Students encounter with solving equations at the beginning of the second educational period. Tasks with completing the missing term, which is the basis for solving equations in higher grades, are already solved by students in the first grade. In the fourth grade, students get to know and understand the meaning of the X mark in equations in all arithmetic operations and solve it by using the set of natural numbers. A student must understand that addition and subtraction are opposites and multiplication and division are inverse operations. The results of tests of knowledge in mathematics, such as the National test of knowledge - NPZ at the national level and TIMMS at the international level, show that students have problems in the field of algebraic skills. Students with learning deficits in mathematics area (from here UPP MA) have even bigger problems due to their deficits in this area. That kind of students often experience poorer working memory which then affects procedural and conceptual knowledge, resulting in a lower efficiency of solving the equations. Various researches show that the capacity of working memory can be increased by training with the Turnabout program as this kind of training can improve achievements in the field of mathematics, reading and writing.
The purpose of my master’s thesis was to present detailed treatment of solving equations in fourth grade with two students with PPU MA. The main goal of my empirical research was: initially to asses special needs of two students in the field of solving equations, implement and evaluate training in solving equations with the help of the Turnabout program and finally to compare achievements of my two students with their peers.
The research sample consisted of two students with PPU MA, who are included in the educational program with adapted implementation of subjects and additional professional help. The training consisted of two parts: the first part of the training included visual and auditory memorization according to the Turnabout program, lasting from 20 to 25 minutes and the second part of the training was dedicated to solving equations, which included developing prior knowledge, introducing the unknown article X, addition equations, subtraction equations, multiplication equations and division equations, and a didactic consolidation game.
I checked the efficiency of the training by comparing the initial and final measurements and the measurements done three months after the end of the training. The test for solving equations showed that both students made progress in solving equations. Student A came close to her peers and even surpassed them in some segments, while student B unfortunately did not come close to her peers in the overall total, but she was more successful in individual segments. Both students also improved their auditory and visual memory, the effects of which were visible in 3 months after the end of the training.
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