Using video prompting to teach mathematics to adolescent students with LD

BACKGROUND: Research suggests that video-based interventions such as video modeling (VM) and video prompting (VP) assist students with severe/profound disabilities, such as autism and intellectual disabilities, to learn academic skills. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluates whether a VP intervention on a functional academic math skill would have similar effects for adolescent students with mild/moderate learning disabilities (LD). METHODS: A single subject multiple probe across subjects design was used. Five high school students (three female and two male) ages 16–17 viewed a video on an iPad to learn to calculate how much money an item would cost if a certain percentage of the price were deducted for a sale. RESULTS: A functional relation was found between use of the intervention and acquisition of the steps necessary to complete the calculation task. Three students maintained the skills, correctly answering most word problems on a post-test a month after completing the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study suggest that VP can be effective in teaching mathematic procedures to students with disabilities. Implications for practice and further research are discussed.