Informed by a constructivist-based, student-adaptive pedagogical approach, this study explores the benefits of teacher-learner discourse moves for the mathematics learning of students with learning disabilities (LD). During a constructivist teaching experiment for nurturing the multiplicative reasoning and problem solving of five third-grade…

Four studies into characteristics and instructional needs of students with learning disabilities are summarized in this article. These studies are also reviewed in the wider context of mathematics intervention research in special education. These studies generally rely on qualitative methodology, and they are best understood in light of a…

The critical issue Connor, Gallagher, Ferri, Dudley-Marling, and others have put before everyone in this special issue of the "Learning Disability Quarterly" is the hegemony of quantitative methodologies and subsequent marginalization of qualitative research. On this the author is in full agreement. When the human sciences use only quantitative…

Learning differences or disabilities can be best understood and addressed within the holistic/constructivist theory of knowledge construction and the reciprocal evolution of cognitive structures. Learning differences manifest themselves in the spirals of mental structuring activity that guide relational thinking. Such a perspective focuses on…

Twenty-three intermediate grade students (seven with learning difficulties) completed a concept mapping and vocabulary quiz, with instructions highlighting the value of learning goals or performance goals. Children with varying learning histories mediated in-school learning with qualitatively distinct epistemologies, and the "learning goals" task…

This paper discusses arguments for the social nature of knowledge construction, the balancing influence of individual knowledge construction, conceptualization of the relative roles of individual and social dynamics in children's learning, important principles of effective instruction, and implications for designing educational programs for…

In looking back over the last few years of research, theory, and practice in learning disabilities (LD), educators must conclude that the topics of research are very similar but the quality much improved, and there is more balance and attention given to comprehension research than in the past when the perceptual and mechanical aspects of learning…

This article describes constructivist principles of learning in geometry specific to children's imaginal anticipations in line measurement and fractions. Application with seven sixth grade students with learning disabilities found that students had difficulty coordinating and imagining second-order and higher nested relationships that could be…

Discusses recent recommendations for reform in mathematics education advocated by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics as they relate to the needs of students with learning differences. Notes that the constructivist theory on which the recommendations are based have different philosophical premises than the information-processing…