27 Feb 2003 - strategies that instructors can implement to increase the academic ... Writing papers is even worseâhe just cannot .... outcomes of college students with disabil- ities. .... responses, and more creative responses. In terms of ...
IMPROVING OUTCOMES FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES TEN STRATEGIES FOR INSTRUCTORS Matt Tincani
Abstract* Federal legislation has increased the participation of students with disabilities in higher education, but they are less likely to attain a postsecondary degree than students without disabilities. In this paper, I discuss reasons for academic failure and illustrate ten strategies that instructors can implement to increase the academic success of students with disabilities. The ten strategies are an accessible syllabus, study objectives, study guides, frequent tests, remedial activities, guided notes, response cards, peer tutoring, fluency building, and feedback.
D
anny, an undeclared sophomore with a 2.3 grade point average (GPA), is applying for the second time to the university's competitive business college. Danny has a learning disability, but it has not stopped him from pursuing his lifelong goal of attaining a business degree. Although he attends class and studies almost every day, he has not raised his GPA above 2.3. During lectures, he struggles to stay focused and keep up with note taking. When reviewing his notes, he cannot make sense of them. After reading a few pages of a textbook, he feels like he has forgotten everything. Writing papers is even worse—he just cannot organize his thoughts well Matt Tincani is an assistant professor of special education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
128
enough to write coherently. Danny receives tutoring through the university's office of disability services, which has helped, but it is not enough.
Disabilities in Higher Education: Prevalence and Outcomes Danny's experience is not uncommon in higher education. The passage of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Section 504 Amendments, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) removed barriers that prevented students with disabilities from participating in higher education. In a nationally representative survey during the 1995-96 academic year, 6 percent of postsecondary students reported having a disability (Horn and Berktold 1999). Students with
learning disabilities comprised the largest category (29 percent). Despite the integration of students with disabilities into higher education, students are not faring as well academically. Only 53 percent of students with disabilities attained a degree or vocational certificate within five years, compared to 64 percent of nondisabled students. A combination of factors may account for the achievement gap between disabled and nondisabled students. Research on disability support services in higher education suggests generally favorable outcomes for students receiving services (Paul 2000); however, many students with disabilities do not participate in oncampus programs. Unlike K-12 education, in which students with disabilities are systematically identified and provided individualized services (Heward 2000), postsecondary institutions have no mandated process for identifying and serving students with special needs. Furthermore, the responsibility for disclosing and requesting reasonable accommodation rests solely with the student (Gamble 2000). Students who need accommodation might not disclose their disability and, therefore, might not receive reasonable accommodation or specialized support services. Section 504 and the ADA mandate that postsecondary institutions provide "reasonable" accommodation to students with disabilities. Faculty cannot refuse to accommodate a student on the basis of a disability, nor can they question the COLLEGE TEACHING
validity of a disability category; however, instructors do have discretion in deciding how reasonable accommodations are carried out. Providing effective strategies for instructors is a way to accommodate students with disabilities while improving teaching outcomes for all students. This paper describes ten strategies that instructors can implement to increase the academic success of students with disabilities in their classrooms. These strategies are recommended for students with disabilities, but they also are appropriate for students without disabilities. As has been the case with other technologies implemented to help persons with disabilities, the universal design of teaching strategies benefits all students (Schmetzke 2001).
