditions sequenced for a progressive increase in problem complexity. Each word problem described the kind of shape and measurement information that was presented in its corresponding numeric/graphic problem. The results showed that the deaf college students, regardless of reading level, were comparable in performance to the hearing college students when solving the numeric/graphic problems and the initial, least complex set of corresponding word problems. However, as the complexity of the descriptive information in the word problems increased along with the complexity of the problem situations, the performance scores of the deaf students decreased. No comparable decrease was observed in the hearing students' scores. While reading ability level was associated with the deaf students' lower scores when solving word problems, the analyses show that other factors also contributed.

Three teaching and learning strategies for problem solving were implemented with first- and second-year deaf college students enrolled in mathematics courses at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), Rochester Institute of Technology. These strategies involved the students in (a) giving an explanation to a peer observer in sign language, after which they would put their understanding of a problem and its solution in writing; (b) visualizing the problem-solving process prior to starting to solve a problem; and (c) observing their teacher modeling the analytical process step by step for a sample problem prior to solving math word problems. The students were asked to solve two types of problems: typical word problems, and a visual/manipulative puzzle that would provide a problem-solving experience that would contrast with the experience of solving a problem presented in text format. The results showed that these kinds of instructional strategies can enhance the problem-solving performance of deaf and hard of hearing college students.