Hello, everyone. Welcome to this edition of What
in the World is Dyscalculia? I'm your host for
the podcast, Dr. Honora Wall, and What in the
World is Dyscalculia is produced and distributed
by Educalc Learning. You can visit EducalcLearning
.com for lots of free information, services,
training, and even online math classes, both
for teachers and for students who want to learn
more or master math while they have dyscalculia.
You can also visit the d -t -r -i dot org, t
-h -e -d -t -r -i dot org. That's the Dyscalculia
Training and Research Institute, a non -profit
organization that has the mission of changing
the lived experience of people with the math
learning disability, dyscalculia. So enough of
that. Let's get into the podcast. I want to talk
to you today about two research articles that
I was reading recently and had some interesting
findings. If you've been listening to the podcast
for a while, you know that we need more research
on dyscalculia. And there's a lot more out there
for dyslexia, autism, ADHD, not so much on math
or dysgraphia, the writing specific learning
disorder, dyspraxia, the physical space learning
disorder. So we need more, but let's talk about
what's already out there because there is quite
a bit. One type of research that's very common
right now is what we call a meta -analysis and
what that means is that researchers found all
the articles they possibly could that focused
on certain inclusion terms, whatever the researcher
was trying to look for, and gathered all of the
information together. If you read a meta -analysis,
you're going to find that they describe where
the articles came from, how they decided which
articles to include or not, And for each of those
articles, what kind of study was done, how it
was set up, and what the results were. So a meta
-analysis is a great way to kind of get an overview,
that bird's eye view of what's happening around
a situation. So I found two that I wanted to
talk with you about today. One is a meta -analysis
from 2023. that came from some researchers in
Indonesia. And that's very common. A lot of research
on dyscalculia is coming from other countries
outside of the United States. We do have some
great researchers here in the U .S., including
the researchers involved in the second meta -analysis,
which was published in 2015, led by a team of
researchers at University of Florida. specifically
Dr. John Tay Myers who is now at Georgia State
University and does a lot of work in the United
States researching dyscalculia. So we do have
some local people as well. But let's talk about
both of these articles and see what they came
up with. So the meta -analysis that came from
Indonesia included 13 studies. research studies
that looked at learning aids for children with
dyscalculia. Some of the names were not familiar
out of those 13 studies some were like Brian
Butterworth and Laura Lard and so we do have
some key players in the field of dyscalculia.
That's important if you're talking to someone
about getting training. on dyscalculia or if
they say they're an expert. I want you to listen
to the researchers they talk about and make sure
they're using names that you've heard before.
Dr. Myers, Dr. Ansari, Dr. Butterworth, Dr. Mizoko.
There's quite a few names that come up quite
a bit. All right, back to the meta -analysis
out of Indonesia. What I found really interesting
with their 13 studies is that only one was quantitative
looking at a measurable statistical difference
in performance, and 12 were qualitative looking
at personal feelings, experiences, and interpretations.
Now both of these are completely valid forms
of research, but When we're looking at schools
and we're talking to educators who need research
-based practices, we need more quantitative results.
Because qualitative is important, but that's
more about how someone feels about an experience
or what their common experiences were. And we
look for shared experiences. Quantitative shows
a difference in some kind of performance. or
a lack of difference, and then we know whether
or not something is effective or not for a certain
group of students. So we really need more of
that. The researchers from the United States
that was published through University of Florida,
they did not really break down how many studies
were quantitative versus qualitative. They included
15. different studies and their meta -analysis
did a much more in -depth look at the methodology
and results of the individual research articles
included. The meta -analysis out of Indonesia
is a little more broad -based and that could
just be differences in research style, in the
goals of the research study, or maybe it's the
commonly viewed method of doing interpretive
analysis in different countries. So all of these
reasons determine what kind of research you're
reading and I point that out because I know not
everyone listening is a researcher or enjoys
going to Google Scholar and reading research
articles. They can be a little dry and a lot
of people don't like the statistics. So when
I bring you a review of articles And I hate to
even say review. I'm not here to say if anyone's
research was good, bad, or indifferent. I'm just
here to bring you their results. I want you to
know why studies are written the way they are
and how research is conducted. Until you've really
gone through the process of running your own
research study and doing a dissertation or publishing
a study somewhere else, it's hard to really understand
the intricacies and complexities of a research
study. I know we're all looking for research
-based practices and evidence -based practices.
It can be hard to find because we're very precise
with how research is done. That's how we know
it's something we can trust. Okay, so now you
know why these two meta -analysis articles exist
and their similarities and differences. Let's
talk about what they found when they looked at
this grand total of 28 different research studies
on dyscalculia. A lot of it is stuff that we've
already talked about in these podcasts or you
can find on either of my websites if you're looking
for information. But these are some of the studies
that really support what we're talking about.
First of all, increased metacognition. Very helpful.
for students who have the math learning disability.
Metacognition means thinking about what you're
thinking about. And there's a lot involved in
pausing, taking a moment to look at a math problem
and say, what is happening here? How am I going
to solve this? What's a good plan of action?
