~ 59 ~ WWJMRD 2015; 2(1): 59-65 www.wwjmrd.com e-ISSN: 2454-6615 Katie Bagdon Department of Special Education Gonzaga University, Washington, United States T. F. McLaughlin Department of Special Education Gonzaga University, Washington, United States Kimberly P. Weber Department of Special Education Gonzaga University, Washington, United States Jessieanna Blecher Spokane Public Schools, Washington, United States Correspondence: T. F. McLaughlin Department of Special Education Gonzaga University, Washington, United States Effects of a modified di flashcards for number recognition 1 through 10 for a preschool child with developmental delays Katie Bagdon, T. F. McLaughlin, Kimberly P. Weber, Jessieanna Blecher Abstract Direct instruction is an evidenced teaching method for instruction for a wide range of skills. This study examined the effects of the Direct Instruction (DI) flashcard system with a five- year-old boy in a special education preschool classroom. The DI flashcard system was evaluated in a multiple baseline design across three sets of numbers. The dependent variable was the number of correct responses. An increase in number recognition was found in all three sets containing numbers 1 through 10. By the end of the study, our participant had mastered all the numbers in the sets. Therefore, increasing his knowledge of number recognition. The benefits of employing DI flashcards in a preschool setting were discussed. Keywords: Number Recognition, DI Flashcards, Accuracy, Error Correction, Model, Lead, And Test, Developmental Delays, Preschooler, Case Report, Replication 1.0 Introduction Mastery of number recognition is a critical skill needed to progress to more advance stages of the mathematics curriculum (Burns, 2007). This mastery of number recognition allows the student to focus on other critical components when solving more advanced math problems, such as addition and subtraction problems, and is imperative for success in k-12 math. The acquisition of accuracy is a target skill for students to achieve (Burns, 2007). Accuracy allows for students to identify numbers quicker and advance in math at a faster rate. Learning numbers 1 through 10 allows children to begin solving more advance tasks in and out of the classroom (Gersten & Chard, 1999; Silbert, Carnine, & Stein, 1981). Automaticity in number identification is a fundamental component for students to achieve in other areas of math. “Without the ability to retrieve facts directly or automatically, students are likely to experience a high cognitive load as they preform a range of tasks” (Woodward, 2006). This cognitive load slows down the process of problem solving. When the student’s process of problem solving is slowed down, the student is not able to perform as well as they can. A study completed with 58 fourth-grade students, 15 of which had learning disabilities and IEP’s, showed that students who were taught in the direct instruction approach preformed better on tests than those who were not taught the direct instruction approach (Woodward, 2006). This strategy of direct instruction has proven to be effective in many other scenarios as well. In addition, Direct Instruction procedures have become part of many teacher training programs (Marchand-Martella, Slocum, & Martella; McLaughlin, B. Williams, R. Williams, Peck, Derby, Bjordahl, & Weber, 1999). Klahr and Migam (2004) employed 112 students were used to assess the relative effectiveness of discovery learning and direct instruction. This research clearly indicated that the students clearly learned more science concepts from direct instruction than from discovery learning. When asked to make broader, richer scientific judgments, the children who learned about experimental design from direct instruction performed better than the few children who discovered the method on their own. Direct Instruction (DI) flashcards is one of several teaching methods that have been employed to teach a wide range of discrete skills to a wide range of students (Silbert et al., 1980; Thomas, McLaughlin, & Derby, 2015). World Wide Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development