DDIG welcomes you to Roehampton University

Dyscalculia and numeracy testing workshop

December 4th 2007

Bridget Middlemas• Senior Lecturer at Roehampton University,

School of Education • Worked with students with disabilities /

chronic illness since 1980• Now based in higher education, and I have

the dual role of being in teacher education/ continuing professional development

• I also have a professional background in dyslexia support / service management

Definitions• dyslexic / dyscalculic students in higher

education: any student who has been diagnosed by a qualified educational psychologist as having specific learning difficulties / dyslexia / dyscalculia, and who has notified the university of their disability.

• non-alphabetic text : any text that includes the substantial use of mathematical symbols, (e.g. ,, %),numbers (43.971, ), music or dance notation (e.g. , ) scientific or mathematical formulae, Roman numerals (l, ll, lll etc) , non - Roman letters (e.g. , or ) …….and so on

Research Project

Learning and teaching with non-alphabetic text : what are the issues for students with specific learning difficulties in higher education?

Rationale• More than 10 years of anecdotal evidence from

dyslexic / dyscalculic students, who are experiencing significant problems with non-alphabetic text (NAT) elements of their coursework

• Educational psychology reports do not appear to address the issue of why this should be so, or what might be done to improve the learning and teaching experiences of this group

Numeracy testing• Students often find this aspect of their

courses very stressful

• Little or no appropriate numeracy support offered to some students

• Maths workshops sometimes very good, but staff are not always aware of the needs of students with dyscalculia/ dyslexia…….

Pilot study 2003-5• Two south London universities• Interviewed 30 students with specific

learning difficulties from nursing, engineering, business studies, psychology and sociology, and teacher education

• Informal, semi-structured interviews were part of the initial interview process

• Also read through each student’s educational psychology assessment

OSCE Objective Structured Clinical Exam

The OSCE is a 20-minute exam comprising a 15-minute practical and a five-minute question and answer session. It

tests one of the following core skills:

basic life support manual handling of a patient

temperature, pulse and respiration blood pressure

feeding and drinkinghygiene

Where’s the maths?• basic life support

pulse, drip rate, medication, frequency, time, percentages, temperature, breathing rate…

• manual handling of a patientweight, length, using hoist, angle of bed, adjusting crutches/frame….

• feeding and drinkingvolume, weight, frequency, fractions, time, temperature….

Natalie, first year nursing student, age 37

• Some days are far too intense, there’s too much information to take in all at once

• If I can see a problem visually, I’m OK• My copying is accurate, but I simply can’t

keep up with what’s on the whiteboard, then I get all my maths wrong

• I never put my hand up, in case people think I’m stupid

Michelle, second year studentITE, Secondary Science, age 19

• Lecturers need to slow down, and not take our confidence for granted

• My dyslexia means that I often waste a lot of time in class, as I miss little things and then get all the calculations wrong

• I’m terrified of the QTS numeracy tests

Katherine, nursing student, age 26, second year

• I have a really bad memory, and can’t remember instructions when the lecturer just explains things verbally

• Some of the lecturers talk far too fast, and I can’t keep up with the calculations

• I felt bad about maths at school, but it’s much worse at uni

• OSCEs are a nightmare!

Paul, M.Eng first year, age 32

• Once something's clicked, it’s fine, but it takes so long to go in

• Because I’m on a master’s course, they all think that I can just do it

• Some lecturers are so caught up in their subjects that they don’t realise we might just be doing a short module . They think that we’re all on the same wavelength

Common themes emerging

• Lecturers often unaware of the impact of dyslexia / dyscalculia in the NAT lecture room, or on work placements

• Learning support usually very focused on text-based coursework, not NAT issues

• Educational psychology reports frequently fail to offer any suggestions for the students or the lecturing / support staff

Research questions 2007-91. Which aspects of N.A.T. are particularly

problematic for students with dyslexia/ dyscalculia, and why?

– Is it about memory / listening skills / notetaking skills / comprehension / length of lesson / speed of delivery / handout design and layout / etc?

– Or is it about something else? Such as the ability to name and recognise symbols ; or remembering what the symbol is, but having no idea how to use that symbol in a N.A.T. “sentence” or algorithm.

2. How does dyslexia / dyscalculia impact on a student’s ability to cope with N.A.T. in an H.E. setting?

– Are such students more likely to find N.A.T. topics problematic?

3 groups of students• Classroom visits to video NAT teaching

episodes in 3 subject areas (music, nursing and engineering); focus groups of 5 dyslexic and 5 non-dyslexic from each area, plus 10 randomly chosen students to confirm the content of the questionnaire for each subject area

• 60 students in total, from three south London Universities

• Students all 19-30, UK educated, good health

Intended outcomes of my research?

• Better awareness of the particular learning and teaching needs of dyslexic / dyscalculic students in H.E. , who are studying on courses with a high element of N.A.T.

• To enhance the learning and teaching elements of courses with a high element of N.A.T. , and thereby improve accessibility to course materials

Questions / comments?

Contact details

• Bridget Middlemas, Roehampton University

• b.middlemas@roehampton.ac.uk

• Volunteers required for case studies project, to gather student stories of coping with NAT in HE, especially in nursing, engineering, music, teacher education (maths, music and science students)