Learning Areas
Teaching Standards
General Description
Dyscalculia is sometimes referred to as ‘the mathematical equivalent of dyslexia’. It is believed to be as common as dyslexia yet few teachers are aware of its features, its impact or strategies they could use to support students who struggle with maths because they have this specific learning difficulty. This course helps teachers to identify dyscalculic students and to understand the difficulties typically experienced by these students. It provides opportunity to learn about and trial strategies and resources that can be used in supporting dyscalculic students. The course will be of interest to all primary school teachers and to those secondary Maths teachers interested in helping students to address specific deficits that limit their progress.
SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS PLEASE NOTE: Dyscalculia impacts number sense and BASIC computation. Consequently, this course does not deal with higher level mathematical thinking. In Module 7 you can read a blog on supporting a secondary school student with dyscalculia which may be of particular interest to you.
Audience
Primary school teachers – new and experienced
Lower Secondary school Maths teachers and SEN teachers
Available Delivery Formats
Format Description
24/7 course access
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
- If you have a TTA subscription or membership please ignore the pricing when enrolling. Rest assured if your school has a subscription you will not be charged and for Memberships, your invoice will be adjusted accordingly to reflect your discount.
- If you have no subscription or membership but you are interested in placing a bulk discounted order for a team of teachers see the ONLINE TEAM tab above.
- For more details on our Unlimited Online Subscription packages Click here .
- Money-Back Guarantee – If you complete less than 25% of an online course and aren’t impressed, simply visit tta.edu/go/refund to let us know what happened, and we will cancel your enrolment and provide a full refund.
The online format of this course provides the participant with the skills and opportunity to:
- identify strengths and weaknesses of individuals with dyscalculia in their workplace
- trial/implement some of the strategies and resources that can be used to support individuals with dyscalculia and
- discuss the outcomes of trials/implementation with fellow participants and the presenters in Forums.
Teaching Standards
1.1.2 Proficient Level – Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students
1.2.2 Proficient Level – Understand how students learn
1.5.2 Proficient Level – Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities
1.6.2 Proficient Level – Strategies to support full participation of students with disability
2.5.2 Proficient Level – Literacy and numeracy strategies
Are you in NSW? If so, this is relevant for you
This course contributes to 6.0 professional development hours.
Occurrences
Sessions
Defining dyscalculia
45 minutes
Participants will be presented with definitions of dyscalculia. They will watch a video about the causes of dyscalculia and read an article about the brain research that is shedding light on its causes. They will be asked to use a list of characteristics to identify a student likely to be dyscalculic.
Assessment tools for identifying dyscalculia
1 hour
Participants will look at a number of tools used for screening for dyscalculia. They will work through a demonstration of Brian Butterworth’s Dyscalculia Screener. They will look at video introductions to several other electronic screeners. They will then look at ways of identifying dyscalculic individuals through interview and short pencil and paper tests.
Number sense and Counting
1 hour
Participants will be provided with general principles for teaching Maths to dyscalculic students then learn about the particular difficulty these students have with developing number sense. They will watch a video on building number sense. They will be provided with activities, strategies and access to resources and asked to trial some of these with students. The resources will include free electronic games and free and low-costs apps.
Calculation and Place Value - using manipulatives
1 hour and 15 minutes
Participants will be introduced to 3 manipulatives-based programs that can support dyscalculic students and provided with videos showing how manipulatives can be effectively used to address their particular deficits and use their strengths. They will be shown activities and strategies for developing understanding and memory of number bonds and strategies for addition and subtraction. They will be introduced to apps that can help students to develop automaticity. They will have the opportunity to look at computer-based programs such as Numbershark and Dynamo Maths through videos. They will be encouraged to trial some of the strategies, activities and programs and share outcomes with fellow participants.
Multiplication and Division - reasoning, the area model and automacity
1 hour and 10 minutes
In this module, participants will be introduced to methods of helping dyscalculic students to learn multiplication facts, including use of reasoning from key facts, the area model and colour and rhythm. They will be provided with videos that demonstrate strategies. They will be shown how to teach multiplication and division side by side. They will be provided with an extensive list of online games for developing automaticity. They will be encouraged to trial at least one strategy and share the outcomes with participants
Understanding Time and solving problems
50 minutes
Participants will be introduced to some novel methods for teaching dyscalculic students how to understand and calculate time. They will be given insight into the difficulty dyscalculic students have with Maths language and models for teaching comprehension and problem-solving. They will be asked to create a resource for supporting language use.
User Rating
4.7Latest Reviews
Please note the feedback listed here is unfiltered, and includes all comments and ratings collected.
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
08/10/2020
This was a course that I found really helpful and relevant to the student that I have in class at the moment. I am going to use these ideas and all the extra material to assist the learners in class.
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
08/10/2020
The quality was very good and everything in the course was relevant to the topic.
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
08/10/2020
Felt very much aimed at primary teachers. Such a short section on secondary
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
08/10/2020
Quality is Good
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
08/10/2020
The quality was great. Well presented and explained with plenty of resources suggested to cater to students.
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
08/10/2020
Plenty of information and resources. TED talk video was great.
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
08/10/2020
It was amazing!
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
08/10/2020
I found the course to be very informative. The resources presented were very good.
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
08/07/2020
I loved the resources linked to this course, very informative and relevant
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
08/07/2020
Quality and relevance was excellent. I found it could all be applied to my daily work.
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
08/07/2020
good introduction into dyscalculia
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
08/07/2020
I found some of the course details rather difficult to interpret. Some of the testing procedures weren’t very clear. Towards the end of the course the information I found to be clearer and more useful in terms of practical strategies to help students struggling with maths.
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
08/07/2020
Brilliant – the teaching pedagogy and resources offered in this course are incredible. Thank you.
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
27/04/2020
The quality and relevance of the course is of high standard.
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
27/04/2020
The course was an eye opener and provided me with the understanding to expand my teaching experiences to make it more adaptable for all abilities and more engaging.
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
27/04/2020
Comprehensive and great range of support resources suggested. Great balance of practical ideas and suggestions to dive deep into the real issue and surface ‘tricks’ that may also need to be introduced.
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
18/04/2020
Excellent!
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
18/04/2020
The course was up to date, all the links provided to other website seemed to work. At university I was taught to always use manipulatives whenever possible, this course reaffirmed to me that I have been on track with students who have been struggling with maths. It also provided many other useful strategies.
The most important part of the course to me was the section that helped identify and explain dyscalculia as a deficit in working memory, this has helped me to choose strategies for the student I tutor. As a casual teacher I have added strategies to my teaching to allow for students with a deficit in working memory. This course was extremely relevant and useful, with links to up to date web sites and other resources. Highly recommended.
Danielle Welborn
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
18/04/2020
Content was helpful, I found it difficult to remember so many strategies when it was pages or text. An in person option would be very helpful as I found a lot of the text conversational.
Dyscalculia: The Dyslexia of Maths - Shirley Houston
18/04/2020
Very good
About the team
Shirley Houston
Creator
Shirley has a Masters degree in Special Education and has been teaching in the area of Special Needs for 30 years. She has taught in government and independent schools, primary and secondary, universities and TAFE. Shirley has also taught in several states of Australia and in the U.S. Her particular interests are specific learning difficulties, early childhood, education of young gifted children and literacy. She loves travel, reading and music.