Discrete Mathematics in Deaf Education: A Survey of Teachers' Knowledge and Uses

Abstract

The study documents what deaf education teachers know about discrete mathematics topics and determines if these topics are present in the mathematics curriculum. Survey data were collected from 290 mathematics teachers at center and public school programs serving a minimum of 120 students with hearing loss, grades K–8 or K–12, in the United States. Findings indicate that deaf education teachers are familiar with many discrete mathematics topics but do not include them in instruction because they consider the concepts too complicated for their students. Also, regardless of familiarity level, deaf education teachers are not familiar with discrete mathematics terminology; nor is their mathematics teaching structured to provide opportunities to apply the real-world–oriented activities used in discrete mathematics instruction. Findings emphasize the need for higher expectations of students with hearing loss, and for reform in mathematics curriculum and instruction within deaf education.

Evidence‐based practice in educating deaf and hard‐of‐hearing children: teaching to their cognitive strengths and needs

“…There are widespread indications that the mathematical and problem-solving experiences provided to most DHH children in school are insufficient to achieve the desired academic outcomes (Kluwin and Moores 1989;Pagliaro and Kritzer 2005). In a detailed analysis of US data, Traxler (2000) showed that DHH students generally achieve only at the 80th percentile of the average scores attained by hearing students in mathematics.…”

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students’ Problem-Solving Strategies With Signed Arithmetic Story Problems

“…Studies reveal a very traditional approach to mathematics instruction within the education of deaf and hard of hearing students that includes emphasis on direct instruction, memorization, and practice exercises over conceptually based learning, in which true problem solving fosters both the development and use of higher-order cognitive functions and critical thinking skills Pagliaro, 1998bPagliaro, , 2010Pagliaro & Ansell, 2002;Pagliaro & Kritzer, 2005). It may be, then, that educators are encouraging, if not outwardly teaching, the use of procedures for all mathematics (computation as well as problem solving) without first establishing a conceptual understanding of mathematics concepts such as number, as Frostad (1999) cautioned against.…”

“…In addition, research has shown that most teachers within the education of deaf and hard of hearing students have not been adequately prepared in mathematics and/or mathematics education (Dietz, 1995;Kluwin & Moores, 1985;Pagliaro, 1998aPagliaro, , 2010Pagliaro & Kritzer, 2005). Therefore, even if they are otherwise high-quality teachers, they may not be aware of the need for true problem solving nor have the confidence or knowledge base necessary to guide students in their development of mathematics concepts and problem solving.…”

Korean deaf adolescents’ recognition of written words for taxonomic categories of different levels

“…Deaf adults did not have lower levels of performing simple arithmetic subtractions than hearing ones on non‐symbolic numerosities, but they did do so in the formal mathematics (Masataka, 2006). In fact, mathematics teachers even tended to avoid introducing some concepts because of deaf students’ difficulty to understand them (Pagliaro & Kritzer, 2005).…”