Opinions of elementary mathematics teacher candidates on discalculia

This study aims to raise awareness to elementary mathematics pre-service teachers who are affected by the learning disability dyscalculia, a brain disorder when faced with arithmetical subjects or calculations. There search will provide an analytical definition of dyscalculia, detail the characteristic complexities of children affect and demonstrates the links between dyscalculia and other learning difficulties. The discussion will be supported by opinions and observations of elementary mathematics pre-service teachers, giving a more intimate insight into understanding the disability. The data has been collected through qualitative methods. As a source, 36elementary mathematics pre-service teachers have been selected. A semi-structured interview which includes five open-ended questions related to dyscalculia has been used in this research and thus descriptive analysis has been used in analysing the figures obtained from the research. The results of the study highlight that elementary mathematics pre-service teachers have been unsuccessful in identifying a set term that defines dyscalculia and is unable to finalise which methods can be used and in which context with the results, the research concludes and suggests that an educating teaching programme should be placed in the training curriculum of elementary mathematics teachers to better their understanding of dyscalculia and the sensitivity it requires.