Numerical skills and dyscalculia. From basic research to practice in Cuba

Abstract

Establishing bridges between the findings from cognitive neurosciences and teaching practice has not been systematically achieved. However, many researchers interested in this area agree on the positive impact that knowledge on how the brain learns has on teaching practices and educational policies. For more than 15 years, the Laboratory for Educational Neurosciences from the Cuban Centre for Neurosciences has collected evidence on basic numerical capacities and their association with learning mathematics, taking into account different levels of analysis that consider biology, cognition and education. Researchers in this laboratory have developed a conceptual, methodological and instrumental platform based on the experimental evidence they have systematically obtained. This platform has resulted in the design and validation of tools and resources for learning mathematics in the classroom with the intervention of the teachers.

Establishing bridges between the findings from cognitive neurosciences and teaching practice has not been systematically achieved. However, many researchers interested in this area agree on the positive impact that knowledge on how the brain learns has on teaching practices and educational policies. For more than 15 years, the Laboratory for Educational Neurosciences from the Cuban Centre for Neurosciences has collected evidence on basic numerical capacities and their association with learning mathematics, taking into account different levels of analysis that consider biology, cognition and education. Researchers in this laboratory have developed a conceptual, methodological and instrumental platform based on the experimental evidence they have systematically obtained. This platform has resulted in the design and validation of tools and resources for learning mathematics in the classroom with the intervention of the teachers.