Exploring Teachers’ Knowledge and Students’ Status about Dyscalculia at Basic Level Students in Nepal

Abstract

Dyscalculia refers to a specific and lifelong difficulty in learning mathematics. Dyscalculia has been observed among students from even basic levels of mathematical studies, and its effects regarding mathematical learning are serious. This study explores teacher knowledge and student status of dyscalculia at a basic level schools in Nepal. It was constructed by using the descriptive survey design. The study consists of 150 basic level school teachers and 500 students from Ilam Municipality, Ilam by using simple random sampling. To explore the teachers’ knowledge about dyscalculia a mathematics learning difficulty test questionnaire has been used. Similarly, the status of dyscalculic students was measured by a dyscalculia screening test. The teachers were found to have inadequate knowledge regarding dyscalculia. The association between the teachers’ knowledge and the demographic variables of gender, school type, and educational qualifications on dyscalculia were not found significant, except teaching experience. Consequently, the study revealed 6.8 percent of students were dyscalculic. Therefore, the concerned authority is recommended to improve teacher knowledge regarding dyscalculia for the proper identification, guidance, and intervention of the dyscalculic learner.