Current Research in Dyscalculia in HE

1. Current Research inDyscalculia inHE Clare Trott and Simon Drew Mathematics Education Centre Loughborough University

3. DSM-IV (2000) MathematicsDisorder: "as measured by a standardised test that is given individually, the person's mathematical abilityis substantially less than would be expected from the person’s age, intelligence and education. This deficiencymaterially impedes academic achievement or daily living"

4. The National Numeracy Strategy “Dyscalculia is a condition that affects the ability to acquire arithmetical skills. Dyscalculic learners may have difficulty understanding simple number concepts, lack an intuitive grasp of numbers, and have problems learning number facts and procedures. Even if they produce a correct answer or use a correct method, they may do so mechanically and without confidence” (DfES, 2001)

5. Prevalence: estimated 5-6% (Butterworth, 2002) “A lack of a true comprehension or understanding of maths will be a key characteristic of dyscalculic people” Chinn S. (2006)

6. Criteria for Dyscalculia • Lack of number conceptualisation • Intelligence incongruity • Persistence of difficulties • Impediment of academic skills • Impediment of life skills • Suitable educational opportunity • Emotional stability • Suitable motivation

7. Survey of Dyscalculia in HE • HESA data for SpLDs is non-specific • Prevalence figures based on children • No H.E. dyscalculia data available • Obtaining a snapshot of the current situation? • How many dyscalculic H.E. students? • What screening is used? • What support is available? • Who are the students? • Set-up of online survey

8. Neurodiverse Profile: (144 students, 16 institutions)

9. No. and % of Dyscalculic Students(182 students, 28 institutions) Overall % of dyscalculic students is 0.04%

10. % of Dyscalculics by Subject Area(148 students, 14 institutions)

11. Simon Drew Mathematics Education Centre Loughborough University

12. Research Questions • What are the maths experiences of dyscalculic students in • Childhood? • Academia? • Everyday life? • The workplace? • What are the students coping and avoidance strategies? • How effective is the support currently offered to dyscalculic students? • How does the identification of dyscalculia affect these students? • What are the differences between dyscalculia and dyslexia with maths difficulties?

13. Methodology, Method & Analysis • Ethnographic case study approach / grounded theory / qualitative • 13 semi-structured interviews of dyscalculic students in HE (Interviews 55 to 90 minutes in length) • 2-3 interviews with learning support tutors • Reflective accounts of tutor mentoring; one dyscalculic and one dyslexic student • Differences between dyscalculia and dyslexia with maths difficulties • Interviews fully transcribed / thematic coding using Atlas TI • Clustered into categories; coping strategies, education, emotion, maths, neurodiversity, personal, support, timeline

15. Findings Mild Severe Dyscalculia Spectrum

16. Maths/Teacher Anxiety Fiona “I have only got to see it and you get that response. It’s just a shutdown... I sweat and I get clammy hands… my heart rate goes up” Maggie “If the teacher had spent a long time with me, really forcing me to understand something, and I was struggling to understand, that made it worse. A lot of the time I preferred it if the teacher wasn’t around... when the teacher came up to me it always scared me.”

17. Coping Strategies Fiona “I have learned so many ways to cope with it and avoid it... I’m thinking, well I can just measuring it out on a piece of string... well, it’s that much.” Maggie “(Chemistry experiments) If I did it on my own I’d always get confused or do it wrong. I liked working with other people ‘cos they can set it up and I can just watch. If you’ve got a worksheet with results, then you can just copy their’s.”

18. Counting on Fingers Fiona “I add on my fingers, do things like that and, again, if it’s more fingers than I’ve got, I have to write it down.” Maggie “I can’t add up, when I was young I didn’t understand how to use my fingers. I still use my fingers now. I used to get really frustrated as towards the end of primary school, they like you to be able to do it in your head. But if I tried to use my fingers they’d shout at me. Suddenly I sort of realised I had a way, but I wasn’t allowed to use it.”

19. Measuring Fiona “If it’s a half or a quarter, anything more than that, I have to count the individual digits on the tape and I don’t know what they are. I mean, if you say 3/16 to me, it’s absolutely meaningless.” Maggie “If you are measuring and it lands here, I’d just say it was one. If its past one I’d just go one, and if it’s past two I’d just say two...” Researcher “Do you know what these marks in between are? Why people put them there?” Maggie “Because they are cleverer than me?”

20. Graphs Fiona “‘I get that (data tables), why do I want to draw a graph?’ Because we are doing a scientific degree, people like a graph. It’s a convention. You put your table in the appendix, but you put your graph here.’ And I go ‘Uh, but I don’t need a graph.’” Maggie “In Chemistry now I’ve got to do it... the scales don’t count properly... you can’t do it from counting, I find those really hard.”

21. Metacognition Fiona “I can read the words. I haven’t got a problem with the words, but I don’t know what they want me to do. And I was there and I collected this data, so I was on the ground doing it. That’s fine, I can measure you out a quadrat of 100 metres squared and I can count the trees in it and I can measure the trees. You ask me to interpret the data and that’s a whole different task.” Maggie “But if the numbers aren’t counting then I can’t read them, but I know which one’s bigger, ‘cos like this one’s taller. But unless it was proper counting or on the right line I would be able to read it.”

22. Lecturers Fiona “’Oh don’t worry about it, you won’t have to do this’ and I’m like, I can’t explain to them, ‘No you don’t understand. It’s much more fundamental than that.’ As soon as it appears on the screen, that’s when I struggle... I mean the lecturers would say ‘It’s not really maths’ but to me, I’m afraid, it’s maths.” Maggie “In my maths lectures sometimes I just go out of it and I find it very hard to stay focused... in my lectures, you know those projectors, he just uses that all lesson, and if I don’t understand what’s going I find it hard to keep my attention.”

23. VLE, in advance, preferred format Annotate, listen Guidelines for Academics word symbol function ∫ “integration” All steps can leave out, not vv Avoid Scrolling Extra time ALWAYS Non-linear, colour, visual options

24. References American Psychiatric Association (2000) DSM-IV Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. Arlington, VA, APA Butterworth B. (2001) Educational Leadership Interview. www.mathematicalbrain.com/int06.html (accessed 26/11/07) Butterworth, B. (2002) Mathematics and the Brain. Opening address to the Mathematical Association conference, Reading, UK. www.mathematicalbrain.com/pdf/malecture.pdf (accessed 27/05/11) Chinn S (2006) What Dyslexia can tell us about Dyscalculia. Dyslexia Review 18 (1) p15-17 DfES (2001) The National Numeracy Strategy. Guidance to support pupils with dyslexia and dycalculia.DfES 0512/2001 http://publications.teachnet.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/DfES-0512-2001.pdf (accessed 26/11/07) HESA (2011) Higher Education Statistics Agency. www.hesa.ac.uk (accessed 12/05/11) NCLD (2009) The National Center for Learning Disabilities Dyscalculia.http://ncld.org/ld-basics/ld-aamp-language/ld-aamp-math/dyscalculia (accessed 2/2/10) Tribalgroup (2001) DysCalculiUM. https://shop.tribalgroup.co.uk/Assessment-screening/DyscalculiUM.html UCAS (2011) Universities & Colleges Admissions Service. www.ucas.com (accessed 12/05/11)