S02E05 - Sarah Powell On Effective Word Problem Instruction

Knowledge for Teachers

In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast, Brendan Lee speaks with Sarah Powell. Sarah is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Texas at Austin. She has pretty much dedicated her whole career to researching word problems in maths. She has also contributed to a couple of papers that have recently been released for the Centre for Independent Studies and we touch on those as well.

However, the main focus is Word Problems and we go through everything from Attack Strategies, to the dangers of using keywords and delve into the world of schema instruction. If you care about helping your students improve their ability to solve word problems, then this episode is for you.

Resources mentioned:

• Lynn Fuchs
• Sarah Powell , Elizabeth M. Hughes, Corey Peltier: Myths That Undermine Maths Teaching
• Sarah Powell , Sarah King , Sarah Benz: Maths Practices You Can Count On: Five Research-Validated Practices in Mathematics
• https://www.piratemathequationquest.com/
• Powell, S. R., Namkung, J. M., & Lin, X. (2022). An investigation of using keywords to solve word problems. The Elementary School Journal, 122(3), 452-473.
• Powell, S. R., & Fuchs, L. S. (2018). Effective word-problem instruction: Using schemas to facilitate mathematical reasoning. Teaching exceptional children, 51(1), 31-42.
• Free word-problem intervention is here: https://www.piratemathequationquest.com/
• Here's a free math intervention course Sarah developed: https://intensiveintervention.org/training/course-content/intensive-intervention-mathematics
• And free teacher materials can be found here: https://mathspiral.com/

You can connect with Sarah:

Twitter: @sarahpowellphd

email: [email protected]

Website: http://www.sarahpowellphd.com/

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Website: learnwithlee.net

Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast:

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

About Associate Professor Sarah Powell

Sarah R. Powell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include developing and testing interventions for students with mathematics difficulties, with a special emphasis on peer tutoring, word-problem solving, mathematics writing, and the symbols and vocabulary within mathematics.

She was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2019.