This research study provides an insight into the experiences of dyscalculic students in higher education (HE). It explores the nature of dyscalculia from the student perspective, adopting a theoretical framework of the social model of disability combined with socio-cultural theory. This study was not aimed at understanding the neurological reasons for dyscalculia, but focussed on the social effects of being dyscalculic and how society can help support dyscalculic students within an HE context. The study s primary data collection method was 14 semi-structured interviews with officially identified dyscalculic students who were currently, or had been recently, studying in higher education in the UK. A participant selection method was utilised using a network of national learning support practitioners due to the limited number of participants available. A secondary data collection method involved reflective learning support sessions with two students. Data were collected across four research areas: the identification process, HE mathematics, learning support and categorisations of dyscalculia. A fifth area of fitness to practise could not be examined in any depth due to the lack of relevant participants, but the emerging data clearly pinpointed this as a significant area of political importance and identified a need for further research. A framework of five categories of dyscalculic HE student was used for data analysis. Participants who aligned with these categories tended to describe differing experiences or coping behaviours within each of the research areas. The main findings of the study were the importance of learning support practitioners in tackling mathematical anxiety, the categorisations of dyscalculic higher education students, the differing learning styles of dyscalculic and dyslexic students, and the emergence of four under-researched dyscalculic characteristics: iconicity, time perception, comprehension of the existence of numbers that are not whole and dyscalculic students understanding of non-cardinal numbers.

Dyscalculia implies difficulty in acquiring mathematical skills and requires intervention that focuses on the acquisition of the necessary basic mathematical skills. Against this background the purpose of this study was to investigate how Grade 6 learners with dyscalculia may be supported by implementing an Information Communication Technology (ICT) intervention, with a specific focus on number sense and basic mathematical skills. I followed a nomothetic quantitative approach and employed a quasi-experimental design, using a pre-test, followed by an ICT intervention and then a post-test with a small sample of Grade 6 learners that displayed learning difficulties in Mathematics. I combined convenience and purposive sampling to identify two full- service primary schools and utilised non-probable and purposive sampling to select 24 participants, randomly assigning them to either an experimental or control group. Following implementation of the six-week ICT intervention, the scores of all pre- and post-test were documented as data. For the ICT intervention, I used the Number Race application, the Sheppard Software mathematical applications, more specifically Math Lines (addition, multiplication), Math Man (rounding, addition, multiplication), Pop the Balloon (add and order), and The Rockseries. I then completed non-parametric data analysis by utilising the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 25) to test the formulated hypotheses and draw conclusions about the possible value of the ICT intervention. The findings of the study indicate that an ICT intervention can have (i) a positive effect on some aspects of number sense with learners experiencing difficulties in Mathematics, however, (ii) although an improvement in mathematical skills was evident, it was not statistically significant. Better results may be possible when additional software are included or more time is spent on such an ICT intervention to teach basic mathematical skills like adding, subtracting and multiplying after the improvement of number sense. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Educational Psychology / MEd / Unrestricted

The majority of research on the mathematics teaching and learning of students with mathematics learning dis/abilities is not performed in the field of mathematics education, but in the field of special education. Due to this theoretical divide, students with mathematics learning dis/abilities are far more likely to be in classes that emphasize memorization, direct instruction, and the explicit teaching of rules and procedures. Additionally, students with mathematics learning dis/abilities are often seen as "unable" to succeed in school mathematics and are characterized by their academic difficulties and deficits. The negative assumptions, beliefs, and expectations resulting from ableistic practices in the education system color the interactions educators, parents, and other students have with students with mathematics learning dis/abilities. These interactions in turn influence how students with mathematics learning dis/abilities view and position themselves as learners and doers of mathematics. My study builds on the theoretical framework of positioning theory (Harré, 2012) in order to better understand the mathematical identities of students with mathematics learning dis/abilities. The results of my study show how these students use their prepositions and enduring positions to inform the in-the-moment positions they take on in the mathematics classroom.

