Mathematics Difficulties in Higher Education: The Strathclyde University Dyscalculia Project

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Mathematics Difficulties in Higher Education
The Strathclyde University Dyscalculia Project

• Jim Boyle, C Spickett, I Tulloch, J Wilson, M
  Mattey D Finn
• University of Strathclyde

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Difficulties in Mathematics

• Concern about standards of attainment in
  mathematics
• Reason for apparent fall in standards is unclear
• Class size calculators lack of drill and
  practice class organisation teaching methods
  individual maths schemes
• Anxiety about mathematics, lack of experience and
  poor motivation
• Sub-set of those experiencing difficulties in
  mathematics will have problems resulting from
  dyscalculia

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Dyscalculia or Mathematics Disorder

• A. Mathematical ability, as measured by
  individually administered standardized tests, is
  substantially below that expected given the
  persons chronological age, measured
  intelligence, and age-appropriate education.
• B. The disturbance in Criterion A significantly
  interferes with academic achievement or
  activities of daily living that require
  mathematical ability.
• C. If a sensory deficit is present, the
  difficulties in mathematical ability are in
  excess of those usually associated with it.
  (DSM-IV, APA, 1994)
• Developmental and Acquired
• Geriatric patients
• Stroke patients
• Traumatic Brain Injury

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Common Presenting Problems

• Counting reciting the number words in the
  correct order and being able to count a number of
  objects
• Reading and writing numerals being able to
  understand that a number is a symbol that
  represents a value
• Number seriation placing numbers in order of
  size
• Number facts being able to understand that
  224 or 7x10 70
• Numerical procedures counting on to add,
  borrowing and carrying to subtract
• Principles, concepts and laws of arithmetic
  understanding that addition is cumulative and
  subtraction is not
• Telling the time and judging elapsed time
• Calculating prices and handling change
• Measuring (e.g. temperature or speed)
• Problems with ratios, fractions, decimals, place
  value, changing units

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Underlying Causes of Dyscalculia

• Genetic
• Neurological
• Cognitive

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Prevalence of Dyscalculia

• Large-scale surveys of school-children suggest a
  prevalence of around 6-7 with no gender
  differences (c.f. dyslexia)
• Half of those with dyscalculia have problems with
  number only and the rest have comorbid problems
  with reading
• Prevalence of dyscalculia in adults and in
  students in higher education is unknown
• Strathclyde University Survey lower bound
  prevalence rate of self-reported mathematical
  difficulties in 1st and 2nd Year Bioscience
  students of around 10 (42/400, with response
  rate of 21)

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Recognition of the Need for Support

• Increasing awareness and concern at low levels of
  mathematical competence for students entering HE
  programmes in science and engineering
• Emerging awareness of the presence of dyscalculic
  students in HE, though little understanding of
  the obstacles faced
• Disabled Students Allowance is available to
  dyscalculic students with study support needs
• But we need to identify the most effective
  support methods

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Compensatory Support

• Compensatory support is typically provided in
  acknowledgement of a permanent area of
  difficulty, not susceptible to improvement
  through remedial programmes
• For dyscalculic students, it can include
• extra time in examinations
• use of a calculator
• access to notes/memory aids
• alternative formats for questions and answers
• Use of a calculator can assist with computational
  inaccuracies, but still requires considerable
  mathematical and conceptual understanding

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Compensatory Support (cont.)

• Not all types of compensatory support are
  regarded as academically valid, depending on core
  learning and assessment criteria
• Software to support specific academic/professional
  calculations could allow dyscalculic students to
  succeed in key tasks, but may be controversial
• Learning support staff can negotiate
  accommodations for a disabled student, but this
  requires clarity on core learning/assessment
  criteria
• Dyscalculic students are eligible to apply for
  disabled students allowance (DSA) to support
  purchase of assistive software and associated
  hardware

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Whats Missing?

• To develop effective support systems for
  dyscalculic students in HE we need
• Accessible software to support students in
  numeric tasks
• More understanding of the obstacles/solutions for
  dyscalculic students in HE, so we can develop
  guidance for HEIs
• Better understanding of accessibility issues for
  dyscalculic students (and dyscalculic/dyslexic
  students)
• Development of best practice teaching and
  assessment materials/methodologies

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Strathclyde University Dyscalculia Project

• AB 2nd year university student with
  difficulties in coping with the mathematics
  content of Biosciences courses
• Long-standing history of problems in number at
  school which necessitated tutorial support
• Assessment confirmed marked problems in both
  mathematical reasoning and numerical operations
  and roblems also in working memory
• Advice sought from Computer Science Department
• Multidisciplinary project involving Computer
  Science, Bioscience Psychology Departments and
  Special Needs Service

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Primary Aim of the Project

• To develop an IT-based intervention, XCalc, to
  support students experiencing problems with
  mathematics, including those with dyscalculia

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Development of XCalc

• Aug 2002 The first version of XCalc was written
  and installed on an HP Jornada
• Oct 2002 Application to the universitys Research
  Development Fund for support to enhance
  XCalc
• Dec 2002 Funding obtained and XCalc was adapted
  to run on PCs and palm systems
• Feb-Apr 03 Surveys of 1st and 2nd year Bioscience
  students carried out to investigate
  incidence of mathematical difficulties

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Mathematical Demands Sample Bioscience Exam
Question
0.1 ml
1 ml
1 ml
1 ml
1 ml
9.9 ml
9.0 ml
9.0 ml
9.0 ml
9.0 ml
E coli culture
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3
1
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5

1. If the original E.coli culture contains 5.4 x 109
   cfus ml-1 calculate the number of cfus ml-1 in
   bottle 5 after the serial dilution of the
   original culture, which was performed as
   described in the diagram above
2. If bottle 5 is found to contain 1.9 x 104 cfus
   ml-1, what is the number of cfus ml-1 in the
   original culture

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XCalc Software

• Calc-Converter (subsequently Bcalc/XCalc) for HP
  Jornada
• Microsoft embedded Visual C
• MFC AppWizard to create dialog-based project
• 7 separate functions are called from main dialog
  box

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Future Direction of Research

• To improve the user-interface of our pilot
  software support system and assess its value to
  students with MD
• To investigate alternative representations of
  mathematical operations to identify those that MD
  students find most appropriate
• To develop a family of support systems
  appropriate to different disciplines
• To identify features and requirements for a help
  and tutoring system that will accompany the
  support software