A longitudinal study of the impact of the TWS based on race, gender, and hearing status.

Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students’ performance on fraction story problems is a cause for concern given that knowledge of fractions in the elementary grades is essential for learning Algebra in secondary school and advanced mathematics in college. Using grounded theory, the current study investigated DHH college students’ cognitive strategies for solving equal sharing story problems presented to them in two distinct conditions: Interpreted and Co-constructed. Students watched the American Sign Language (ASL) renditions in pre-recorded videos of the English version of the equal sharing story problems in the interpreted condition. In the co-constructed tasks, the researcher and each participant co-constructed equal sharing story problems. Thirteen DHH college students who were at least 18 years old participated in the study. Data were collected through Think Aloud Protocol and interviews in which students explained their strategies for solving six interpreted and four co-constructed equal sharing mathematical tasks. Data were analyzed through coding and constant comparison analyses. Findings of the study indicated DHH college students used a broad range of cognitive strategies similar to the existing framework on students’ cognitive strategies for equal sharing. In particular, the study yielded four broad themes (a) No-Link to Context (NLC) defined as students who used the wrong values or operations or who saw the problem as unsolvable; (b) Non-Anticipatory Coordination (NAC), defined as students who failed to pre-coordinate the number of individuals with the number of items being shared from the onset of the sharing activity; (c) Emergent Anticipatory Coordination (EAC) defined as students who pre-coordinated the number of shares with the number of items being shared right from the onset of the sharing activity, but they shared one item or group of items at a time; and (d) Anticipatory Coordination (AC) defined as students who used the long division operation or multiplicative a/b operation. In addition to these four broad cognitive strategies, this study identified emerging strategies such as executive function skills, fraction conversion, and efficacy of the two conditions based on students’ comments. Implications for practice and recommendations for research are discussed.

This study explored conducting project studies with young deaf children in two American Sign Language (ASL) and English bilin- gual schools for deaf children. Project studies involve teachers’ facilitation of exploration on a topic that interests young chil- dren. In projects, children learn by doing, starting with questions based on children’s curiosity about a topic and finding answers to the questions through investigation, field trips, and play. Children then represent their understanding and ideas about the topic in various ways. This study used ethnographic methods by observing specific strategies that teachers used to facilitate deaf children’s learning in multiple early childhood classrooms. The study also included focus group interviews to listen to the perspectives of families and teachers about using the project approach with young children in deaf education. The findings include descriptions of deaf children’s experience conducting projects that took place in both schools. It revealed the bene- fits of conducting project studies with young deaf children to enhance their learning experiences.

There is a disconnect between the number of students who enter college and the number who graduate. Research demonstrates that a high percentage of deaf students enter postsecondary education; however few persist to graduation. The question we are left with is how to identify the barriers preventing deaf students from graduating at the same rate as their hearing counterparts. The study will interview first-year deaf college students in order to understand their perspectives regarding their transition to college. Moreover, the study will examine how they describe preparedness and resolve perceived challenges.