Designing a Mathematics Concepts Educational Package for Students with Mathematics Learning Disability in Sari City
Keywords:
Mathematics Learning Disability, Educational Package, Thematic AnalysisAbstract
Objective: The primary objective of this study was to design, develop, and validate an evidence-based educational package for teaching foundational mathematics concepts to elementary students with mathematics learning disabilities in Sari city.
Methods and Materials: This study employed a qualitative research design utilizing thematic analysis. The participant pool consisted of mathematics and special education specialists, selected through purposive sampling. Interviews continued until theoretical saturation was achieved after 12 participants, though 15 experts were ultimately interviewed to ensure absolute confidence. Data were collected using pre-designed, semi-structured audio-recorded interviews. The transcribed texts were analyzed utilizing MAXQDA software through a multi-stage coding process to identify overarching, organizing, and basic themes. To assess the validity and credibility of the designed package, quantitative metrics including the Content Validity Ratio (CVR) and the Content Validity Index (CVI) were calculated based on the expert panel’s ratings.
Findings: The thematic analysis yielded a structured, 10-session educational package emphasizing concrete-to-abstract number teaching, practical multisensory activities, and the reduction of math-related anxiety. Key overarching themes extracted included number conceptual understanding, counting skills, comparative numerical relationships, four operations, and motivation/self-efficacy. The quantitative validation confirmed the package’s high content validity. Depending on the session, CVR values were calculated at 0.60 (12 experts), 0.73 (13 experts), and 0.87 (14 experts). Furthermore, the item-level CVI (CVI-I) scores across the 10 sessions ranged from 0.80 to a peak of 0.93 (in the ninth session), with the scale-level CVI (CVI-S) for the first session established at 0.848.
Conclusion: The meticulously designed 10-session educational package is a highly valid, systematic framework. By combining concrete multisensory activities with targeted strategies to reduce emotional pressure, it provides educators with an effective, evidence-based tool to improve the mathematical self-efficacy and conceptual foundations of students with learning disabilities.
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