Focus on Students with Mathematics Learning Disabilities – SMiLD Erasmus Project

Project Title

Focus on Students with Mathematics Learning Disabilities – SMiLD

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Early School Leaving / combating failure in education; Disabilities – special needs; Pedagogy and didactics

Project Summary

CONTEXT
The SMiLD project-related context and the main motivation is related to the promotion of the acquisition of skills and key competencies with a specific focus on addressing underachievement in maths.
The assumption is that learning difficulties in mathematics do not often occur with clarity and simplicity.

OBJECTIVES
To effectively answer to the defined needs the overall AIM of the SMiLD project is to identify and share educational interventions and resources that are the most effective in supporting students with learning disabilities, or at a risk for, in the core subjects of mathematics.
To achieve its aim the SMiLD project will focus on the following specific objectives:
– The development of protocols for helping teachers to determine the most appropriate solutions for the students with Learning Disabilities in Math
– To provide teachers and parents dealing with maths students with learning difficulties with a reliable, easy to use and operative set of reference materials and information to identify and tackle underachievement in Math.

TARGET GROUPS
Secondary School teachers
– Almost 60 Math teachers directly involved in the creation of the 2 Intellectual Outputs
– More than 100 teachers involved in the evaluation of Intellectual Output contents
– Almost 100 teachers and policymakers participating in Multipliers events

Secondary School students
The project impacted the achievements in literacy and digital skills of a number of around 1400 secondary school students, among which 187 students with Learning Disabilities in Math.

IMPACT
The SMiLD project had a direct impact on secondary school Math Teachers who through participation as project full partners of 3 Secondary schools, were directly involved in the creation and testing of the intellectual outputs.
The project impacted their needs providing them with:
– Greater awareness that difficulties in mathematics are as important as linguistic difficulties
– Greater awareness that difficulties in mathematics can be addressed rigorously, scientifically and permanently, to achieve effective results
– An international community that interacts to help students with difficulties, helping families to accept that these difficulties can be reduced, and helping teachers to cope with the difficulties of their students.
– Tools for teachers and the educational system to identify their specific needs and implement the most effective strategies to improve their learning potential.

Secondary school students by:
– Enhancing their pro-active attitude towards their learning process on cultural heritage using their means of communication, i.e. Web and Mobiles/Tablets
– Reinforce their literacy as well as digital skills
– Stimulate their willingness to learn through a comparative analysis with the cultural heritage of other European areas

RESULTS
To guarantee the long-term impact on the aforementioned categories, the SMiLD project developed two Intellectual Outputs that students, teachers and end-users, in general, can access and use for free from the project portal.

The two Intellectual Outputs are:
IO1 – Toolkit for tackling Learning Disabilities in Math
The Output is divided into two main activities carried out by project partners:
1) Identification tools (https://smild.pixel-online.org/TK_Identification.php)
This toolkit contains a set of Tools to be used for the definition and identification of Learning Disabilities in Math. The questionnaires addressed to students have been administrated to 1334 students among which 187 with learning disabilities.

2) Intervention and Monitoring tools (https://smild.pixel-online.org/TK_Intervention.php)
This toolkit contains Intervention and Monitoring Tools to address learning disabilities in math.

– The Intervention Tools consist of a set of questions, problems and exercises to address the different types and degrees of Learning Disabilities.
– The Monitoring Tools allow teachers, students and their families to measure the effect of the Intervention Tools by checking whether the activities implemented have produced positive or negative results.

IO2 – Guidelines for the management of Learning Disabilities in Math
The output consists of a set of Guidelines addressed to secondary schools Match teachers, headmasters and policy makers divided into 3 Modules:
– Policy framework of the Learning Disabilities in Math (https://smild.pixel-online.org/GL_Policy.php)
The first chapter provides an overview of the state of the art of regulatory and policy framework concerning Learning Disabilities in Math.

– Analysis of the Learning Disabilities in Math (https://smild.pixel-online.org/GL_Analysis.php)
The second chapter addresses in details the definition, classification and analysis of Learning Disabilities in Math.

– How to Address Difficulties in Math (https://smild.pixel-online.org/GL_How.php)
The third chapter deals with the analysis of the instruments for addressing difficulties in mathematics.

Project Website

http://smild.pixel-online.org/index.php

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 295333,8 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI GENOVA & Country: IT

Project Partners

• INSTITUTO POLITECNICO DE BRAGANCA
• ISIS MACHIAVELLI
• PIXEL – ASSOCIAZIONE CULTURALE
• Szkola Podstawowa nr 5 im. Janusza Kusocinskiego w Swidniku
• Agrupamento de Escolas Emídio Garcia, Bragança
• UNIWERSYTET WROCLAWSKI