ABSTRACT

Mathematics all over the world plays a pivotal role in  individual  or  learner’s  lives,  it  is  a bridge  to  science, technology  and  other  subjects  offered  in  any  formal   educational system. Mathematics  has  long  been  recognized  worldwide  as  important  in  the understanding  of  other  subjects   like   chemistry,   biology,   and  physics.   Learning  disability is a dynamic and expanding condition that is found  across  all  ages.  The  purpose  of  this study  was  to investigate the mathematics teaching  strategies  used  in  teaching  mathematics to learners with dyscalculia in Kericho  County.  Guided  by  Jean  Piaget’s theory, the study adopted  a  descriptive  design  which  used  mixed  model  research  with  both qualitative  and  quantitative  approaches.  The  study  was   carried  out  in  Kericho County. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to carry  out  the  study.  The  pilot  study  was done in 35 randomly selected public day secondary schools in different localities within the County to  effectively  analyze  the  methodologies  of  teaching  the  subject  in  the  region.  Data from the research instruments, namely mathematics teachers’questionnaires and mathematics students’questionnaires was coded  and  analyzed  using  the  Statistical  Package  for  Social Sciences (SPSS v25) to  obtain  descriptive  statistics.  To  ensure  validity,  face  and  content validity was conducted. Aslo, the Cronbach Coefficient  Formula  was  applied  to  guarantee reliability. The results revealed that thirty eight percent (38%) of the mathematics  teachers  in Kericho County assessed students’ records to identify dyscalculia problem. The  findings  also revealed that 19 out of 300 randomly sampled students, which  represent  6.3%  of  the  total sampled students, suffered  from  dyscalculia.  Further,  lack  of  experienced  special  needs teachers and poor cooperation from the relevant stakeholders  such  as  parents,  guardians,  and other staff among others were  major  challenges  that  teachers  faced  when  dealing  with dyscalculic  learners.  Also,  reviewing  the  previous  lessons  and  maximizing  the   use   of homework  were  some  of  the  major interventions  that  helped   in   increasing   dyscalculic learners’  performance.  Besides,  some  of  the  major teaching  strategies  include  peer  tutoring and  ensuring  presence  of  mathematics  symbols  and  terms  displayed  in  mathematics  lessons. The study concluded that majority of the students who score  less  than  25%  marks  were  struggling with mathematics and not dyscalculic. Also, majority of the teachers may have confused dyscalculic students with those who struggled. The researcher recommends  that progressive records should be used to establish if the learners are dyscalculic or they are merely  struggling with   mathematics.   The   government   should   ensure   a   conducive environment  to  enhance  performance of  dyscalculic  students.  It  should  also  ensure   that schools have enough teachers with special needs skills.