In this article, we analyse similarities and differences in and between two very topical issues in today's learning disabilities, namely dyscalculia and dyslexia. More precisely, we introduce the nature of mathematics as science, which - of course - is the essence of the matter. From this, we will try to prove that dyscalculia is not a concept by itself, but merely yet another one of the sad guises of dyslexia. This will completely answer the question given by the title of the thesis.

Dyscalculia is a specific learning disability that’s affecting brain capacity of individuals, more specifically the ability to perform specific mathematical operations. Given that there is little research about how dyscalculia is supposed to be treated teachers are faced with these students anyway. This study aims at how math teachers view and handle students in dyscalculia in the upper secondary school. Data were collected through 66 random picked math teachers who answered a web based survey.The teachers generally perceive the concept of dyscalculia in various ways. It turns out that the female teachers perceive dyscalculia to a greater extent from a cognitive perspective than the male teachers. Analytics also show that most of the teachers work in a school that doesn't have any systematic work to detect or manage students with dyscalculia. / Dyskalkyli är en inlärningssvårighet som påverkar hjärnkapaciteten hos individer, mer detaljerat påverkas förmågan att utföra specifika matematiska operationer. Lärare möter elever i dyskalkyli trots att kunskap om begreppet kanske saknas och den tunna forskningen som finns gör inte uppgiften enklare. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur matematiklärare på gymnasiet uppfattar och hanterar dyskalkyli. Datan samlades in genom en webbenkät där 66 slumpmässigt utvalda matematiklärare svarade på enkätundersökningen.Lärarna uppfattade generellt begreppet dyskalkyli på olika sätt. Det visar sig att de kvinnliga lärarna uppfattar dyskalkyli i större utsträckning ur ett kognitivt perspektiv än de manliga lärarna. Analysen visar även att majoriteten av lärarna arbetar på en skola som inte har ett systematiskt arbetssätt för att upptäcka och hantera elever i dyskalkyli.

Målet med denna kunskapsöversikt är att få mer information kring begreppet och diagnosendyskalkyli, då fler och fler elever diagnostiseras med inlärningssvårigheter, för att sedan kunnaundersöka vilken typ av anpassad undervisning det finns som jag kan använda mig av när jagundervisar de elever som lider av dyskalkyli. Skollagen (SFS, 2010) understryker att det är skolansansvar att upprätta åtgärder så fort som möjligt när en elev riskerar att inte klara lärandemålensamt anpassa undervisningen utifrån elevernas individuella behov. Huvudfrågan som ställts i detta arbete är vad dyskalkyli faktiskt innebär och syftet med frågornaär vad vi som blivande lärare kan göra för att anpassa undervisningen samt vad styrdokumentenredogör för att skolan har för skyldigheter när det gäller detta. Metoden som valts är en kunskapsöversikt av bland annat artiklar som skrivits om ämnet. Dematerial som använts har främst varit vetenskapliga artiklar, styrdokument, lagar ochdoktorsavhandlingar som finns tillgängliga online. Resultatet har visat att forskningen inte vet vad det är som orsakar dyskalkyli men är ändå ganskaöverens om att det är en ärftlig funktionsnedsättning. Den matematiska svårigheten handlar i omsvårigheter att förstå matematiska begrepp samt behålla matematiska resonemang i arbetsminnet.Resultaten har också visat att det finns många sätt lärare kan anpassa sin undervisning för attunderlätta för de elever med inlärningssvårigheter i matematik.

This meta-analysis looks at the results of five studies on the use of technology for the treatment of dyscalculia in primary school age children. Results show significant positive improvement using specialized software treatment technologies for students in Grades 1-5 in various countries using four different software games. However, little is known overall about the effectiveness of technology treatments for dyscalculics, and even less is known about standardized assessments and treatment of this learning disorder in the United States. The literature researched for this dissertation did not put forth any known policies that drive assessment and treatment of dyscalculia. Future studies are needed about dyscalculia, that provide more detailed information to allow other researchers to verify their work.