What do I need to solve this? And do I have those
things readily available? Depending on grade
level, That could be any of the manipulatives
that we usually talk about. If you're solving
a problem that's involving addition and subtraction,
probably going to be helpful to have a number
line or a one to one hundreds chart. If you are
doing a longer problem with a lot of borrowing
or carrying, then you might want to do step by
step with a calculator. If you're looking at
a problem that involves multiplying and dividing,
especially with decimals or some of those larger
multi -digit problems, then a multiplication
list and or a calculator are going to be very,
very helpful. If you are doing a problem that
involves graphing in later stages of math or
you're solving for roots or you're factoring,
then having notes that compile all of our perfect
squares, for example, or something that's color
-coded to show the y -intercept versus the slope
and where it is in the equation correlated to
where it is on the graph. Those external tools
can trigger memory, can help you refine your
answer. Those are things you would need while
you're solving a problem. So that's part of metacognition,
making sure you know which tools are appropriate
for the task. and then you have them handy. For
students with dyscalculia, we definitely want
them to have those same tools available during
classwork, during homework, and during assessments
because the problems of the parietal lobe losing
math information over time, it's not like that
only happens Monday through Thursday and on Friday
quiz day your parietal lobe suddenly works perfectly.
That's not true. So we want to keep those accommodations.
during assessments. And we want to use metacognition
and teach students how to use metacognition strategies.
So that's one thing. Another thing that came
up was explicit instruction. We talk a lot about
that in the podcast. I use a lot of explicit
instruction in the math courses I designed for
students with dyscalculia and what we mean by
explicit instruction is that you just say what's
going on you just tell people exactly what's
happening and what they need to do there's no
mystery it's just math we don't need to make
it a mystery it's pretty straightforward how
you solve a problem and we tell students exactly
how we want them to solve a problem We let them
know exactly where they're going wrong and what
we need them to do in order to be right. And
a lot of the research studies listed in these
meta -analysis did talk about that piece of that
immediate feedback. The idea of explicit and
embedded instruction, which is a term that came
up quite a bit in the UF meta -analysis. You
might see it in research studies labeled as EAI.
explicit and embedded instruction. And what that
really means, teachers, you're already doing
it. It means that you take advantage of those
teaching moments, that you're really plugged
in with your student. And when you see that they're
solving something incorrectly, you tell them,
you step in right then, and you show them exactly
what they should be doing differently. So it
combines using a teaching moment, using immediate
feedback, using explicit instruction. that makes
a measurable difference in the academic performance
of a person who has dyscalculia. Some of the
other things that came out of these two studies
were that sometimes a software program or using
an abacus, just a really specific kind of manipulative,
or using programs that increase working memory,
all of those things can give some sort of improvement
either in motivation, self -confidence, or performance.
And we know that those things are true because
they come up in different research studies. We
also know they're true because we use them in
the classroom already. So really, what I want
you doing for students with dyscalculia is taking
what you're doing And do it more. Do it consistently.
Do it constantly. Do it with fidelity. Don't
just tell students that the manipulatives are
available. Require that they use it and show
you how they use it, and then you step in, just
like Vygotsky told us, with the more knowledgeable
other. The best way to learn is to have someone
who has a better understanding than you helping
you out, and then you discuss it. That makes
a huge, huge difference. I would love to see
a qualitative study that talked about a student's
feeling of self -worth and engagement and connection
after having intervention that really utilize
those skills. Again as teachers we know that
we have a much better academic performance and
achievement with students. When we have that
connection, we know that we want to build that
with our students. We're already trying to do
that with students in our classrooms because
we know it's important. Oh, and also it's effective.
But we didn't get into teaching just because
it's a little factory and we're trying to push
out students who hit academic achievement goals.
We got into teaching because we really like interacting
and passing along knowledge. to tiny people,
to children. If you're in adult ed or if you're
working in the higher ed setting, you like imparting
knowledge to a peer group, but we really like
this interaction. That is a key part of working
with students who have dyscalculia. They have
to know you're on their side, and they have to
know that you recognize they're already working
really hard. and they have to know that you're
going to help them find the best method for them
so that they can really master math. So, to wrap
all of that up, if you're looking for some research
-based practices and some evidence -based strategies,
this is a great case for things you already know
how to do. Use your teaching moments, use explicit
instruction, use metacognition, And then try
out different software or manipulatives and see
what works best for your students, depending
on the grade level and topic. And keep those
things during class time, during homework time,
during math intervention time, and during assessment
time. That's how we're really going to make a
change. If you are looking for either of these
articles, I will try to get them up on the websites.
so that we have a bank of articles and you can
go read this information for yourself. I think
that's always exciting to read the original source
and of course these have lengthy references that
tell you the studies they used and other people
they reference. So you can go down the rabbit
hole of finding research on dyscalculia and getting
more knowledge for yourself. If you're not into
reading a bunch of research studies, totally
get it. I'll be bringing more of them to you
in the podcast, and one of the goals for the
second half of 2025, as we finish this school
year and start moving into the next one, is to
have more blog posts that really dive into the
research. That way, when you're talking to colleagues,
parents, and other administrators, you have some
original sources that you can cite in those conversations.
So thank you for listening to this episode of
what in the world is dyscalculia. If you have
any questions or comments about these articles
or other research you'd like to know is it out
there, I'll be happy to go see what I can find
and put the information into future episodes.
Make sure you're checking out the website so
you can stay up to date with the most current
dyscalculia information and You can also find
me on social media. We have a great teacher support
page on Facebook. That's a public group. You
can find Educalc Learning on Facebook. You can
find me on Instagram. We have a YouTube channel,
Honora Wall, that has a lot of different interviews
and our social media reels and these podcast
episodes. So plenty of ways of getting information
to you. If you are a teacher, you might want
to look into our weekly workshops. There's information
about that on educalclearning .com and you might
want to look into our online math classes for
students who have dyscalculia. These are great
for homeschool families and also they're being
used with great success in schools around the
country and in tutoring centers. So lots of great
options to support both teachers and students
who want to know more about the math learning
disability. I'm Dr. Hanora Wall. Thank you for
listening to What in the World is Dyscalculia,
and we'll see you again soon.