This study gives insights into how Logo-like microworlds can affect cognitive development related to mathematics education of students with math learning difficulties. In particular, we analyse the case of a 15-year-old student with dyslexia and severe dyscalculia. Among the various cognitive aspects involved, here we delve into the development of…

The Boehm Test of Basic Concepts (BTBC) (Boehm, 1971) was administered to 99 children (ages 7-10) who had been diagnosed as learning disabled and attended special schools in the New York area. It was hypothesized that the learning disabled children would exhibit a delay in the acquisition of the basic concepts, but would display a similar order of…

The LD first graders were found to have a lower level as well as greater variability in their understanding of basic concepts. The greatest discrepancy of the LD group was found on concepts of quantity, space, and miscellaneous, respectively. (Author)

Thirty learning disabled (LD), mild (educable) mentally handicapped (EMH), and normally achieving children were administered a concept utilization task. Results indicated that, for certain conceptualization abilities, LD children are more like normal learners than like EMH children. It is suggested that cross-categorical placement increases the…

The paper reviews research which presents evidence that learning disabled (LD) children, like other groups that show performance deficiencies, do not spontaneously employ appropriate goal directed task strategies in many situations. (Author/PHR)

Two studies involving learning disabled elementary students examined two procedures shown to facilitate concept acquisition among normal children: selection and sequence of positive and negative examples and analytic assistance during concept learning. Examples did not facilitate concept acquisition, and exposure to a simple strategy actually…

A longitudinal investigation on development of conservation skills in 31 learning disabled (LD) children suggested that delayed transition between preoperational and concrete operational thought may be an important factor in understanding the continued school failure of learning disabled children. (Author/CL)

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…

Reports a study involving 35 learning-disabled boys attending full-time remedial schools and 35 matched normal achievers to investigate whether learning-disabled children differ from normal achievers in terms of logical thought and whether they exhibit decalages in their acquisition of Piagetian concepts. (BD/BR)

Six groups of nursery schoolers, kindergarteners, and first graders balanced for sex were trained and tested on a series of discrimination learning and transposition problems. (Author)

The development and use of educational software for children with severe learning problems are described. The software deals with common conceptual, communicative, and problem-solving problems in this population. It is argued that appropriately structured computer-mediated interaction can result in development and expression of cognitive skills…

Urges "watering up" the curriculum for adolescents with learning disabilities and identifies principles associated with making knowledge construction more meaningful. Offered are specific instructional techniques for use in inclusive settings, such as focusing on teaching big ideas, promoting elaboration, relating to real-world contexts, and…

The study involving 60 learning disabled (LD) and 30 normal achieving seventh through ninth graders was designed to identify adolescents homogeneously defined as exhibiting a "specific learning disability in arithmetic" and to determine if the cognitive processes (visual-spatial, visual-reasoning, and visual-memory) are related to the academic…

Compared use of derived fact strategies involving addition and subtraction by 20 learning-disabled students (LDSs) from an intermediate level self-contained class to 22 grade-3 normally achieving students (NASs). LDSs did not differ from NASs in verbal fluency or use of alternative strategies. (Contains 20 references.) (MDH)

Eleven papers comprise the special issue on learning disabilities and deal with definition, prevalence, promising research strategies, and potentially effective educational treatments oriented toward the processes of thought and the "learning to learn" strategy. (DB)