Screening for dyscalculia: development and delivery

DysCalculiUM is a new first-line screening tool to identify students who may be at risk of dyscalculia. The name and capitalisation derives from the key focus of the tool, that of understanding mathematics (UM). It has been developed over a number of years by Trott and Beacham at Loughborough University and follows extensive research and development

Dyscalculia in further and higher education

Dyscalculia is one of the newer challenges that face practitioners and researchers, particularly in the post 16 sectors. The focus of this paper is therefore be Further and Higher Education. Dyscalculia is a specific learning difference, which affects the ability to acquire arithmetical skills and an intuitive grasp of numbers. Consideration is given to this and other current definitions, together with a theoretical perspective. The paper also considers the prevalence of dyscalculia, as well as the difficulties dyscalculic students’ experience, both in academic life and more generally. The paper highlights DysCalculiUM, a new first-line screening tool for dyscalculia focusing on the understanding of mathematics. The system provides an on-line delivery of the screening tool to identify students at risk with minimal staff input. A Profiler identifies students requiring further investigation. This may take the form of an in-depth interview and referral for further testing. The final section of the paper considers subsequent one-to-one support for students. A case study of a dyscalculic student in Higher Education working with tables of information, percentages and graphs, serves to illustrate some of the ways in which dyscalculic students can be supported on a one-to-one basis

Mathematics, dyslexia, and accessibility

This paper is based on my experiences in one-to-one mathematics support to students with additional needs, in particular dyslexia. It will build on a number of case studies, in order to explore the differences that students experience and the errors they are likely to make. The aim is to show how greater accessibility could help the dyslexic mathematician focus on developing their mathematics and demonstrate their capabilities. Three areas will be covered, namely: reading, writing and memory

Dyscalculia in further and higher education

Dyscalculia is one of the newer challenges that face practitioners, particularly in the post 16 sectors. This paper will consider current definitions of Dyscalculia and its prevalence, as well as some of the issues experienced by dyscalculic students, both in academic life and more generally. The paper will then highlight DysCalculiUM, a new first-line screening tool for dyscalculia focusing on the understanding of mathematics. The final section will describe a case study of one-to-one support for a dyscalculic student working with tables of information, percentages and graphs

The neurodiverse mathematics student

There is an increasingly diverse population of students entering mathematics courses in higher education. While this enriches the environment it can bring challenges that higher education institutions need to address. This chapter will introduce the idea of neurodiversity and provide further details about four of these: dyslexia, dyspraxia, Asperger’s syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The main focus of the chapter will be to consider the impact for neurodiverse students of four factors in undergraduate mathematics: notes, lectures, assessment and departmental provision. The chapter will explore the barriers that higher education institutions often pose for the neurodiverse student and suggest ways in which mathematics can be made more accessible and departments achieve greater inclusivity. The discussions are illuminated through vignettes of individual neurodiverse students and their journey through mathematics

Supporting students with maths impairment in higher education

This paper follows on from David Grant’s paper. Grant’s paper (ibid) asserts that assessment should be for intervention. Here, an overview of some possible interventions for students with dyscalculia or maths impairment is presented. The paper seeks to highlight issues and offer suggestions. It discusses some reasonable adjustments and then focuses on numerical issues in number (both integer and non-integer), operations, algebra, statistics and time and money, offering some ideas for appropriate interventions. Numeracy permeates both academic programmes and everyday life. For the student with dyscalculia or maths impairment, there is a need for support that addresses the issues and helps overcome the barriers

The challenges experienced by adults with maths difficulties

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Dyscalculia: a practitioner’s view

DSM-IV (2000) defines Mathematics Disorder as ‘measured by a standardised test that is given individually, the person's mathematical ability is substantially less than would be expected from the person’s age, intelligence and education. This deficiency materially impedes academic achievement or daily living’. From this definition, it follows that a standardised measure of mathematical ability should be undertaken. However, the nature of the ‘mathematical ability’ is absent from this definition. Furthermore, the definition is for ‘Mathematical Disorder’ and this implies a stable cognitive root rather than achievement, which is mastery and subject to education and environment

Support for students in their transition to the first year of an engineering degree

The research presented here is a project to support students entering STEM degrees. The study aims to investigate and address the mathematical difficulties that many students present when making the transition to undergraduate Engineering courses. Data were collected on students’ mathematical background, self-reported preferences in terms of preparing for assessments and outcomes on a mathematics diagnostic test. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyse the data, expanding the preliminary results reported in Treffert-Thomas, Hunsicker and Trott (2016). One of our findings showed that students without A/AS-level qualifications tended to use additional materials and online materials in particular more often than students with A/ASlevel qualifications. This led us to develop an online, visual, dynamic resource aimed to be inclusive of all students including those with a learning difference

TeStED Project- Transitioning without A2 level mathematics

The research presented is the first stage of a project to support students entering STEM degrees. The study aims to investigate and address the mathematical difficulties that many students present transitioning to undergraduate Engineering courses. To this end data were collected to identify how age, gender, mathematical background, and preferred learning styles relate to outcomes on a mathematics diagnostic test. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis were used to analyse the data. Our findings complement findings from previous research. We compared students with BTEC, GCSE and A/AS level qualifications, and related qualifications to study habits