Failure in the Classroom The lecture is the most common college teaching format. During the lecture, students are expected to listen to the presentation, identify and write down key points, respond to instructor questions, ask for clarification when needed, and add original comments (Barbetta and Skaruppa 1995). Depending on the size of the class and course material, the instructor may pose questions to assess comprehension, encourage discussion, and induce "higher-order" thinking. Although some instructors place contingencies on class attendance (for example, penalties for nonattendance), participation in class typically is up to the student. Unfortunately, many college students have never received formal instruction in note taking, and, consequently, many may take inaccurate or incomplete notes during lectures (Austin 2000). Note taking may be especially difficult for students with learning disabilities, for whom the simultaneous tasks of attending to the instructor and writing accurate notes can prove challenging (Hughes and Suritsky 1994). Furthermore, large class sizes and lengthy lectures preclude the participation of a large number of students in discussions of course content. Together with nonattendance, these factors contribute to the failure of many students to gain enough information to perform well on assignments and exams. Student knowledge is assessed infrequently in the typical college course. In addition to a small number of paper or Vol. 52/No. 4
project assignments, students may take a midterm and final examination. Because of the delayed consequences associated with studying for midterms and finals, students are more likely to procrastinate (Malott 1984). After all, why should the student study during the first week of the semester when the midterm does not occur until the sixth or seventh week? The absence of effective time management skills, common to many college students, compounds the problem. Indeed, students resort to the universal tactic of cramming to compensate for a lack of consistent effort with a marathon studying session at the last minute. In traditional instructional formats, every student is expected to progress at essentially the same rate. The instructor exposes all students to the same material at the same pace, and students are tested at the same time. Unfortunately, all students do not learn at the same pace. Some students may have mastered one unit of material and are ready to move to the next; others may require additional instruction and practice to achieve mastery. Students with learning or cognitive disabilities are especially likely to require additional instruction and practice. When course content is cumulative, students who fail to master one unit will lack the prerequisite skills to begin the next. A student who falls behind in the beginning of the semester is more likely to fail the course. Poor note-taking skills, limited participation opportunities, low attendance, infrequent assessment, and nonindividualized instructional pacing contribute to academic failure. Academic failure may be prevented, however, if the instructor modifies his or her teaching practices. The following section describes ten strategies that instructors can implement to improve outcomes of college students with disabilities. These strategies require minimal effort to implement and may considerably improve the academic performance of disabled and nondisabled students.
The Ten Strategies Accessible Syllabus Promoting the success of students with disabilities begins with an overlooked but important part of the course, the syllabus. Although a student with a disability has
the responsibility to make his or her needs known to the instructor, faculty members can facilitate this process by adding a note to the syllabus encouraging students with disabilities to make an appointment to discuss needed accommodations. This note, which communicates that the instructor is willing to work with students, might state, "A student who feels that he or she may need an accommodation because of the impact of a disability should see the instructor to discuss specific needs." The syllabus also should contain: (a) precisely stated learning objectives for the course; (b) a schedule of events, including discussion topics, exam dates, assignments, and readings to be completed for each day; (c) how the instructor will calculate grades and an explanation of what is required to receive a particular grade; and (d) how the instructor will deal with tardiness, absences, late assignments, test and assignment make-ups, and academic misconduct (Ohio State University Office for Disability Services 2000). Study Objectives Malott (1984) suggests including a list of study objectives for each chapter of course material. Study objectives tell students what to focus on for tests and quizzes. Study objectives for the first chapter of an introductory course in special education might include: • Define disability. • Define handicap. • Describe how a disability differs from a handicap. • Define at-risk. • List the categories of exceptionality. Malott recommends that instructors use between five and twenty study objectives for a one-hour reading assignment, make the study objectives as precise and detailed as possible, and indicate the page numbers and paragraphs that correspond to each question and approximately how much time students should allow for each objective. Study questions avoid ambiguity about what material students should focus on when preparing for tests. Study Guides Study guides also are useful for focusing students on test material (Poison 1995). More extensive than study objectives, a 129
