Funding phase

CODY

Dyscalculia in elementary school - development and evaluation of a working-memory-based diagnostic instrument and integrative training program

The project “Dyscalculia in the Primary School Age – developing and evaluating a working-memory-based diagnostics tool and integrative training program”, also known as CODY (COmputer-based screening-test and training for DYscalculia) aims at developing a computer-based screening-test and training for children suffering from dyscalculia (arithmetic impairment). The screening-test will be standardized and validated. The training will be longitudinally evaluated based on behavioral and neurological data.

Objectives

The project has three main objectives. The first is to develop a computer-based screening-test for primary school children in grades 2 – 4 that allows for an assessment of individual manifestations of impairments affecting basic numerical skills, the ability to count, or the visual-spatial working-memory.

The second is to develop an adaptive, computer-based training that specifically facilitates fundamental arithmetical skills (e.g. numerical reasoning, counting) and their associated components of the working-memory.

The third is to evaluate the effectiveness of the training and the sustainability of its potential long-term effects using a longitudinal study that incorporates behavioural data. Additionally, there will be a control-group-based examination of the cognitive processes that underlay the potential benefits of the training, using magneto encephalography (MEG) and reaction-times, before and after the training. The adaptive computer-based training will be made available to the public after the end of the project.

Methods

The various areas of the project each require different research designs. While the standardization of the screening-test requires an extensive collection of data (600-700 pupils), the longitudinal evaluation of the computer-based training (six weeks of training, 30 minutes per day) will be focusing on the analysis of behavioural data gathered from pupils suffering from dyscalculia.
The evaluation of the training will be using a randomized control-group-design (pre- and post-tests, two follow-up surveys), in which three training-groups, who participated in different versions of the CODY-training (1. only basic arithmetical skills training, 2. only working-memory training, 3. both training-types), will be compared to an active control-group (placebo-training and alternative training).
For each group there will be a sample size of 20 children. A further control-group of children without a diagnosed dyscalculia, who did not participate in the training, will be monitored longitudinally as well. The effects of the CODY-training will additionally be evaluated using MEG (before the training, and immediately after the training).

Results

Das Projekt CODY verfolgte zwei Ziele. Erstens wurde ein computergestütztes Diagnoseinstrument für Kinder ab der zweiten Klasse entwickelt, das detaillierte Aussagen zur bereichsspezifischen Ausprägung von Störungen der Rechenfähigkeit sowie Arbeitsgedächtniskomponenten erlaubt. Das Testverfahren wurde an über 1200 Kindern normiert, wobei auch eine Substichprobe von Kindern mit Dyskalkulie einbezogen wurde. Der einfach durchführbare Test ist nach ersten Ergebnissen für die Identifikation einer Dyskalkulie und die Förderplanung hervorragend geeignet, weil er eine detaillierte Einschätzung relevanter mathematikbezogener Fertigkeiten ermöglicht und besonders im unteren Leistungsbereich sehr gut differenziert.

Zweitens wurde ein adaptives computergestütztes Trainingsprogramm entwi-ckelt, das die Rechenfähigkeit, die Zahlen- und Mengenverarbeitung sowie relevante Arbeitsgedächtniskomponenten gezielt auf „spielerische“ Art und Weise fördert. Eine theoretische Grundlage für das Training lieferte u.a. das Triple-Code-Modell von Dehaene (1992). Es postuliert, dass die Repräsentation von Mengen und Zahlen durch unterschiedliche, funktionell unabhängige Verarbeitungsmodule erfolgt.

Die Wirksamkeit des Trainings wurde in einer Längsschnittstudie an Kindern mit Dyskalkulie evaluiert. Ziel war es, die Effektivität und Stabilität des Trainingsprogramms zu überprüfen und mit einer Kontrollgruppe, die ein allgemeines Training zum schlussfolgernden Denken erhielt, zu vergleichen. Es konnte nachgewiesen werden, dass das CODY-Training nach täglicher Durchführung über sechs Wochen bei rechenschwachen Kindern zu Leistungsverbesserungen in einem standardisierten Mathematiktest führte. Für die Evaluation wurden Testdaten, MEG-Daten sowie Reaktionszeiten mit komplexen statistischen Modellen analysiert, um einen tieferen Einblick in die zu-grundeliegenden Prozesse sowie trainingsbedingte Veränderungen zu erhalten.

Die Projektergebnisse zeigen, dass eine Dyskalkulie auch im höheren Grund-schulalter meist durch beeinträchtigte basisnumerische Fertigkeiten erklärt werden kann, was auch auf der Ebene neuronaler Aktivierungsmuster nachweisbar ist. Für die Praxis impliziert dies, dass bei Grundschülern mit Dyskalkulie zunächst schwerpunktmäßig individuell beeinträchtigte basisnumerische Fertigkeiten trainiert werden sollten.

Contact

  • Prof. Dr. Heinz Holling (Project management, Chair of Statistics and Methods…)
  • Staff

    Julia Raddatz, M.Sc.

  • PD Dr. Christian Dobel (Project management, HNO Klinik…)
  • Dr. Jörg-Tobias Kuhn (Universität Münster Institut für Ps…)
  • Emailaddress of the project

    cody@uni-muenster.de

    Homepage of the project

    http://www.uni-muenster.de/cody

    CODY

    Promising and economical therapeutical program for primary school children with dyscalculia

    During the first phase of the CODY-project, which has been funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, a computer-based screening-test was successfully standardized using a sample of more than 1400 primary school children from the four German federal states North-Rhine-Westphalia, Hamburg, Bavaria and Hesse. Additionally, more than 200 children participated in comprehensive diagnostic single- and group- testing sessions at the University of Muenster, in order to benefit from our computer-based CODY-training.

    An initial evaluation of the CODY-training proved that children with severe problems in mathematics achieved better results in standardised tests, after having completed six weeks of CODY-training, compared to a control group which had not participated in the training.

    In the second phase of the CODY-project we seek out to verify the overall generalisability and sustainability of these effects, in order to implement the CODY-training as a promising and economical part of therapy for children with dyscalculia.

    Objectives

    Our major goal for the second phase of the project is an intensive collaboration with primary schools. In the beginning of a school semester the CODY-team will conduct group-testing sessions in the fields of mathematics, reading, attentiveness, working-memory, and intelligence (screening). The participating schools will be offered an intensive support by the CODY-team over the course of the whole school semester. This will also account for the goal of inclusion, as children who do not receive enough individual support in regular school lessons will greatly benefit from the help offered by the CODY-team.

    Methods

    • Longitudinal study using MEG-methods (three test intervals)

    • Response-to-Intervention study (control group design)

    • Evaluation of the CODY-training using additional instruction videos (also control group design)

    Contact

  • Prof. Dr. Heinz Holling (Project management, Chair of Statistics and Methods…)
  • Staff

    Dr.Jörg-Tobias Kuhn
    Julia Raddatz, M.Sc.

  • PD Dr. Christian Dobel (Project management, HNO Klinik…)
  • Emailaddress of the project

    cody@uni-muenster.de

    Homepage of the project

    http://www.uni-muenster.de/cody