Education Commons^™

Higher Education Access And Participation For Persons With Disability In Ghanaian Public Universities, Mary Afi Mensah

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Globally, there is a growing interest in widening access and supporting participation for persons with disability in higher education. This situation is stimulated in part by major international treaties and protocols. Ghana has demonstrated its commitment to this global trend to formulate and implement national legislation on inclusive education across the country’s educational system. However, in Ghana, access to and participation in the higher education system by persons with disability remains poor despite national legislation and policies to address this issue. It appears that national policies have not fully translated into institutional policies and provisions dedicated to supporting persons with …

Investigating The Use Of A Digital Diary For Home-School Communication Between Parents And Teachers Of Children With Additional Needs, Dawn Lisa Hallett

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The use of paper diaries to facilitate home-school communication for children with additional needs has shown to have numerous limitations. While the use of mobile digital devices has increased in schools, little research exists into the use of these devices for home-school communication purposes. This study explored the effects of using a digital diary to facilitate home-school communication for primary aged children with additional needs. A constructivist multiple case study approach was used. The digital diary utilised the software application Evernote. This free application was hosted on study participants’ mobile devices or accessed over the Internet. Pre-innovation interviews and surveys …

The Prevalence Of Twice Exceptional Students In The Gat Academic Programs: The Near Miss Phenomena, Lynne Ivicevic

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Twice exceptional (TE) students often experience barriers to their participation in gifted academic programs that contribute to their marginalised status amongst the school gifted population. The estimated prevalence of TE students in gifted programs worldwide varies according to the location, identification means and definition, with little agreement reached between researchers in the field. This research was made up of three interrelated studies. Firstly, six years of longitudinal quantitative cohort data from the Western Australian Department of Education (DoE) database on selected students for the GAT programs including GAT Academic programs and TE students to determine TE prevalence. Secondly, disability prevalence …

A Design Thinking Approach To Professional Development In Reasonable Adjustment: A New Methodology For Trainers In The Vocational Education And Training Sector Of Western Australia, Russell Thom

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research has demonstrated that design thinking (DT) could be used as a professional development (PD) methodology for Vocational Education and Training (VET) trainers in understanding and applying reasonable adjustment (RA). The use of design thinking has the further benefit of raising the trainer’s empathy and understanding of the impact of injury and disability upon a person’s life and the significance of RA outside of the training context.

A workshop (PD session) was designed and conducted to explorer the relevance and success of the PD framework and the use of design thinking in developing an understanding and applying RA. The …

Accessibility Of Thai University Websites: Awareness, Barriers And Drivers For Accessible Practice, Rattanavalee Maisak

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Governments and organizations have to respond to a range of legislative and policy initiatives intended to promote equal opportunity for all. The Thai government has passed a number of laws which aim to protect its citizens from discrimination and from breaches of their human rights by government departments and agencies. The Persons with Disabilities Education Act B.E. 2551 (2008) and the Thailand Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Policy Framework (2011-2020) required government agencies to delivery equal education and access to online information for all Thais. Most Thai universities receive government subsidies, and therefore have an obligation to contribute to national …

Towards Inclusive Standards, Michelle Pearce

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The context of this study is the inclusion of students with dillabilities in secondary schools. The introduction of legislation in the United States and Australia has resulted in large numbers of students with disabilities being included in regular classes by subject teachers. Inclusion in secondary schools has proved especially challenging to teachers. Reviews and research highlight the need for teacher training. but do not specify the knowledge and skills that teachers need to become inclusive. It has been proposed that professional teaching standards have the potential to guide preservice and inservice training. Before standards could be assessed for their inclusivity, …

Visual Dysfunction : A Contributing Factor In Memory Deficits, And Therefore Learning Difficulties?, Elizabeth G. Bennett

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis is based on Educational Therapy (ET) practice which has found eye muscle imbalance is a key factor to be addressed in management of learning difficulties (LD). This level of oculo-motor (o-m) function is a 'hidden' handicap as individuals are unaware of the problem; it is not routinely tested; and is not generally included in learning difficulties research. O-m function is omitted in standard paediatric optometry tests, and in school vision screening. Eye exercises increase the range of binocular fields of vision by employing stereopsis glasses and red/green slides. Central vision loss was uncovered when students reported words, seen …

Early Childhood Teachers' Knowledge Of Children With Disabilities And Teaching Children With Disabilities, Pamela A. Kilgallon

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Trends to integrate students with disabilities into general education schools, rely on early childhood teachers utilising their knowledge and skills to provide successful induction into the education system, and fully including students with disabilities in the teaching program. This study describes early childhood teachers' knowledge of children with disabilities, and the teaching of these children, through teachers recounting their sources of knowledge and experiences in teaching children with disabilities. This study was conducted in the northern metropolitan teaching districts of Perth, Western Australia. Using both quantitative and qualitative methodology, 22 early childhood teachers completed a survey involving open-ended questions, followed …