Disability and Equity in Education Commons^™

Eighteen Blind Library Users’ Experiences With Library Websites And Search Tools In U.S. Academic Libraries: A Qualitative Study, Adina Mulliken

Publications and Research

Telephone interviews were conducted with 18 blind academic library users around the U.S. about their experiences using their library and its website. The study uses the perspective that blind users’ insights are fundamental. A common theme was that navigating a webpage is time consuming on the first visit. Issues identified include the need for “databases” to be defined on the homepage, accessibly coded search boxes, logical heading structure, and several problems to be resolved on result pages. Variations in needs depending on users’ screen reader expertise were also raised. Suggestions for libraries to address these issues are offered.

Using Photography Activity Schedules To Facilitate Independent Completion Of Academic Tasks For Young Children With Autism, Nicole Taylor

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Some children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) struggle to perform a series of academic tasks, like academic worksheets, independently. Photographic activity schedules are one technique that has been demonstrated to promote independent behavior in individuals with ASD. This study used a multiple baseline design across participants to examine how activity schedules impacted the accurate and independent completion of a series of academic tasks (i.e., worksheets) for young children with ASD. Participants included three young children with ASD 6 and 7 years old who performed a series of academic tasks in the presence of an adult, but struggled to display ...

Supporting Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder In Post-Secondary Education Settings: Common Barriers And Needed Accommodations And Supports, Ryan T. Paskins

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are enrolling in colleges and universities at an increasing rate. Although there is greater attendance in PSE settings, the graduation rate of this population is below the standard average. Improved services to help these students achieve their college and university goals are needed. Disability service professionals provide services to these students, yet oftentimes are not prepared to do so. In an effort to take a step toward addressing this concern, the current study began the exploratory process of identifying whether services provided by campus disability resources centers (DRC) align with the best practices that ...

Teaching Science Through Inquiry Based Field Experiences Using Orientation And Mobility, Danene K. Fast, Tiffany A. Wild

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Instruction in science can be difficult for students with visual impairments due to the use of visual instruction that is often used for conceptual understanding. Pedagogical approaches to teaching science continue to evolve, with inquiry-based science instruction as a primary instructional method used in current classrooms.

In teaching students with visual impairments, inquiry is a strategy that has been traditionally been used in orientation and mobility (O&M) instruction, in an effort to teach students with vision loss to explore and make conclusions about their environments through the use of all senses.

The purpose of this review is to outline ...

The Reality Of Educational Media Throughout The Emirate Of Abu Dhabi Secondary Schools In The United Arab Emirates From The Perspectives Of Students, Omar M. Khasawneh, Rafeea Musallem Al Ameri

International Journal for Research in Education

The purpose of this study was to identify the reality of educational media throughout the Emirate of Abu Dhabi secondary schools in the United Arab Emirates from the perspectives of students. To attain the study purpose, the researchers prepared a questionnaire consisted of 63 statements in its final format as an instrument for data collection. Upon the completion of stating the questionnaire items, the researchers tested its reliability as well as validity. The study instrument had been divided into five major domains. Such domains were school media, instructional technology, school broadcasting, forums/lectures, and local community/family-school communication. Then, (384 ...

The Impact Of An Early Intervention Training Program Based On Verbal Behavior To Develop Communication Skills Among Children With Autism In Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Alzyoudi

International Journal for Research in Education

This study aimed to identify the impact of an early intervention training program based on verbal behavior in the development of communication skills for children with Autism in Saudi Arabia. The study sample consists of 12 children with Autism, who had been identified as having average and less than average degrees of autism according to Gilliam Autism Rating Scale. They were aged 4-6 years. The study uses the following tools, after checking their validity and stability by the researcher: Teacher's Rating of Autistic Child Joint Attention Scale; a translated version of Behavior Language Assessment Form (BLAF). The results of ...

Phonological And Articulation Disorders Among Children With Communication Disorders In Jordan, Enas M. Oliemat

International Journal for Research in Education

This study aimed at identifying the phonological and articulation disorders among typically developing children and children with communication disorder in Jordan in terms of the nature of the disorder in spoken Arabic phonetic according to their age-groups. The study sample consisted of 200 children (100 typically developing children and 100 children with communication disorder) who were chosen randomly from six governorates in Jordan. Data were collected using Phonological Test, Spontaneous Speech Sample, and Picture's Expressive Sample. Using descriptive data analysis, results have showed that there are qualitative and quantitative differences in the nature of the phonological and articulation disorders ...

