The severity of dyscalculia and student mathematics performance in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area

Abstract

The main aim of the study was to find out the relationship between dyscalculia and the performance of students in mathematics. The correlational research design was adopted. A sample of 137 Senior Secondary Students with dyscalculia took part in the study. A diagnostic test was administered to the students to identify students with dyscalculia. The criteria for inclusion of the dyscalculic students in the study was that; students with scores less than Mean(x̄) – 1(SD) were assumed to have mild dyscalculia while those with a score less than Mean (x̄) – 2(SD) were assumed as having severe dyscalculia, where x̄ is the mean score of all the students in the diagnostic test. A Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) was used for data collection. It contained 25 multiple-choice questions with five (5) standardized questions each from five (5) themes in the senior secondary curriculum mathematics (Number and Numeration, Algebraic Process, Mensuration, Trigonometry and Statistics). The Phi-coefficient was used to answer the research questions whereas the hypotheses were tested using the Chi-square test. The result established that the academic performance of the students in number and numeration was significantly related to the severity of dyscalculia. The result however showed that the academic performance of the students in Algebraic Process, Mensuration, Trigonometry and Statistics were not significantly related to the severity of dyscalculia. Three (3) of the five (5) themes explored respectively showed an inverse relationship with severity of dyscalculia. It was recommended among others that dyscalculic students should be diagnosed to know the severity of their dyscalculia to identify a remedial approach to teaching them because a student can be dyscalculic in one branch of mathematics and another not dyscalculic.