DyscalculiUM a first-line Screening Devise for dyscalculia in Higher Education

1. DyscalculiUM a first-line Screening Devise for dyscalculia in Higher Education Clare Trott and Nigel Beacham DDIG conference Wednesday 13th April 2005

2. Kerry • Sent to MLSC by her tutor who suggested she might be dyscalculic • Kerry interviewed in detailand looked at her work folder • Very basic difficulties with understanding simple %

3. LHS of the formula did not co-exist with the RHS • Kerry was sent for dyslexia screening which produced a negative result • However, fundamental problems still remained • Much discussion • Kerry sent to Educational Psychologist who confirmed dyscalculia (no dyslexia)

4. Statistics • According to current estimates • (Butterworth (1999)) • about 10% of the population are dyslexic (4% severe, 6% mild/moderate) • of these 40% have some degree of difficulty with maths • additionally 4 to 6% is dyscalculic only.

5. There is currently no accepted definition of dyscalculia • A number of different definitions exist • Numerically based • Cognitive based • Neuroscience based

6. The DSM-IV document, used by educational psychologists, defines Mathematics disorder in term of test scores: • "as measured by a standardised test that is given individually, the patient's mathematical ability is substantially less than would be expected from the patients age, intelligence and education. This deficiency materially impedes academic achievement or daily living"

7. Two Important Features • Mathematical level compared to expectation • "most dyscalculic learners will have cognitive and language abilities in the normal range, and may excel in non-mathematical subjects". • Butterworth (1999)

8. Impedance of academic achievement and daily living • "Dyscalculia is a term referring to a wide range of life long learning disabilities involving math… the difficulties vary from person to person and affect people differently in school and throughout life". • The National Center for Learning Disabilities, http://www.ld.org/LDInfoZone/InfoZone_FactSheet_Dyscacluia.cfm, Access: 22/10/03

9. More precise specification (Mahesh Sharma) “Dyscalculia is an inability to conceptualise numbers, number relationships (arithmetical facts) and the outcomes of numerical operations (estimating the answer to numerical problems before actually calculating).” The emphasis here being on conceptualisation rather than on the numerical operations

10. The National Numeracy Strategy The DfES (2001) " 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."

11. Currently used by the BDA. • Perhaps more applicable to education in the early years • In H.E. emphasis is less on basic computation and more on the application and understanding of skills and techniques

12. Newman (1997) offers several subdivisons of dyscalculia, including: • Primary - dyscalculia being the main LD • Secondary - dyscalculia occurring with other LDs

13. Effective problem solving: "One of the things that distinguishes people who are good at maths, have effective 'mathematical brains', is an ability to see a problem in different ways. This is because they understand it. This, in turn, allows the use of a range of different procedures to solve it and to select the one that will be most effective in this particular task". Butterworth (2002)

14. Key Points • Mathematical ability substantially less than expectation • “Impedes academic achievement or daily living” • Inability to conceptualise • Failure to understanding number concepts and relationships

15. Our Working Definition “Dyscalculic students have a low level of numerical or mathematical competence compared to expectation. This expectation being based on unimpaired cognitive and language abilities and occurring within the normal range. The deficit will severely impede their academic progress or daily living.

16. Dyscalculia is therefore an inability to effectively connect with number and mathematics. It may include difficulties recognising, reading, writing or conceptualising numbers, understanding numerical or mathematical concepts and their inter-relationships.

17. It follows that dyscalculics may have difficulty with numerical operations, both in terms of understanding the process of the operation and in carrying out the procedure. Further difficulties may arise in understanding the systems that rely on this fundamental understanding, such as time, money, direction and more abstract mathematical, symbolic and graphical representations.”

18. Neuroscience Research • “An elementary number system is present very early in life in both humans and animals, and constitutes the start-up-tool for the development of symbolic numerical thinking that permeates our western technological societies“ (Dehaene 1997) • Different mathematical and arithmetical processes are associated with different areas of the brain.

19. Triple Code Theory (Dehaene (1997)) Numbers need to be • Read as words • Recognised in Arabic digital form • The corresponding concept of its quantity formed.

