Learning Difficulties in Numeracy (EDUC90194)

Responsive teaching in numeracy is critical not only for sustainable learning, but also for the emotional and social wellbeing of learners with mathematics learning difficulties including dyscalculia. Evidence-based assessment and intervention enables practitioners to meet learners at their points of need and guides change for inclusive practices through multi-tiered systems of support.

This subject draws on developmental, cognitive and neurocognitive perspectives to examine learning difficulties in mathematics and implications for assessment, instruction, intervention, engagement and wellbeing of learners.  Relevant diagnostic and instructional models are critiqued in terms of their theoretical bases, empirical support and implications for implementation. Specifically, an explicit structured approach using the concrete-representational-abstract model to build essential conceptual, procedural and declarative knowledge of mathematical concepts will be examined. Knowledge will be applied through practical assessment tasks using a clinical teaching approach within their own settings. The subject concludes with strategies for implementing change at a broader level to more effectively meet the needs of learners experiencing mathematics learning difficulties.