The Impact Of The Worked Example Modality And Sequencing On Achievement When Self-Learning Complex Multimedia Math Problems, Daniah Alabbasi, Haya Alwehaiby, Abeda Alenezy

International Journal for Research in Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of using multimedia to teach complex math problems. It is designed based on the worked example principle with varied modality and sequencing and tested its efficacy on high school students’ achievement. In order to implement the research idea, high school students were randomly assigned to four groups that were self-taught by four different educational programs. The results of the study showed that there are statistically significant differences (α0.05) between the four groups' mathematical mean scores in the post-test. This means that the modality of displaying the worked example (sound ...

The Degree Of The Teacher’S Role Practice In The Jordanian Education System In The Era Of Knowledge Openness As Seen By Educational Supervisors, Omar Abdul Rahim Rababa'a

International Journal for Research in Education

This study identified the practice degree of the teacher’s role in the Jordanian Education system in the Era of knowledge openness through answering the following question: What is the practice degree of teacher’s exercising his/her roles in the Jordanian education system in the era of knowledge openness as seen by the educational supervisors? This study adopted the descriptive analytical approach. The population consisted of (800) educational supervisors whereas the sample of the study consisted of (120) supervisors randomly selected. The results of the study showed that the degree of teacher’s role exercising the academic role in ...

Thinking Inclusion: Analysis Of Grandin’S Strategies For Including Students With Autism In The Classroom, Julia Fama

Sacred Heart University Scholar

This article will focus on how to include students with autism in mainstream schools effectively. I draw on the anecdotal evidence shared by Temple Grandin in her autobiography, Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism. In the text, Grandin argues for: (1) the inclusion of students’ fixations in the classroom, (2) the benefits of social interaction between students with autism and typically developing students, (3) the maintenance of structured activities, and (4) the importance of supportive college professors. I contend that while Thinking in Pictures proposes ideas for successful inclusion, it does not include a sufficient amount of research to ...

Developing Growth Mindset And Grit In Preservice Teachers, Susan Keesey, Amanda Schaefer, Madison Loy, Charley Jo Allen

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

Educator preparation programs are charged with developing preservice teachers ready to meet the many challenges of today's classrooms. Developing a growth mindset and GRIT provides future educators with important dispositions to increase their teaching effectiveness and improve the success of their students. A growth mindset helps learners realize that intellect is not fixed but through time and effort, skills will increase. Developing GRIT (i.e., growth, resilience, integrity, and tenacity) builds the perseverance to continue until goals are reached. Developing GRIT and a growth mindset helps teachers understand that all students, even diverse learners, can be successful if provided ...

How Race And Racism Empower A School's Curriculum, Sunni Ali

Journal of Research Initiatives

Teaching students about race and racism are so multi-faceted and sophisticated, yet it remains the most crucial conversation and lesson to have with young people to empower them. One of the useful ways Americans can attempt to unravel and transform this complicated legacy is to make it a part of a school’s curriculum. Allowing race and racism to remain a hidden-aspect of a school’s curriculum reinforces its trivialization and dysfunction.

Indeed, having constructed, well-thought-out lessons about race and racism “myth-bust” any attempts for future Americans to continually embrace xenophobia and genetic inferiority. In recent years, the institution of ...

Principles And Consequences In A Virtue Ethics Analysis Of Affirmative Action, Caleb H A Brown

Montview Liberty University Journal of Undergraduate Research

In this paper, I evaluate affirmative action from the framework of virtue ethics. In doing so, I consider the principles behind affirmative action as well as its consequences because a perfectly virtuous person will act per just principles but will also be concerned with the consequences of her actions. An attempt to restore justice that utilizes a mechanism known to be ineffective is not truly an attempt to restore justice, and so is not virtuous. Therefore, if affirmative action is principally justified, a complete virtue ethical analysis will still ask, “Do we know if it works?” I conclude that affirmative ...

