Enhancing Skills of Urban Teachers for Remediation of Mathematical Difficulties

Description

Page: 292-296

Yumkhaibam Anandi Devi and Deepika Vig (Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab)

The present study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the intervention programme on the cognitive abilities of teachers. The sample for the study consisted of 30 teachers teaching to class II and III children from two urban private schools (affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education) of Ludhiana City. Self-structured ‘Cognitive Abilities Assessment’ checklist was used to assess teachers’ cognitive abilities to design educational therapy programme for children with mathematical difficulties. The checklist was used after an intervention to reassess the impact of the intervention on teachers’ knowledge. Pre-intervention scores revealed that all teachers showed a low level of knowledge. They were not aware of the warning signs of mathematical difficulties their common characteristics for early identification and the reasons for poor mathematical skills. After the intervention, the scores across knowledge, comprehension, and application skills of teachers showed significant improvement. However, the maximum gain was seen in the ‘Application’ component. The intervention was successful in making teachers able to plan and implement an educational therapy program for children with mathematical difficulties.