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Assistance of students with mathematical learning difficulties: how can research support practice?

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Abstract

When looking at teaching and learning processes in mathematics education students with mathematical learning difficulties or disabilities are of great interest. To approach the question of how research can support practice to assist these students one has to clarify the group or groups of students that we are talking about. The following contribution firstly concentrates on the problem of labelling the group of students having mathematical difficulties as there does not exist a single definition. This problem might be put down to the different roots of mathematics education on the one hand and special education on the other hand. Research results with respect to concepts and models for instruction are multifaceted based on the specific content and mathematical topics as well as the underlying view of mathematics. Taking into account inclusive education, a closer orientation to mathematical education can be identified and the potential of selected teaching and learning concepts can be illustrated. Beyond this, the role of the teacher, their attitudes and beliefs and the corresponding teacher education programs are discussed.

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Notes

  1. Since this text is produced in English, it concentrates on the different terms used in contexts mediated by this language. In fact, the issue of how disabled people or people considered as having learning difficulties are labelled is far more complex than a paper in the English language can express. In Brazil, for example, where the dominant language is Portuguese, the term “people with disabilities” is translated as “pessoas com deficiências”, which a literal translation back to English would read as “people with deficiencies”, a term that many would reject for implying a deficit-model of difference. In Quebec (where live a francophone minority in the Anglophone North America) the expression At-Risk Students is preferred to the expression “learning difficulties”, a choice which has contributed to a large decrease in the number of specialized classes (Mels 2007). In Gabon, specialized classes do not exist and the label “students failing at school” is used.

  2. Network on education systems and policies in Europe http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/index_en.php.

  3. The cited report priviledges the levels established in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

  4. A normative adaptation consists in returning to the initial plan whereas a projective adaptation consists in using students’ reflections to move forward in the planned content in keeping with students’ statements. A withdrawal adaption consists in allowing students to debate an idea among themselves, in keeping with the view that they will be able to come up with a viable solution. Finally, an avoidance adaptation consists in lowering demands and expectations as a means of encouraging student achievement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany

    Petra Scherer

  2. University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia

    Kim Beswick

  3. Université Laval, Quebec, Canada

    Lucie DeBlois

  4. Anhanguera University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Lulu Healy

  5. University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Elisabeth Moser Opitz

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  1. Petra Scherer
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  2. Kim Beswick
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  3. Lucie DeBlois
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  4. Lulu Healy
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  5. Elisabeth Moser Opitz
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Correspondence to Petra Scherer.

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Scherer, P., Beswick, K., DeBlois, L. et al. Assistance of students with mathematical learning difficulties: how can research support practice?. ZDM Mathematics Education 48, 633–649 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-016-0800-1

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