Accommodation for Dyscalculic Children in an E-Learning Environment

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International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)
Volume 70– No.2, May 2013
1
Accommodation for Dyscalculic Children in an E-
Learning Environment
Zainab Pirani
M.H.Saboo Siddik College of Engineering.
Mumbai, India
Sasikumar M., PhD.
CDAC Kharghar
Navimumbai, India
ABSTRACT
Dyscalculia is a specific learning disability involving innate
difficulty in learning or comprehending simple arithmetic.
The purpose of this paper is to identify various problems
faced by dyscalculic children and provide various
accommodations to cater the needs of these children in an e-
learning environment.
General Terms
E-Learning, Human Computer Interaction, Disabilities
Keywords
E-learning environment, Learning Disability, Dyscaluia,
assessment methods, special needs
1. INTRODUCTION
The development of e-learning over the last two decades has
meant dyscalculia students can now access to any learning
resources at anytime from anywhere in a way that they could
not do before [1]. These students are now benefiting from the
advances in learning technologies that provide comprehensive
interactive access to text based, audio, video material. But
most of the e-learning systems are not inclusive in nature;
they do not cater the needs of all type of disabilities [2].
Dyscalculic students have varying requirements when
accessing e-learning environment. Basically the word
“Dyscaluclia” comes from Greek and Latin word which
means: "counting badly". The prefix "dys" comes from Greek
and means "badly". "Calculia" comes from the Latin
"calculare," which means "to count"[3]. Dyscalculia is about
difficulties related with numbers and arithmetic, and not about
other branches of mathematics, such as geometry.
This paper mainly focuses on the problems faced by
dyscalculic students and the need for various accommodations
in the existing e-learning system. And it is organized as
follows: types and characteristics of dyscalculic students in
Section 2. In Section 3, we describe difficulties of
inaccessible e-learning systems. In Section 4, we provide
accommodation approaches for them; Section 5 concludes the
paper.
2. TYPES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF
DYSCALCULIC STUDENTS
Dyscalculia is comprised of all the difficulties related to the
acquisition of the concept of number, of arithmetic calculation
and mathematical reasoning. Some people can be good
mathematicians, but still be hopeless with simple calculations.
Although math learning difficulties occur in children with low
IQ, dyscalculia can also be found in people with normal to
superior intelligence [4].Those who suffer from a mathematics
disorder usually suffer from other learning disorders as well.
Dyscalculia often has a form of visual processing difficulty
associated with it. An individual suffering from a visual
processing difficulty is unable to see the difference between
two similar letters, shapes or objects. A person with
dyscalculia may need special education services to treat this
neurological disorder [5]
2.1 Types of Dyscalculia
There are two subtypes of mathematics disorders [6] :
2.1.1 Mathematical Computation Disorder
Mathematical Computation Disorders affect an individual's
ability to solve math calculations. A person with this type of
dyscalculia may have difficulty completing simple addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and division problems
2.1.2 Mathematical Reasoning Disorder
Mathematical Reasoning Disorder affects an individual's
ability to utilize mathematical reasoning to solve problems.
People with this type of dyscalculia or mathematics disorder
have difficulty with abstract concepts of time and direction.
2.2 Characteristics of Dyscaluclic students
The following are the characteristics of dyscalculic children
seen in primary school [7]:-
 Five to seven year-old dyscalculic child show less
understanding of basic counting principles than their
peers.
 Difficulties in memorizing arithmetic facts
Dyscalculic children particularly face difficulty with
subtraction.
Difficulty understanding place value.
Trouble learning and understanding reasoning methods
and multi-step calculation procedures.
Shows difficulty understanding concepts of positive and
negative value, carrying and borrowing.
Has difficulty in understanding and doing word problems.
Has difficulty understanding concepts related to time such
as days, weeks, months, seasons, quarters, etc.
Difficulty in imagining a mental line number.
Exhibits difficulty organizing problems on the page,
keeping numbers lined up, following through on long
division problems.
 Difficulty measuring and estimating things.
3. THE DIFFICULTIES OF
INACCESSIBLE E-LEARNING
SYSTEM
E-Learning system makes use of information and
communication technology (ICT) to provide innovative ways
to learn. Appropriate designed e-learning system can provide
significant opportunities to create and acquire knowledge for
themselves [8]. E-learning may appeal to students if they
have commitments which make it harder for them to attend

