HEA seminar - Access and Success for All

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AccessAbility Centre

Online Study Guides for students with specific learning difficulties

Matthew Mobbs and Claire Graham

www.le.ac.uk/accessability

BackgroundAccessAbility Centre offers:

• Face-to-face study support for students with Specific Learning Difficulties

• 4 Study Advisers offering 6 hour long appointments per day

• 591 students with splds registered with Centre

University of Leicester

• 22,048 students in total

• 8,651 (39%) distance learners

• Only 27 distance learners with splds registered with Centre

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New Approach

To engage and support DL students and a new approach for campus based students

• 10 Online Study Guides

•Designed based on ‘most frequently requested’ study support sessions

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Pedagogical Design

• Multisensory approach preferred by students with splds (Mortimore, 2003).

– Visuals – colour, images and subtitles

– Audio – Voice over

– Kinaesthetic – Interactivity

• Length and style

– Kept short to hold students’ attention. Approx 10 minutes each (Edirisingha, Salmon, Nie. 2008)

– Mixed approaches: interactive activities, information and guidance and informal tone (Edirisingha, Salmon, Nie. 2008)

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The GuidesWriting an Essay 480 hits

Active Reading 353

Time Management and Organisation 275

Improving Concentration 267

Exam Skills 255

Writing a Dissertation 230

Note Taking Skills 212

Improving Memory 206

Spelling Strategies 195

Making Notes 138

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Example

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How they were made

PowerPoint

Adobe Presenter

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How they were made

PowerPoint

Adobe Presenter

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How they were made

PowerPoint

Adobe Presenterhttp://audacity.sourceforge.net/

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How they were made

PowerPoint

Adobe Presenter

Adobe Presenter• PowerPoint Plugin• Combine Audio and visuals• Published to the Web

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Alternative Free Tools

www.screenr.com

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Alternative Free Tools

www.slideshare.net

http://www.slideshare.net/uolssds/writing-an-essay

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Raising Awareness

• Cards - posters

• Web

• Bb

• YouTube

• Podcasts

• Course Handbooks

• Direct mailing to distance learners

• Email to all dyslexic students

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Methodology• Monitoring hits

– 2611 in total by October 2010

– Indication of support needs

– Patterns of use (seasonal and time of day)

• Survey (online)

– Capturing learner type (distance or campus-based)

– Qualitative written feedback

• Focus Groups

– 2 focus groups

• Formal Student interview

• Informal feedback via study advice sessions

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Feedback

Students have been positive about the resources:

• appreciating different elements of the delivery depending on learning styles;

• using the guides in a variety of ways, ie.

1) when it was difficult to get a face to face session,

2) to prepare for a meeting with a Study Adviser,

3) as consolidation after a study advice session.

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Feedback

• Some students viewed the guides a number of times.

• They appreciated being able to access the support 24/7.

Comments included:

‘I liked the ‘Improving Memory’ one in particular: they had a sort of practical memory test right there and then. You can see that it actually works; and it stayed in my memory for longer…’

‘…it’s nice to have this preliminary stuff done and out of the way so you can really concentrate on a specific area…You’ve built on something so when you get to the study adviser she can push you further’.

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Feedback – Points for improvement

• Students didn’t like the fact that the text that mirrored the audio input was very small and in Times New Roman font.

• Some students wanted to be able to skip whole sections of the presentation.

• Students wanted more control over the pacing of the material.

• Some students wanted more examples.

• It was suggested that more in-depth presentations follow on from these ‘short intro’ guides

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Future Developments

• Study guides to be signposted to every student booking a study advice session

• iTunes U

• One to one study advice sessions to be offered remotely using adobe connect from October 2010

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Examples of study guides

• Improving Memory

http://connect.le.ac.uk/memory

• Essay Writing

http://connect.le.ac.uk/essaywriting

• All guides

http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ssds/accessability/study-skills/study-guides