Analysis of Need

As part of the project an Analysis of Need (questionnaire survey) has been conducted in the six member countries. The purpose of the analysis was to study to what extent there is a need to focus on people with Down Syndrome learning Math according to the experience within the environments of people with Down Syndrome (Family and professionals).

The Analysis of Need also provides an opportunity to study which mathematical and general competences the environments perceive the people with Down Syndrome to purses. The study also created a basis for the development of materials and methods of teaching focusing on people with Down Syndrome.

The analysis is also interesting since it is the first time a research has been done to understand the mathematical competences of people with Down Syndrome in this way.

Needs Analysis Report

The results from the Analysis of Need were presented at the 2nd transnational meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark on 24-26 June 2010.
The University College Capital (UCC) – one of the partners in the "Yes we can!" project – had developed and evaluated the questionnaire.

The survey has been conducted during spring 2010 in Austria, The Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Italy and Romania. The questionnaire was first developed in English and then translated into the various native languages of the countries.

The questionnaire was directed towards people who are caregivers, either related as parents or professionals to people with Down Syndrome. There were no questions directly addressed to the people with Down Syndrome in question due to the wish, not to start out with a too complex study. The important issue of getting data directly from the people with Down Syndrome themselves will however be addressed as the project develops.

In a powerpoint presentation Michael Wahl and John Willumsen showed the results of the study, which is based on a total number of 485 replies – 148 from Austria, 112 from The Czech Republic, 50 from Denmark, 62 from Germany, 61 from Italy and 52 from Romania.

Download PDF file:
Needs Analysis Report (1,6 MB)

Short summary and recommendations

In the spring of 2010 the project "Yes We Can" conducted the survey "Analysis of Need" in order to evaluate the necessity of enhancing the teaching of mathematics to persons with Down Syndrome. Basis of the survey was a questionnaire distributed to some 500 care-givers, professionals and parents, that examined not only the need to focus on mathematics, but also the need to improve its method of instruction. A study of this kind had never before been undertaken. The survey, supervised by the University College Copenhagen, involved the following six countries: Austria, The Czech Republic, Rumania, Germany, Italy and Denmark.

The 500 respondents were either the parents of persons with Down Syndrome or they were associated with those persons professionally. The ultimate aim of the project is to improve mathematical education through the development of an innovative methodology that would offer the potential to instill basic mathematical skills in the 700,000 persons afflicted with Down Syndrome, beginning with the training of these basic skills in the selected target group. Thus equipped, these persons would, for instance, be able to play a more meaningful role in society in that they could manage key situations in their own daily life. The survey devotes itself to a number of topics related to persons with Down Syndrome and to their care-givers, to the demography of the condition, the mathematical competence of these persons, their basic skills and ability to comprehend, their attitudes towards math, and opinions of the care-giver. The initial interpretation of data from the “Analysis of Need” has concentrated on results in general, that is, on the overall trends within and among the participating countries. Many of these results are quite clear; others will require more detailed analysis. In some cases, the results testify to an associative thinking that allows the overlapping of skills within the realms of the verbal, the conceptual and the image-related, likewise between situations of daily life and mathematical comprehension, all the more reason to intertwine the skills with daily needs. In addition, the mathematical competence and skills of persons with Down Syndrome are apparently evaluated differently by the professional and by the parent. Further dissection of the results of the “Analysis of Need” will ultimately enable us to make credible recommendations towards the enhancement of teaching mathematics to persons with Down Syndrome.

• Of primary importance in the teaching of mathematics is clarification of the structure of the numerical system, the four basic arithmetical functions, and the different types of numbers, as these categories of math give immediate meaning to persons with Down Syndrome.
• It is important to tailor the instruction, to begin with the math most easily comprehended by the individual with Down Syndrome, in order to spark his interest and motivate him to continue his learning.
• It is important that the instruction convey an immediate meaning: It must also relate to the concrete mathematical situations that will confront persons with Down Syndrome so that that meaning is reinforced.
• It is important that persons with Down Syndrome acquire the skill to count both forwards and backwards, as this is the prerequisite to understanding addition and substraction.
• It is important to work with the numerical line, as the ‘mental numerical line’ is the basis for learning to count at all.
• It is important to work on numerals, as numerical understanding for the person with Down Syndrome is the prerequisite to the comprehension of the four basic arithmetical functions.
• It is important to work with verbal mathematics, which aids comprehension of the numerical system.
• It is important to make use of technical tools of calculation to assist in the learning of mathematics.
• It is important that the care-giver be able to justify his choice of method and approach in his teaching of mathematics, in order to tailor the instruction to the individual.
• It is important to train skilled personnel who can act in an advisory role to the care-giver who in turn will teach mathematics to persons with Down Syndrome, whereby the course of instruction will remain dynamic.
• It is important to introduce a variety of approaches and methods that clearly relate to the contexts of the daily life of the person with Down Syndrome, thereby enhancing the instruction of mathematics.

It is recommended to focus on the following mathematical topics for persons with Down Syndrome:

Daily math:

• Handle money in everyday situations.
• Use a watch.
• Use a calendar.
• Initiate and control a situation.
• Use a timetable to get about.
• Use a work-schedule.
• Read and follow a recipe.
• Deal with prices of a commodity, whether “cheap or expensive”.
• Estimate weight and amount when shopping.
• Use a mobile/cell phone.
• Navigate a room, i.e. when travelling.
• Estimate length or distance.

Arithmetic:

• Develop a numerical concept
  • Cardinal number: The numerical name specifies the amount or quantity; also referred to as number or ‘amount numeral’.
  • Ordinal number: The number defines the position of an object within a line or series.
  • Numbers for identification, e.g. a social security number.
• Understand the structure of the ordinal system.
• Do arithmetical calculations using the numbers 0 to 100.
• Use and understand the value of numbers.
• Use a pocket calculator.
• Use a computer.

Didactics:

• That the work is based upon the concept that persons with Down Syndrome must be able to understand the mathematics they are taught; that mathematics relates to a type of proficiency thinking that makes it immediately functional and useful.
  

Towards further development and to qualify for teaching mathematics to persons with Down Syndrome, we recommend focusing upon the following:

• Development of concrete suggestions for activities and/or materials tailored to the needs of persons with Down Syndrome.
• Courses and in-service education designed for care-givers who teach mathematics to persons with Down Syndrome.
• Theoretical in-service education of care-givers who teach mathematics to persons with Down Syndrome.
• Access to advisory personnel and/or advisory centres.