Problem-SolvingAbilityinElementarySchool-AgedChildren.pdfVIP

Journal of Educational Audiology vol. 15, 2009 Problem-Solving Ability in Elementary School-Aged Children with Hearing Impairment Donna Fisher Smiley, PhD Arkansas Children’s Hospital and Conway Public Schools, Conway, Arkansas James W. Thelin, PhD University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee Dee M. Lance, PhD University of Central Arkansas, Conway, Arkansas Robert A. Muenchen, MS University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee The present study was conducted to evaluate the problem-solving ability of children with hearing impairment. The performance of a group of children with hearing impairment (HI Group) was compared to that of a group of children with normal hearing (NH Group). The participants were asked to solve two types of mathematical problems: those requiring computation alone and word problems requiring the use of both language and mathematical computation. The results of this study revealed that there were no significant differences between the HI Group and NH Group in the ability to solve mathematical equations involving the use of language and mathematical computation problems. Additionally, it was found that problem-solving ability was related to language ability, but not to hearing ability in the children with hearing impairment. Introduction impairment differs from children with normal hearing on higher- In the United States educational system, a majority of level tasks that require or do not require the use of language. children with hearing impairment who use an aural/oral mode Function and D