Learning-While-Doing Instructional Model and Everyday Arithmetic Performance of Students with Developmental Dyscalculia

Abstract

This study was on enhancing the performance of Students with Developmental Dyscalculia in Everyday Arithmetic through Learning-While-Doing instructional model in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area (LGA) of Rivers State. The pretest-posttest non-equivalent quasi-experimental design was adopted. A total of 118 JSS2 students took part in the study. The instruments for data collection were the Developmental Dyscalculia Diagnostic Test (3DT) and Teacher Made Arithmetic Test (TMAT). The 3DT was a 10-item test to diagnose students with dyscalculia, while the TMAT was a 15-item multiple-choice test with four options to measure the performance and retention of the students with dyscalculia in Everyday Arithmetic. The instruments were subjected to face and content validation. The reliability coefficients of 0.85 and 0.93 respectively were obtained through the test-retest method. The descriptive statistics and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) were used for data analyses. It was found among others that the performance of students taught arithmetic using Learning-While-Doing (LWD) instructional model was higher than those taught using problem-solving strategy. Female students taught arithmetic using learning-while-doing instructional model performed slightly better than their male counterparts. There was a significant difference between the performance of students with developmental dyscalculia taught arithmetic using LWD model and problem-solving strategy. There is no significant difference in the performance of male and female students with developmental dyscalculia taught arithmetic using LWD instructional model. It was recommended among others that Mathematics teachers should be encouraged to employ the use of LWD instructional model to improve students’ performance