Teaching Problem Posing to Students With Learning Disabilities

During the past 20 years, numerous studies examining the use of problem posing in mathematics instruction have documented positive outcomes in terms of students’ problem-solving skills, creativity, and attitudes and beliefs regarding the study of mathematics. However, despite these promising results, problem posing in mathematics instruction has rarely been studied in the population of students with learning disabilities (LD). This study describes a problem-posing intervention that draws on an existing Conceptual Model–based Problem-Solving program (COMPS, Xin) into the problem posing task. The COMPS-based problem posing intervention is designed to teach word problem posing skills to students with LDs under structured posing situations. The study used a multiple baseline across participants design and found the intervention was effective in improving students’ problem solving and posing skills. It provided implications for future research and teaching regarding the use of problem posing interventions in mathematics for students with LDs.