Understanding Student Misconceptions
Lorriane VanAlstyne
Grand Canyon University: SED 544
June 24, 2015

I found myself sitting at a desk with my hand on my forehead, my foot tapping the floor and my pencil scribbling some dark marks on my homework sheet. I read the question again for the 5th, maybe 6th time. Maria and her friend Mary collected soda cans for a school recycling project. On Friday they collected 25 bottles and cans while on Saturday they collected 60 bottles and cans. How many bottles and cans did Maria and Mary collect in all? I then ask myself “What’s the point, why do they make us do this stuff, I can’t wait till this class is over.” Word problems are found to be very difficult for many students; especially those who have disabilities. Studies published in the article “Going Beyond the Math Wars” by Cole and Wasburn-Moses states that “Only 8% of students with disabilities scored at or above proficient on a national assessment of mathematical proficiency” (Cole & Wasburn Moses, 2010). The deficit of scores in math, for students with disabilities is caused by many reasons which include: reading, language, vocabulary, understanding, the transfer of information, and a lack of design in the curriculum.
Students with disabilities struggle with math because they have difficulty reading texts, short term memories, and understanding the language within the problem. When they look at a typical word problem, students don’t just see numbers, they see lines of information they can’t decipher or translate. They also have a difficult time determining what information is relevant to answer the problem. In the journal Research & Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities by Copeland & Cosbey it states that students with special needs have a difficult time with the “skills needed to complete activities composed of multiple components” (Copeland &