This thesis systematically examined the link between developmental dyscalculia, a specific learning difficulty of mathematics, and mathematics anxiety, a negative emotional reaction to mathematics tasks. The link between these maths learning issues was examined by measuring their prevalence in large samples of English primary (N = 1004; N= 830) and secondary school (N = 927) students. Gender differences were also explored. Systematically varying diagnostic criteria for dyscalculia revealed that its prevalence ranged between 0.89-17.23 percent. When absolute performance thresholds were used, there was no gender difference in dyscalculia prevalence. The association of mathematics performance with other cognitive skills and mathematics anxiety was investigated longitudinally in subsamples of children with dyscalculia (n =10), typical mathematics performance (n=10) and high maths ability (n = 11). 80 percent of the children in the dyscalculia group still met the criteria for diagnosis at the final time point. Mathematics performance was positively associated with working memory performance and negatively associated with mathematics anxiety. Furthermore, children with dyscalculia had higher maths anxiety than the other two groups. The relationship between dyscalculia and high maths anxiety was estimated in a larger sample (N = 1757). Relatively few children with dyscalculia had high maths anxiety and the majority of students with high maths anxiety in fact had mathematics performance within or above the average range. Girls had higher maths anxiety than boys, and more girls had both dyscalculia and maths anxiety than boys. There was an expected negative correlation between maths anxiety and maths performance in the total sample, but this correlation was negligible in the children with dyscalculia. Collectively, these results suggest that cognitive and emotional mathematics problems are dissociable, and indicate that children with dyscalculia and maths anxiety likely require different types of intervention. Furthermore there appears to be no gender difference in maths performance or in the prevalence of dyscalculia. However, girls have higher maths anxiety than boys, and are more likely to be affected by maths anxiety alongside developmental dyscalculia. Maths anxiety may be a potential explanation for the underrepresentation of females in careers involving mathematics.

