Schools College student persecuted for dyscalculia by physics instructor

[DyscalculiaParent]

My son is a student in 3rd year of college. He has dycaculia (documented) and access to services on campus for math intensive courses. He does very well in other courses. However, his physics instructor refused to accommodate him with suggested measures from the neuropsych who did his latest eval and from the accessibility services office.

He will take on his 3rd try to pass physics, this summer (extra expense outside of tuition). We are told there is "no way" to accommodate a dyscalculia learner for physics, because "exams are required."

The instructor has now accused him of cheating also, because a tutor worked with him on Skype and did not know that a separate log in was needed. He is being persecuted in addition to being flunked.

We do have legal support, but this is infuriating. Anyone have success passing physics with dyscalculia, other assessment measures besides lengthy exams every month? Or tips for learning methods that help it stick?

Thank you to older posts on this from 2013 etc - I have read those and they were really helpful.

 

[Orodruin]

Exactly what type of tasks does your son struggle with?

I can only speak from my experience from my own country, but here as a university teacher you should accommodate special needs unless you need to show a particular skill according to the course plan. For example, nurses have a medicine dose exam where they have to do basic arithmetic to get patient doses correctly. They are easy computations but they need to get 100% correct to pass and that is something I imagine someone with dyscalculia would struggle with without being allowed any additional aids. (You want nurses to get doses correct every time.) Similar things would happen in a physics class if the course requirements included being able to do a particular type of computation. It is difficult to say without knowing exactly what the course is and exactly how your son’s problems manifest themselves.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

In faculty positions I've had there was an office that would eval the student needs and tell us what accommodations we needed to make. Little was left to instructor discretion. As long as we made the accommodations as instructed by the special needs office, there was no room for accusing faculty of discrimination, persecution, etc. I've known accommodations to include more time for assessments (exams, etc.) but never known one to try and replace an exam with some other form of assessment. I'd let them fire me before I'd give into that nonsense.

Use of unauthorized or undocumented resources WAS and IS cheating. Always. No excuses. Help your son grow up and stop being an enabler. There are helicopter parents, and there are lawn mower parents.

 

[berkeman]

My son is a student in 3rd year of college. He has Dyscalculia (documented) and access to services on campus for math intensive courses. He does very well in other courses. However, his physics instructor refused to accommodate him with suggested measures from the neuropsych who did his latest eval and from the accessibility services office.

Sorry that your son is having to deal with that. I'm sure it makes many things more challenging.

What is his declared major? What are his current career goals? If he is taking a physics class in his 3rd year, it sounds like he is pursuing a technical career in math or science. Is that correct? Or is his major directed toward a career where his Dyscalculia will not usually be an issue? The example of nursing/medicine/EMS given above by @Orodruin is a good one -- there are professions where being comfortable and quick with calculations are important. There are also plenty of other professions where it is not (like lawyer, psychology, etc.).

Here is a quote from a thread a while back where a student with medical issues was considering dropping out of school. It may be helpful for you helping your son in career planning. Best wishes.

I'd just say that you should also consider other alternatives to the Physics course of study that you are currently on. I have a good friend whose background is very similar to yours (she had a mix of physical and mental health issues) . She was in an engineering program, and I used to tutor her in math and engineering courses for over a year. In the end, she figured out that a lot of her stress was coming because she didn't really love engineering and some of the courses involved, and she changed her major to forensic anthropology (of all things!). She found that she loved it, which made school much more fun and interesting for her. She is doing well now, and I think she graduated recently from a 4-year college).

EDIT -- Fixed typo in OP's quoted text.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I'm a bit uncomfortable discussing an adult third party's educational struggles. Any chance the son could participate directly?

 

[DyscalculiaParent]

Exactly what type of tasks does your son struggle with?

I can only speak from my experience from my own country, but here as a university teacher you should accommodate special needs unless you need to show a particular skill according to the course plan. For example, nurses have a medicine dose exam where they have to do basic arithmetic to get patient doses correctly. They are easy computations but they need to get 100% correct to pass and that is something I imagine someone with dyscalculia would struggle with without being allowed any additional aids. (You want nurses to get doses correct every time.) Similar things would happen in a physics class if the course requirements included being able to do a particular type of computation. It is difficult to say without knowing exactly what the course is and exactly how your son’s problems manifest themselves.

Thank you Orodruin, as is usual with dyscalculia (which is different from dyslexia) major challenges are transposing and reading numbers correctly, reading equations correctly (reverses/flips numbers and symbols), memorizing and retaining equations or calculations, and sorting what to do when, when presented with a complex jumble of math information. He can understand and apply concepts and illustrate mastery verbally on theories and concepts well, but not in written exams. This does NOT affect reading, learning, or writing in other areas. Extra time on exams does not help.

 

[DyscalculiaParent]

I'm a bit uncomfortable discussing an adult third party's educational struggles. Any chance the son could participate directly?

I have encouraged this.

 

[Orodruin]

Thank you Orodruin, as is usual with dyscalculia (which is different from dyslexia) major challenges are transposing and reading numbers correctly, reading equations correctly (reverses/flips numbers and symbols), memorizing and retaining equations or calculations, and sorting what to do when, when presented with a complex jumble of math information.

So let me first say that I am certainly not qualified to discuss this from a medical point of view, nor do we discuss medical conditions here. I am just trying to provide the educational aspect regarding the necessity to do computations and equations in physics education.

