Montague, Marjorie. "Cognitive Strategy Instruction in Mathematics for Students with Learning Disabilities." Journal of Learning Disabilities 30 (1 March 1997).
This article is part of an ongoing dialogue on mathematics instruction and is part of a shift in the literature from a behaviorist learning theory of mathematics to a constructivist or cognitive theory. This article offers a context for understanding and using cognitive strategy instruction to improve students' performance in mathematics. The author reviews the theoretical and research base for strategy instruction and discusses the characteristics of students who have difficulties in mathematics from a developmental perspective. She then offers a practical illustration of cognitive strategy instruction used to assess and teach mathematical problem solving to middle school students with learning disabilities.
Montague notes that mathematics learning has recently been reconceptualized as a constructivist process through which children construct mathematical knowledge by linking new learning to previously acquired concepts, and this approach assumes that individuals set goals leading to the construction of new knowledge. This new knowledge then leads to new goals and new knowledge. Cognitive learning theory postulates a spiral effect in learning, and in this view, a number of social and learning interactions are influential in mathematical learning, including cognitive development, social interactions, affective development, and the context for learning. One of the results of this new approach is that mathematics classrooms increasingly are becoming laboratories for learning, where children actively participate in solving problems.
The specific approach discussed here is called cognitive strategy instruction. It begins with an understanding of how individuals process information and acquire and apply knowledge. Montague begins with a discussion of the theore...