Does Understanding Relational Terminology Mediate Effects of Intervention on Difference Word Problems for Second-Grade Students?

The purpose of this study was to assess whether understanding relational terminology (i.e., more, less, and fewer) mediates the effects of intervention on difference word problems. Second-grade teachers who volunteered to participate were assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: schema-broadening word-problem...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Schumacher, Robin Finelli
Other Authors: Lynn S. Fuchs
Format: Others
Language:en
Published: VANDERBILT 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-07162010-151636/
Description
Summary:The purpose of this study was to assess whether understanding relational terminology (i.e., more, less, and fewer) mediates the effects of intervention on difference word problems. Second-grade teachers who volunteered to participate were assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: schema-broadening word-problem intervention, calculation intervention, or business-as-usual control. Students within the word-problem intervention condition received explicit instruction on the difference problem type, which included a focus on understanding relational terminology within word problems. Analyses, which accounted for the nested structure of the data, indicated that, compared to the active and inactive contrast conditions, word-problem intervention significantly increased performance on difference problems and on understanding relational terminology and that those intervention effects on difference problems were partially mediated by students understanding of relational terminology.