20. The existence of three related neural regions. A domain where numerical quantity is represented and in which quantities are manipulated A region associated with the verbal processing of numbers A region associated with visual-spatial processing Dehaene et al. (2002)

21. Mathematics Support for students with dyslexia and dyscalculia Dyslexia and no dyscalculia Dyslexia and dyscalculia No dyslexia and dyscalculia Mathematically able Mathematical difficulties • Language based • Working memory • Reading • Understanding • text • Presentation Moving from concrete to abstract • Language based • Working memory • Reading • Understanding • text • Presentation • Number related • Number • relations • Number • concepts • Number • operations • Number related • Number • relations • Number • concepts • Number • operations Human Sciences Social Science Business Maths Physics Engineering Economics Human Sciences Business Human Sciences Social Science Business Framework for Dyslexic and Dyscalculic students

22. Development of the screener

23. Developing a dyscalculia screening tool • Available in both paper and electronic versions • Electronic version produced on CD-ROM • Electronic version developed in Perception

24. Developing a dyscalculia screening tool

25. Issues in developing a dyscalculia screening tool • Background colour • Previous button • Time taken • Scrolling and layout • Submit button

26. Loughborough Initial Trials

27. Paper v Electronic version • Three student groups defined by their primary SpLD • Dyscalculia • Dyslexia • No SpLD • No significant difference in completion time or in performance scores • Showed that paper and electronic versions perform the same

28. Further Analysis • Sensitivity • The probability that a dyscalculic student performed below the acceptable threshold • How good is the screener at correctly including individuals who are dyscalculic • Specificity • The probability that a non-dyscalculic student performed above the acceptable threshold • How good is the screener at correctly excluding individuals who are non-dyscalculic

29. Dyscalculics v Non-dyscalculics • Distinguishes between dyscalculic and non-dyscalculic individuals in terms of score

30. Dyscalculics v Non-dyscalculics • Distinguishes between dyscalculic and non-dyscalculic individuals in terms of time

31. Dyscalculic v Dyslexic • Threshold score 87% • Threshold time 31 minutes

32. Dyslexic v Non-dyslexic • Threshold score 87% • Threshold time 29 minutes

33. Summary of Results • Distinguishes between dyscalculic and non-dyscalculic in terms of both score, but less well in terms of time • Distinguishes between dyscalculic and dyslexic individuals in terms of scores but less well in terms of time • Distinguishes between dyslexic and non-dyslexic individuals in terms of time but less well in terms of score • No student took longer than 48 minutes • That the score is the key factor Beacham, N. and Trott, C. (2005) Screening for Dyscalculia within Higher Education, MSOR Connections: Quarterly Newsletter, Vol. 5, No. 1.

34. New trial • Involved 30 participants • Organised into three groups • Dyscalculic • Dyslexic • Control • Covered a range of academic subjects • Observation carried out • Covering 4 HEIs

35. Dyscalculics v Control The first trials used a threshold of 87%. After the trials the test was modified and it is now appropriate to change the threshold to 89%.

36. Dyscalculics v Control graph 100.00 O dyscalculic O control 90.00 80.00 percent 70.00 60.00 50.00 40.00 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 participant

37. Dyscalculics v Dyslexics

38. Dyslexics v Control

39. 100.00 90.00 80.00 70.00 60.00 50.00 40.00 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 participant Percentage Scores for 3 Groups O dyscalculic O dyslexic O control percent

40. The statistics are affected by 3 dyslexics who appear to be in the dyscalculic range. Their scores are 75.8%, 82.5% and 85.8%. • It is believed that around half dyslexic students have difficulties with Maths • A one-way Anova was performed on the scores of the 3 groups. (F(3,27) = 20.430, p < 0.0005). • Post Hoc analysis showed sig. differences between groups 1/2, 1/3 but not groups 2/3 .

41. Examples from DyscalculiUM • Decimals • Direction • Bar graph • Interval bisection • Towards abstraction

42. DecimalsCompare 3.59 with 3.509 % correct

43. DecimalsCompare 0.71 with 0.17 % correct

44. Nonverbal Learning Disability* • High correlation between NLD and dyscalculia • Good language skills and verbal reasoning • Poor visual-spatial orientation E.G. reading maps, graphs and charts *Rourke B.P.(1989) Nonverbal Learning Disabilities: The Syndrome and the Model, New York, Guilford Press

45. “It makes for interesting travel as I've missed countless trains and buses or got on the wrong train on the wrong platform at the wrong time. Travel directions have to be written in minute detail as I have no understanding of the motorway network and anything more than 'take the next left' goes in one ear and out the other. I can get lost in a box." J. Blackburn “Damn the Three Times Table” http://ddig.lboro.ac.uk/pages/ideas_exchange.html

46. Direction

47. DirectionFollowing a set of directions involving left and right turns. % correct

48. Direction

49. DirectionUsing clockwise and anti-clockwise % correct

50. Bar Graph