Exploring Student Diversity: College Students Who Have Autism Spectrum Disorders, Monique N. Colclough Phd

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Higher education literature advises that college students who have autism spectrum disorders overwhelmingly attend community colleges. However the persistence and retention of college students who have autism spectrum disorders is not well documented. Absent among the existing literature are first-person narratives of college students who have autism. This phenomenological study explored the experiences of college students who have autism spectrum disorders, focusing on the social experiences that impact college persistence and retention. The following research questions guided the study: What are the social experiences of college students who have autism? What role(s) do various social experiences play in the ...

Graphic Mathematical Mediated Structure: The Link For Hispanic/Latino And English Learners' Mathematical Success, Sylvia Casteloes

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This project’s goal is to promote and improve the mathematical literacy of fourth-grade Hispanic/Latino and English learners through the use of a graphic mathematical mediated structure. Current California Common Core data finds fourth-grade Hispanic/Latino and English learners significantly behind White and Asian students in mathematics, especially in understanding written word problems.

Research supports the assumption that as a tool, a graphic mathematical mediated structure could: 1) foster conceptual understanding; 2) build content terminology; 3) allow students opportunities to justify their solutions; 4) integrate writing in math; and 5) provide a platform for discourse. This innovative pedagogical project ...

"Misfits" And The Celebration Of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, And Queer (Lgbtq) Youth At A High School In The United States, Nathan N. Taylor

Journal of Research Initiatives

As part of a six-month case study, this article delineated the relationship between homonormativity and the victimization of students in a high school in the United States by investigating the strategies of policing, resistance, and queering. Not only do these strategies reappropriate practices inherent in homonormative practices, these strategies reconfigure practices associated with heteronormativity and homophobia. The undercurrent of this research highlights how schools marginalize identities in some spaces and elevate identities in other spaces, the socio-political readings of that positioning, and what educators can do to promote an inclusive environment for all students.

Self-Regulation, Co-Regulation, And Feedback In The Context Of Cross-Cultural Language Acquisition In Higher Education: A Conceptual Approach, Papia Bawa

Journal of Research Initiatives

Given the exponential growth in international student populations in the United States, supporting cross cultural language learners (CCLL) in developing their self and co-regulated learning is highly important. This paper presents a conceptual framework on the value of feedback within self-regulated versus co-regulated environments, in the context of cross- cultural language learning. We use the term cross cultural language learners (CCLL) to refer to international learners, in particular from Asia. When exploring the issues of cross cultural language acquisition relating to logographic (Chinese) and alphabetic (English) languages, we examine the literature that support self and co-regulated learning within the frame ...

Capacity, Passion, Relevance, And Presence: A Conceptual Framework For The Interpretation And Study Of Success, Nathan C. Anderson, Daniel R. Conn, Kylie C. Gamas, Brad Borkhuis, Jonah J. Lantto

Journal of Research Initiatives

This project outlines a conceptual framework to help make sense of opportunities in an effort to recognize conditions for failure and establish paths toward success. In finding success, three distinct themes emerge from the literature: capacity, passion, and relevance. The CPR Success and Failure Analysis framework is intended to be a framework for success. Displayed as a Venn diagram, the framework includes domains of capacity, passion, and relevance, which are connected in the center through presence. The framework may serve as a theoretical lens for research, in-person and online educational opportunities, self-reflection, business coaching/consulting, college and career planning, and ...

Experiences Of Special Education Teachers Performing Physical Restraints Involving Students With Disabilities: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Stephanie Laymon

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The performance of physical restraints on students with disabilities has become a significant interest to the legislative and disability communities in recent years. A report from the USDOE Department of Civil Rights (2018) indicated that while students with disabilities make up only 12% of the student population, these students account for 71% of the physical restraints in public schools. To date, little research has been identified involving physical restraints in public schools. This transcendental phenomenological study collected data from 10 special educators in a school district in Southeast Tennessee who were involved in the physical restraint of students with disabilities ...

Sped 510 Podcasts Episode 11: Kassandra Maloney, Kassandra Maloney, Amy T. Parker

O&M Podcast: On the Go

Kassandra (Kassy) Maloney is a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist, Certified Yoga Teacher, Author, and mom of two little boys (her favorite role yet). She also owns and operates Allied Independence, LLC., a professional development organization that equips Orientation and Mobility Specialists with the most cutting edge and effective strategies that they need in order to help their students live their most independent lives. Through the International Orientation and Mobility Online Symposium, they have been able to impact the lives of thousands of students world-wide.

Amy interviewed Kassy about her efforts to develop an online professional development network for O ...