| Embodied cognition has emerged as a response to the traditional theories of cognition that focus on mental processes,either ignoring the role of the body or viewing the body as peripheral to the theories of learning,From the embodied perspective,cognition is not limited to auditory and visual input.Cognition arises from the body and its’ specific interactions with the environment,where one’s senses,perception,and motor skills come together to create a mental activity.The use of embodied cognition technology(embodied touch interactive games)has be shown to be not only effective in education in general,but also particularly effective in mathematics education,for the capability of effectively motivating students to engage in learning.Specifically,with the use of the embodied cognition technology,mathematics concepts can be demonstrated as interactive physical motion;so lots of practice can be adapted for mathematics learning and to make learning be more motivating.As a specific use of embodied cognition technology,touch motion games could potentially help to decrease the mathematics learning anxiety level of the children with learning difficulties such as dyscalculia and motivate them to participate in learning,then improve their mathematical skills.One of the most popular school failures is the mathematical difficulty.Dyscalculia is a specific learning disability in mathematics,neurobiological basis that is characterized by a difficulty in numerical processing and calculation.Facing dyscalculia improves the rates of school failure and adopts specific methodologies to teach reading and understand numerical processes that have beneficial effects for the rest of students.Re-educating dyscalculia may improve the rates of school failure and adopt specific methodologies to teach reading and understand numerical processes that have beneficial effects for the rest of students.Dyscalculia.A student with dyscalculia likely has difficulty understanding and memorizing processes.As such,it would be easy to rationalize why quick tricks and truncated strategies may work.However,an abundance of different rules,strategies,and tricks that work situationally may overload cognition leaving the student frustrated as to when to apply each one.For example,if Devon was having difficulty with dividing fractions,a teacher may feel compelled to teach invert and multiply.Educators must be apprised of the needs of students who struggle with literacy and mathematics.Without awareness,concerns may not lead to targeted instructional changes.Accommodations and modifications will help improve access,but employing assessment-informed empirically-validated approaches has the highest potential to improve both reading and math achievement.Having legislative support for students with dyslexia and dyscalculia is a good thing.Employing empirically-validated assessments and strategies is even better.Teachers and teacher candidates alike must learn how to assess and instruct students with dyscalculia.may feel compelled to teach invert and Teaching mathematics to mainstream classes in primary school can be a challenging endeavour.One challenge can be catering for pupils who would have yet not grasped the basic skills and concepts usually acquired in the lower grades.This research therefore aimed at studying learning difficulties.associated with mathematics specifically dyscalculia and seeking effective strategies to support these struggling learners.Dyscalculia is a specific learning difficulty which affects an individual’s acquisition of basic number concepts and hinders the understanding and application of number facts and procedures.Studies have reported that 5-8%of school-aged children experience difficulties that interfere with their grasp of mathematical concepts or procedures(Geary,2004;Fuchs&Fuchs,2002).Hence the importance of research about mathematics learning difficulties has increased substantially in recent years.Dyscalculic learners may exhibit different traits.However as Bird(2009)indicates they usually have ’no feel for numbers’,poor ability to estimate and cannot understand whether an answer to a mathematical task is reasonable or not.The difficulties experienced by dyscalculic learners include:subsidising,estimating,recalling number facts,counting backwards,understanding and applying the concept of time,understanding money,sequencing,direction(left/right),noticing number patterns and understanding and applying mathematics language(Bird,2009;Dowker,2004;Geary,2004).Mathematics Anxiety may also have a key role in the way these learners perform because it may block their ability to engage in mathematics tasks(Emerson&Babtie,2010).Such negative feelings may hinder dyscalculic learners from reaching their full potential.To better understand how to enhance mathematical thinking and learning in today’s students,especially students with math difficulty,we must first understand the nature of mathematical knowledge.Mathematicians and cognitive scientists appear to agree that at least three basic types of mathematical knowledge exist and are required for the development of mathematical literacy and competence.These three types of knowledge are declarative,procedural,and conceptual.A brief overview of these knowledge types is provided below.For a more detailed discussion of this framework,please see Goldman and Hasselbring(1997).Procedural knowledge can be defined as the rules,algorithms,or procedures used to solve mathematical tasks.For example,the order of operations is a rule for simplifying expressions that have more than one operation.In contrast,conceptual knowledge goes beyond mere knowledge of discrete facts and procedural steps to a full understanding of interrelated pieces of information.It can be thought of as a connected web of information in which the linking relationships are as important as the pieces of discrete information that are linked.For example,procedural knowledge that is linked to conceptual knowledge can help students select the appropriate mathematical operation to use in a particular situation,because the conceptual knowledge helps them understand the underlying reasons for selecting that operation.Mathematical competency requires the development of an interactive relationship between declarative,procedural,and conceptual knowledge.The development of relationships between these knowledge types is critical for knowledge to be accessible and usable.A variety of technologies are available to enhance students’ mathematical competency by building their declarative,procedural,and conceptual knowledge.The remainder of this paper will review these technologies.In sum,the differential in mathematics performance between students with and without math difficulty that has been observed over many years remains,yet the commitment to improving outcomes for students with math difficulty continues to grow.One strategy that needs additional attention involves the use of technology designed to teach mathematical concepts in non-traditional ways.At present,the sheer quantity of educational software and other tools that are available for teachers to use in the classroom is significant.Additionally,the cost of much of this hardware and software is relatively low.Nevertheless,while the commitment to improving the math performance of students with math difficulty is strong and the technology to help educators accomplish this goal is readily available,there is a paucity of research related to the effectiveness of these approaches.Further,there is a dearth of research related to the identification of best practices necessary to effectively implement math instruction with the help of technology.One major goal of educators of students with math difficulty should be to conduct ongoing research to determine the best use of existing technology for enhancing mathematical learning.Further,educators and researchers should work closely with developers and publishers of new hardware and software and conduct high-quality research targeted at identifying effective practices that accompany the use of new products.In this paper we have attempted to identify important areas in need of research and development and to examine a variety of technologies that can enhance the mathematical learning of all students,but especially those students with math difficulty.Hopefully,we have identified areas of need that will serve as a guidepost for future research and development activities.This study aimed at examining the effects of the use of embodied cognition technology on the mathematical skills of the children struggling with dyscalculia disability at Eluwa special school in Namibia,in this study,the embodied cognition technology was applied with the aim of creating an easier way of delivering mathematic concepts to the children struggling with dyscalculia disability.The children’s learning performance,attitudes(which were reflected by enjoyment level),and anxiety levels were examined in a mixed study.A total of 45 students,two mathematic teachers,two ICT teachers,and a principal participated in this study.The findings from this study revealed that the Embodied cognition technology group(Experimental group)performed significantly better in the post-test of mathematical skills than the non embodied cognition technology group(Control group).The experimental group’s learning attitudes,which were reflected by the enjoyment level,were also higher than the control group,but the difference was not significant.However,the experimental group had a statistically higher anxiety level than the control group.It have proven that touch pad,tablet strategy was effective in improving dyscalculic students’ mathematical abilities.The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed which include the use of this measure(touch pad tablet)as a possible tool for identifying students at risk for future difficulties in mathematics.The limitations of this study and future research plans are also discussed. |
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