Abstract:

Mastery of basic math facts is essential to learning more advanced math, especially for students who fail to demonstrate fluency with multiplication. Students’ motivation toward mathematics correlates strongly with their overall math achievement, starting in the elementary grades. Histories of frustration and failures in math make it more difficult for at-risk students to maintain motivation and engagement with math instruction, further exacerbating their poor achievement. The participant in this case study was a 3rd grade Black female student with a history of poor multiplication fact fluency and suspected motivational deficits, at risk for placement in special education due to poor overall math achievement. This replication study investigated the effectiveness of a constant-time delay (CTD) math intervention, compared to the use of a CTD math intervention coupled with a token economy in increasing math fact fluency. CTD is a near-errorless learning procedure that is research-supported and easy to facilitate in the classroom setting. The token economy is a behavioral intervention used to increase student motivation. Results indicated that the token economy in conjunction with original CTD procedures was more effective at increasing multiplication fact fluency than CTD alone. The results of this case study will provide teachers with guidance on instructional methods to aid students who have difficulty with math fact fluency and motivation. These methods may be applied to individual and group instruction to promote overall class engagement in math fact fluency.

Keywords:

Motivation, Primary Education, Math Fact Fluency.