International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)
Volume 70– No.2, May 2013
2
regular course or if they want to learn when and where they
want, at their own pace. Following skills are required by the
learner for e-learning:
 Observation
 Attention
 Manipulation
 Problem Solving
But a dyscalculic students not only lack in arithmetic skills
but they also lack in some of the above skills. So it becomes
very difficult for them to fully utilize the existing e-learning
system.
4. ACCOMODATION FOR
DYSCALCULIC STUDENTS
Accommodations are alterations in the way tasks are
presented that allow dyscalculic students to complete the same
assignments as other students. The students with dyscalculia
need accommodations in order to make things possible for
them without being impeded by their disability.
4.1 Types of Accommodation
The categories of accommodations are as follows:
4.1.1 Pedagogical Accommodation
The pedagogy plays a very critical role from dyscalculia and
e-learning point of view. Following strategies are taken into
consideration to teach dycalculic student with respect to e-
learning environment:
 Teach different ways to learn math facts instead of
memorizing basic addition facts.
 Teach any new concepts by starting with concrete
and slowly moving to more abstract examples.
 Provide specific instruction to help them understand
the language and symbols used in maths.
 Appropriate aids such as number squares and
calculators should be available and students should
be taught how to use them.
The pedagogical accommodation may keep on varying
depending upon the IEP [Individual Education Plan] of the
dyscalculic students.
4.1.2 Presentation Accommodation
Hard coded presentation elements such as fonts may make
access impossible for some type of dyscalulic students. In
order to make the application versatile, following presentation
parameters are considered:
 Font, font style, font color and font size.
 Audio
 Cursor size, style and blink rate
 Size of text and images, including video
 Screen Layout, colors and background.
The above parameter must be customized depending upon the
requirement of dyscalculic students.
4.1.3 Test Accommodation
Dyscalculic students take long time to complete their math
paper. So various parameters with respect to test
accommodation are as follows:
 Extended exam time, typically time and one half to
double time.
 Use calculator for exams
 Conduct oral exams rather than written exams.
4.2 Selection of the Accommodation
As shown in the fig 1, there is a sequential flow through
which the appropriate accommodations are selected. Every
student with dyscalculia has its own Individualized Education
Plan (IEP). This plan is prepared based on students list of
strength and weakness. It also contains information related to
the existing level of accommodation. Once the current
accommodation level of the dyscalculic student is identified,
the next step is to identify the academic grade of that
Fig 1. Steps for selection of appropriate accommodation
for dyscalculic student
dyscalculic student. Now based on that grade, a check is made
to find out if the grade matches the standard level or not. If it
matches then no extra accommodation is required for them. If
there is no match then the deficiency area is identified on the
basis of low grade and only on those areas, appropriate
accommodations are provided as shown in the table 1. It
highlights on each accommodation type with an example.

International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)
Volume 70– No.2, May 2013
3
Table 1. Accommodation based on deficiency area
Deficiency
Areas
Type of
Accommodation
Examples
Difficulties in
memorizing
arithmetic facts
Pedagogy
Teach different
ways to learn math
facts instead of
memorizing basic
addition facts
Trouble in
solving multi-
step calculation.
Test
Usage of math
calculator
Difficulty in
understanding
word problems
Presentation
Use large font with
proper words
spacing
.
5. CONCLUSION
Children with dyscalculia are spotted by their poor
performance in school math, losing track in math lessons,
inability to deal with numbers in everyday life situations, such
as shopping, telling the time and remembering phone
numbers. These children can have average or even much
better than average performance in other subjects. By
providing accommodations in their deficiency area, the
performance of these students can increase. Our paper focused
on three most common accommodation required by
dyscalculic student i.e. pedagogy skills, presentation
techniques and test provisions. With help of these
accommodations, dyscalculic student can gain confidence in
their mathematical capabilities.
6. REFERENCES
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