Search results for "Special education."

In the shadow of threatening norms: How students with visual impairment contest and reproduce institutional positions

2020

This article focuses on semi-narrative guided interviews with students with visual impairment (VI) who attend a state-approved special school for students with VI at the time of the interview, although they had different previous experiences in both segregated and inclusive schools. We are conducting a qualitative analysis from the perspective of teenagers concerning how they negotiate institutional ascriptions of (dis)abilities. We have selected interview sequences of two young people: (a) Kai: self-confidence and internalized self-doubt and (b) Felix: between fighting and claiming ableist divides. Our analyses reveal the different ways of how Kai and Felix each contest the ableist divide…

Ensuring Diverse User Experiences and Accessibility While Developing the TeSLA e-Assessment System

2019

The TeSLA project, with its new, innovative approaches for e-assessment, offers a great possibility for increasing the educational equality and making higher education studies available for all. It has been estimated that 10–15% of students in higher education institutions have some disabilities or special educational needs. At online universities or in online programmes, the number is even higher. These numbers emphasise the importance of the universal design for learning as a leading principle while developing the digital learning environments and e-assessment procedures. In this chapter, we describe the key elements of ensuring the accessibility of the TeSLA e-assessment system during th…

A cross-sectional study of pre-service teachers’ views about disability and attitudes towards inclusive education

2016

Teachers’ attitudes towards students with disabilities and special educational needs (SEN) and their inclusion in regular education classrooms have been internationally identified as a key factor in the implementation of inclusive education. In this study, 501 participants representing a cross-section of pre-service teachers from three public colleges of education in Ghana were surveyed about their views regarding disability, level of discomfort interacting with people with disabilities and attitudes towards inclusive education. The results indicate that the pre-service teachers understood disability as an interaction between biological and environmental factors and felt comfortable interac…

Student participation in dialogue in individual subject curriculum meetings: students’ and parents’ perceptions

2020

While there has been considerable research on students with special educational needs and their parents’ participation at individual subject curriculum (ISC) meetings at school, less attention has ...

Acceptability of the e-authentication in higher education studies: views of students with special educational needs and disabilities

2021

AbstractTrust-based e-assessment systems are increasingly important in the digital age for both academic institutions and students, including students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Recent literature indicates a growing number of studies about e-authentication and authorship verification for quality assurance with more flexible modes of assessment. Yet understanding the acceptability of e-authentication systems among SEND students is underexplored. This study examines SEND students’ views about the use of e-authentication systems, including perceived advantages and disadvantages of new technology-enhanced assessment. This study aims to shed light on this area by exa…

2020

Determining disability prevalence is a growing area for population statistics, especially among young adolescents. The Washington Group on Disability Statistics is one source of reporting disabilities through functional difficulties. Yet, young adolescents self-reporting through this measure is in its infancy. The purpose of this study was to carry out an intra-rater test-retest reliability study on a modified set of items for self-reporting functional difficulties. Young adolescents (N = 74; boys = 64%; age M = 13.7, SD = 1.8) with special educational needs in Finland completed a self-reported version of the Child Functioning Module in a supervised classroom. The second administration took…

Teacher preparation for inclusion in Norway: a study of beliefs, skills, and intended practices

2017

ABSTRACTThe aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the educational experiences of teacher education students and their attitudes towards planning and making adaptations for children with learning disabilities in inclusive classrooms. Participants comprised pre-service teachers in the second and fourth years of teacher preparation at a major Norwegian university. Fourth-year students were completing a 1-year elective in special education (n = 34) or coursework in other subjects (n = 30). Second-year students were grouped based on their intention to take special education (n = 26) or other coursework (n = 62). Participants rated their beliefs, skills, and intended practices…

Developing E-Authentication for E-Assessment : Diversity of Students Testing the System in Higher Education

2020

Sähköinen tunnistautuminen on yksi keskeisistä teemoista verkko-opetuksessa, -opiskelussa ja - arvioinnissa. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli tutkia opiskeluunsa erityistä tukea tarvitsevien yliopisto-opiskelijoiden käyttökokemuksia kehitteillä olevasta sähköisestä tunnistautumisjärjestelmästä. Erityistä huomiota kehittämistyössä kiinnitettiin tunnistautumisen saavutettavuuteen. Kaikkiaan 15 opiskelijaa testasi TeSLA-projektin osana kehitettyä tunnistautumisjärjestelmää, johon kuului kasvojentunnistus, äänentunnistus, näppäilyntunnistus, tekstityylianalyysi ja plagioinnin tunnistus. Opiskelijat täyttivät esi- ja jälkikyselylomakkeet sekä osallistuivat henkilökohtaisiin haastatteluihin. T…

Children with Down syndrome in Finland and Italy: comparing adaptive behavior and services

2016

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare a sample of Italian (n = 29) and Finnish children (n = 32) with Down syndrome for possible differences emerging from diverse educational surroundings. Besides the level of adaptive and challenging behaviors, some other issues were compared, including teacher satisfaction. Methods: We used the children’s teachers as informants. They were interviewed using standardized scales. Results: No differences in adaptive behavior or challenging behavior were observed between the samples. All children from the Italian sample were fully included in mainstream classes, while in the Finnish sample, 92% of all the school years were spent in self-contained sp…

Special education without teaching assistants? : The development process for students with autism

2020

Many children may need the help of another person to attend school. It is common for children with disabilities to receive help from a teaching assistant at school. Assistants are provided in many countries as a legal right and are often publicly funded. It is also widely assumed that having teaching assistants in the class is an effective and cost-efficient way to support students with disabilities. In this study, the research task was to monitor and document the development process carried out by the teacher, with the aim of making visible the development of a more dynamic classroom interaction. The focus in this development process was the teacher’s idea of minimizing the conta…