ERIC Number: EJ1187789
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1947-7503
EISSN: N/A
An Insider's View of a Mathematics Learning Disability: Compensating to Gain Access to Fractions
Lewis, Katherine E.; Lynn, Dylan M.
Investigations in Mathematics Learning, v10 n3 p159-172 2018
Research on mathematics learning disability (i.e., dyscalculia) tends to adopt a deficit model of the learner and quantify the ways in which these students are deficient. In this study we adopt a radically different approach. We understand disabilities to result from issues of access, and we explore mathematics learning disability (MLD) by leveraging the expertise of an individual with first-hand experience with this disability. Dylan (second author) has a unique perspective because, in addition to having an MLD, she also majored in statistics in college. Through videotaped interviews we documented the issues of access Dylan encountered and the ways in which she compensated to gain access. In this article we focus specifically on the topic of fractions, and identify Dylan's issues of access with standard representations of fractions, including symbolic notation, area models, and fraction manipulatives. These issues of access mirrored the difficulties documented in other students with MLD, but were not similarly problematic for Dylan. This research provides novel insight into the difficulties experienced by students with MLD, reframes deficits in terms of issues of access, and demonstrates how an individual with an MLD may learn to compensate.
Descriptors: Mathematics Instruction, Learning Disabilities, Fractions, Mathematics Achievement, Mathematics
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF); Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: California (Berkeley)
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: ESI0119732; R305B090026