Os fatores genéticos e hereditários têm ganhado um foco especial como causa da dislexia, entretanto, há muito a ser estudado na busca de sua etiologia. Há vasta literatura associando o processamento fonológico ao aprendizado da leitura e escrita, porém pouco é investigado sobre a participação do processamento visual nas habilidades de leitura. Atualmente, a relação entre processamento fonológico e matemática tem sido apontada nas publicações científicas, sendo ainda pouco estudada, havendo necessidade de melhor compreensão entre a relação dessas habilidades, bem como as comorbidades entre dislexia e problemas na matemática. Este estudo teve como objetivo geral descrever o perfil endofenótipo dos sujeitos com dislexia referente à hereditariedade e influência do processamento fonológico e memória sequencial visual nas dificuldades da linguagem escrita e na matemática, no intuito de identificar semelhanças e diferenças no processamento da informação escrita entre indivíduos com dislexia e bons leitores. Participaram 35 indivíduos com o diagnóstico de dislexia e 46 bons leitores, de 8 a 13 anos e ambos os sexos. Nos dois grupos foram avaliadas as habilidades do processamento fonológico (consciência fonológica, acesso ao léxico e memória de trabalho fonológica), leitura de palavras, pseudopalavras, compreensão de texto, escrita e habilidades matemáticas. As habilidades do processamento fonológico e memória visual foram correlacionadas com a leitura, escrita e matemática nos dois grupos. Foi utilizado o Teste de Correlação de Pearson para correlacionar tais habilidades, e o Teste Qui-Quadrado e Teste U de Mann-Whitney para comparar o desempenho entre os grupos, adotando-se nível de significância de 5%. Encontrou-se que o histórico familial de problemas de aprendizagem esteve presente em mais da metade do grupo com dislexia, demonstrando que este é um importante fator de risco. Os indivíduos com dislexia apresentam pior desempenho no processamento fonológico, porém houve um pequeno número de disléxicos que não apresentou alterações na consciência fonológica e no acesso ao léxico. Em relação à memória de trabalho fonológica, os indivíduos com dislexia apresentaram pior desempenho, no entanto, quase metade dos bons leitores também apresentaram esta habilidade alterada. A maioria dos disléxicos apresentou o perfil de alteração nas três habilidades do processamento fonológico e um pequeno grupo apresentou a consciência fonológica e o acesso ao léxico preservado. Não houve diferenças significantes entre os grupos quanto à memória visual. Grande parte dos disléxicos apresentou dificuldades em habilidades matemáticas, o que foi encontrado em um pequeno grupo de bons leitores. Este estudo encontrou comorbidade entre dislexia e dificuldades matemáticas em 83% dos casos, sendo esta uma prevalência acima do que é descrito na literatura. As trocas ortográficas do tipo substituição de letras que representam fonemas surdos e sonoros e inversões parece ser um perfil da ortografia dos disléxicos. As habilidades de consciência fonológica, acesso ao léxico e memória de trabalho fonológica mostraram maior correlação na leitura e na escrita no grupo com dislexia, sugerindo que o processamento fonológico passa a ter menor participação na leitura e na escrita na medida em que os indivíduos se tornam leitores fluentes. A memória visual correlaciona-se com a matemática nos dois grupos. / Genetic and hereditarity factors have gained a special focus as the cause of dyslexia, however, there is much to be studied in the search for its etiology. There is extensive literature linking phonological processing to reading and writing learning, but the participation of visual processing in reading skills is little investigated. Currently, the relationship between phonological processing and mathematics has been identified in scientific publications, but still scarcely studied, there is need for better understanding the relationship between these skills as well as the comorbidities between dyslexia and problems in mathematics. This study aimed to describe the endophenotype profile of the subjects with dyslexia related to hereditarity and influence of phonological processing and visual sequential memory difficulties in written language and mathematics, in order to identify similarities and differences in written information processing between individuals with dyslexia and good readers. Participated in the study 35 diagnosed with dyslexia and 46 good readers, from 8 to 13 years old, both genders. Both groups were assessed the phonological processing skills (phonological awareness, lexical access and phonological working memory), words and pseudo words reading, reading comprehension, writing and math skills. The skills of phonological processing and visual memory were correlated with reading, writing and math in both groups. It was used the Pearson\'s Correlation Test to correlate these skills, and the Chi-square Test and Mann-Whitney Test to compare the performance between the groups, adopting a significance level of 5%. Family history of learning problems was present in more than half of the group with dyslexia, demonstrating that this is an important risk factor. Individuals with dyslexia performed worse in the phonological processing, but there was a small number of dyslexics that showed no alterations in phonological awareness and lexicon access. Regarding phonological working memory, individuals with dyslexia presented worse performance, however, nearly half of good readers also had this ability altered. Most dyslexics presented the profile of alterations in the three phonological processing skills and a small group presented phonological awareness and lexicon access preserved. There were no significant differences between groups as regards the visual memory. Much of dyslexics had difficulties in math skills, which were found in a small group of good readers. This study found comorbidity between dyslexia and mathematical difficulties in 83% of cases, which is a prevalence higher than what is described in the literature. Spelling exchanges like replacing letters that represent voiced and unvoiced phonemes and inversions appears to be a profile of the spelling of dyslexic. The phonological awareness skills, lexical access and phonological working memory showed higher correlation in reading and writing in the group with dyslexia, suggesting that phonological processing is replaced by lower participation in reading and writing insofar as individuals become fluent readers. The visual memory correlates with mathematics in both groups.

<p>An increasing number of students leave the Swedish compulsory school without having a satisfactory grade in mathematics. Causes why students risk ending up with difficulties in the subject of mathematics are debated but one explanation might be that more and more students are diagnosed with dyscalculia. The purpose of this study is to investigate how educationalists identify and organize their teaching in order to help students with difficulties in mathematics to reach the schools requirement and long-term goals that are defined in advance. It is vital to detect learning difficulties at an early stage. Accordingly, it can be avoided that the student starts to develop a negative self-image due to repeated failures and in the same time provide relevant help. Educationalists working actively with teaching possess valuable knowledge that is presently well managed. However, there are many indications that the schools steadily reducing amount of resources will limit their efforts. My contribution is an attempt to elucidate this complex of problems that are part of the daily rounds of an educationalist and that have been debated profoundly during the last years. The studie is based in qualitative iterviews with teachers in compulsory shool and one special educationalist and the interwiews are, after compilation, compared with earlier research of difficulties in mathematics.</p>