Effectiveness of schema-based instructional strategy on mathematical verbal problem-solving skills of students with learning difficulties

The main purpose of the research is to investigate the effectiveness of the schema-based teaching strategy on students with learning disabilities to acquire mathematical problem solving skills and maintain these skills at 1st, 3rd and 5th weeks of post-intervention. Change type problems, one of the verbal problem types, were used in the research. Additionally, social validity data regarding the extent of strategy usage generalization across different contexts and the application of the schema-based instructional strategy in verbal problem-solving are collected based on teacher opinions. The research involved three second-grade elementary school students with learning difficulties in Kocaeli. The study utilized the single-subject research design, specifically the multiple baseline across subjects design. The experimental process included determining the baseline level, teaching the change schemas of the schema-based instructional strategy, post-instruction evaluation, and follow-up stages. The schema-based instructional strategy encompasses instructional steps involving activating prior knowledge, discussion, modeling, guided practice, and independent applications. The instructional steps are organized based on criteria. In all evaluations, students were given 10 problems to solve, and their performance was assessed based on the percentage of correctly solved problems. The collected data were analyzed using graphical analysis. The findings indicate that the schema-based instructional strategy is effective in enabling students with learning difficulties to solve change problems involving a stepwise addition and subtraction process, and students maintain their performance at 1st, 3rd, and 5th weeks of post-intervention. Additionally, generalization data show that students can apply the acquired skills in classroom environment. Regarding social validity data, insights from teacher interviews indicate positive opinions about the use of the schema-based instructional strategy in teaching mathematical problem-solving. KEYWORDS: Mathematics, Schema-Based Instruction, Verbal Problem-Solving, Change Type Problems