INVESTIGATION OF THE ADVANTAGES OF A MANIPULATIVE-BASED APPROACH TO THE TEACHING OF MATHEMATICS TO THE DEAF

THE EDUCATION OF THE DEAF AND HEARING IMPAIRED IS LIMITED BYTHE EFFECTIVENESS OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN TEACHER AND STUDENT. THE LEARNING PROCESS FOR THE DEAF TYPICALLY REQUIRES A HIGH LEVEL OF REPETITION AND RESTATEMENT TO ACCOMPLISH AND VERIFY MEANINGFUL COMMUNICATION. IN MOST SUBJECT AREAS, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION LIMITATIONS CONTROL THE PACE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF EDUCATING THE DEAF. IN MATHEMATICS, HOWEVER, WHERE THE SUBJECT ITSELF IS A LANGUAGE, AND TO THE EXTENT MATHEMATICS CAN BE DIRECTLY AND SIMULTANEOUSLY EXPERIENCED BY STUDENT AND TEACHER, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION RELATED LIMITATIONS OF TRADITIONAL APPROACHES TO THE TEACHING OF MATHEMATICS TO THE DEAF CAN BELARGELY OVERCOME. MATHMATICS AND ITS RELATED FIELDS OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE REPRESENT A FIELD OF OPPORTUNITY WHERE THE DEAF ARE POTENTIALLY LEAST HANDICAPPED. THE PHASEI PROPOSAL INVESTIGATES THE EXTENT TO WHICH A MANIPULATIVE AND EXPERIENCE-BASE APPROACH IS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN EXISTINGMETHODS FOR THE TEACHING OF MATHEMATICS TO KINDERGARTEN, FIRST, AND SECOND GRADE DEAF CHILDREN. PHASE II WILL ALLOW FURTHER REFINEMENT OF THE MODEL DEVELOPED AND EXPANSION TO ACOMPREHENSIVE IMPROVED CURRICULUM PACKAGE FOR MATH INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY GRADES K - 6. ANTICIPATED RESULTS OF PHASE I & II INCLUDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN IMPROVED CURRICULUM AND APPROACH SO THAT MATHEMATICS CAN BE TAUGHT MUCH MORE SUCCESSFULLY TO DEAF STUDENTS IN GRADES K-6, AND THAT THE DEAF WILL THEREFORE BE ABLE TO MOREFULLY SHARE IN THE SIGNIFICANT OPPORTUNITIES IN MATH AND TECHNOLOGY BASED FIELDS. THERE IS A REALISTIC COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITY FOR THE IMPROVED CURRICULUM TO BE ADOPTED NATION-WIDE AS WELL AS MARKET POTENTIAL TO PARENTS.