Based on your description of your son's struggles, I am afraid that I would not recommend pursuing a physics education. While there are some subjects that do not require equation manipulation, it is absolutely essential for many things that a physics education entails. There are things that simply cannot be examined without equations and calculations because those things are exactly the ability to interpret a physical situation in terms of equations, solving those equations, and finally interpreting the result. This is the essence of what a physicist does. With respect to the particular course that you are referring to, it is still difficult to know to what degree the struggles are going to hinder your son relative to the course requirements.

Unfortunately, I would say that it is akin to the nurses' dose calculation test. You cannot do physics without a certain amount of mathematics and calculations (although it is not likely to directly kill anyone as in the case of the dose calculations).

Of course, I am not a (medical) doctor with expertise on dyscalculia, so I do not know if there is anything that can be done to make it easier for your son. You would need to discuss this with your son's doctors. I am sorry if this is not the answer you were looking for, but it is the best answer I can give based on my experience as a physicist and university teacher.

 

[Mark44]

However, his physics instructor refused to accommodate him with suggested measures from the neuropsych who did his latest eval and from the accessibility services office.

What measures did the neuropsychologist suggest? You mentioned earlier that extra time on test does not help.

Based on your description of your son's struggles, I am afraid that I would not recommend pursuing a physics education.

I concur with this. As a rough analogy, I would not recommend that a blind person pursue a career as a baseball umpire.

 

[gmax137]

This is the essence of what a physicist does.

This is what I was thinking, and I suspect many others on this forum would agree.

As a rough analogy, I would not recommend that a blind person pursue a career as a baseball umpire.

Or maybe someone trying to study the classics, without learning ancient Greek, Latin, and Hebrew.

That said, if the student is just trying to pass physics-101 as a one-off course, I think that should be possible. But I don't know anything about dyscalculia (in fact I never heard of it before this thread).

 

[russ_watters]

That said, if the student is just trying to pass physics-101 as a one-off course, I think that should be possible.

If it's physics 101 as a random technical elective for a non-physicist or engineer, perhaps substituting a less mathematical science class such as chemistry or biology would help.

 

[berkeman]

perhaps substituting a less mathematical science class such as chemistry or biology

That's an interesting point. Chemistry is much less intuitive to me than math, physics and engineering. Biology takes as much memorization at Chemistry (maybe more, IMO), but is easier for me. I wonder how these courses of study are for folks with dyscalculia...

 

[symbolipoint]

If it's physics 101 as a random technical elective for a non-physicist or engineer, perhaps substituting a less mathematical science class such as chemistry or biology would help.

Not same thing; not comparable

 

[russ_watters]

Not same thing; not comparable

I don't understand; can you elaborate please?

 

[symbolipoint]

DyscalculiaParent,
Maybe knowing the program of study or training, and the required courses would be informative for any alternative courses advice.

 

[jtbell]

I suspect that this is an algebra/trigonometry based intro physics course which is required for some other major, although probably not a pre-requisite for any other courses in the major. At the college where I taught for many years, all biology majors had to take such a physics course, along with some math, even if they were planning on a career that does not actually use much math or physics.

Similar to what Dr. Courtney described, my college has an administrative office under the Provost (head of Academic Affairs) which specifies accommodations for students with disabilities. I occasionally got notices from them for students who needed more time on exams, or needed to take them separately from the other students, or whatever. I never had to deal with someone with dyscalculia, though, so I don't know how that would have been handled.

If the professor refused to implement accommodations that were specifically directed by the disability office, the proper course of action is to complain to the physics department and to the disability office, or in our case, being a small school, probably directly to the Provost. The department chair and/or the Provost (or equivalent officer at other schools) would have to decide how to deal with the recalcitrant professor.

 

[Orodruin]

If the professor refused to implement accommodations that were specifically directed by the disability office, the proper course of action is to complain to the physics department and to the disability office, or in our case, being a small school, probably directly to the Provost.

It depends. If the accommodations would directly prohibit the examination of the subject, I do not see that it is so clear that they need to be made (nor that they can be made). However, the professor should clearly make the provisions within which the subject matter can still be properly examined. We have our own disability office and it works exactly like that. Imagine, for example, a course called "Problem solving under time pressure" where one of the course requirements is to solve problems in a limited amount of time. A student that requires more time and has that suggested from the disability office would not get more time for that exam because it would directly prevent the proper examination of the subject matter. It is perfectly possible that similar mechanisms are in place here. As I have already stated, we cannot tell whether this is likely to be the case without knowing the course requirements so any speculation about it is meaningless.

 

[Vanadium 50]

. As a rough analogy, I would not recommend that a blind person pursue a career as a baseball umpire.

And yet, there is plenty of evidence to the contrary.

More seriously, this thread has turned into speculation piled upon speculation, with a little drama stirred into liven things up. We don't know what the class is, where it fits in the overall curriculum, what the prerequisites were, how well the student did on these prerequisites, exactly what accommodations were requested, through what channels, and what the professor's response was. And, on top of that, the student isn't here. Makes it hard to have a helpful discussion.

And as for "I understand the concepts, I just can't work the problems", my experience is that 90+% of the time, that means "I don't understand the concepts"

 

[jtbell]

It occurred to me that the disability office might be able to negotiate with the major department to find some alternate way of fulfilling the physics requirement via a less math-intensive course. However, the OP indicates that this summer will be the student's third try at the course, so I suppose (speculation again!) that route has already been ruled out.