study guide lists multiple choice, short answer, and/or essay questions covering all material that will be on tests. Many current editions of textbooks include study guides. The instructor may encourage or require students to write answers to study guide questions. A study guide improves student efficiency by focusing on material on which students will be tested, and it increases the likelihood of accurate test answers. A study guide may be especially helpful for students with disabilities who have difficulty identifying what material from notes and texts will be included on tests. Frequent Tests Infrequent quizzes and tests invite students to put off studying until the last minute. They also produce "doomsday" contingencies in which a student's entire course grade depends heavily on one or two test scores. Instructors can prevent procrastination by increasing the frequency of tests and quizzes. Rather than testing a large amount of material on the midterm and final. Poison (1995) recommends administering ten tests at regular intervals throughout the course. The instructor can administer tests as frequently as once per week. With study guides and objectives already prepared, the effort of organizing weekly tests is minimal. When tests are administered frequently, even the best student is likely to have a bad day. The instructor can drop the lowest score for each student. In addition to improving study habits and scores, frequent tests place an implicit contingency on the student to attend class. The instructor can administer tests on days of the week such as Monday or Friday, when students are less likely to attend. Remedial Activities Students with disabilities may need repeated practice before achieving mastery. Instructors can allow students who fail to achieve a criterion score (for example, 70 percent) to retake tests on the condition that they participate in a remedial activity (Malott 1984). Remedial activities can consist of study sessions in which students are required to review materials for an hour just before 130
the test, requiring students to complete written answers to study guide questions that are approved by the instructor, or having students complete a graded auxiliary assignment to practice course concepts. Guided Notes Instructors also can modify how they deliver lectures to improve student outcomes. There is a positive relationship between academic achievement and active student engagement (Greenwood, Delaquardi, and Hall 1984). The more often students actively respond to instructional material, the more they are likely to learn. In this context, active student responding (ASR) refers to observable behavior (for example, writing), as opposed to nonobservable behavior (thinking) (Heward 1994). Traditional lectures, in which opportunities for students to participate are infrequent, may not provide sufficient ASR. Three ways to increase active student response in lectures are guided notes, response cards, and peer tutoring. Guided notes are handouts that provide basic information about the lecture, with spaces for students to write key points (Barbetta and Skaruppa 1995). The instructor provides cues to students indicating which key points they should write (figure 1). Students must pay attention to the lecture and make active responses in order to complete the notes. For students with note-taking difficulties, guided notes solve the problem of what to write and how to organize information. When the accuracy of note taking increases, students are better able to prepare for quizzes and exams. Because students only have to write key points, they are free to ask questions and engage in class dialogue. Guided notes also have advantages for the instructor. They provide a sequence of content for the lecture. He or she can easily refer to the notes to identify when the previous lecture ended and where the next lecture should begin. Furthermore, • because key points from lectures are contained in the notes, the content of notes can be converted easily into test questions. Barbetta and Skaruppa (1995) suggest some guidelines for constructing guided notes:
1. Use a standard outline format. 2. Provide consistent cues (for example, bullets, asterisks, or blank lines) so that students know where to write. 3. Make sure students have ample room to write. 4. Do not require students to write down too much; it can slow down the lecture. 5. Add appendices with additional course materials and information. 6. Have guided notes available on the Web for students to download. 7. Include additional in-class activities and homework exercises. 8. Supplement lectures with overhead transparencies with key points for students to write. Response Cards Response cards (RC) provide another way to increase ASR during lectures. According to Heward, "Response cards are cards, signs, or items that are held up simultaneously by all students to display their response to a question or problem presented by the [instructor]" (1994, 299). In contrast with traditional formats in which only one student may answer a question at a time, RC allows all students to answer simultaneously, increasing the amount of ASR and allowing the instructor to detect individual responses. There are two basic types of RC: preprinted and write-on. With preprinted RC, the student selects the card with the correct answer from a set of cards or, with "pinch cards," uses a finger, paper clip, or clothespin to point to the correct response (figure 2). With write-on response cards, students write their answers on a blank card or board with a dry-erase marker. Examples of questions and responses using RC might include "Is JAVA an object oriented programming language?" (preprinted RC) or "Which South American country has the highest per capita income?" (written RC). Among their advantages, preprinted response cards generate higher rates of ASR and fewer errors and can be detected more easily by the teacher. In terms of disadvantages, they allow for a narrow range of possible responses, limit the instructor to recognition tasks, and are not appropriate for lectures involving a broad range of answers. Among their COLLEGE TEACHING
Chapter 4 Collecting Data Behavior may be measured or changed along a number of. . data are expressed in a ratio with time, we have — Rate. When a measure of rate. Examples: • Raymond completed twelve problems per minute. • Julie made seven trips to the bathroom per hour. — Duration. When we describe how long behavior. measuring duration. Examples: ' Raymond worked on math problems for twenty minutes. • Julie stayed in the bathroom for fifteen minutes.
_, we are
— Latency. A measure of how long it takes a student to start performing a behavior is a measure of . Examples: • After Ms. Williams said, "Get to work," it took Raymond two minutes to start working on his math problems. • After Ms. Williams told Julie to come out of the bathroom, it took her five minutes to appear at the door. — Topography. Topography refers to the shape of behavior-what it like.
• Julie screams, kicks her heels, and pulls her hair when she has a tantrum. — Force. When we are concerned with how a behavior is performed, we measure force. • Raymond writes so heavily that it makes holes in his math paper.
ety of skills to students with disabilities (DuPaul, Ervin, Hook, and McGoey 1998; Gumpel and Frank 1999). Typically, students break off into groups of between two and five and take turns teaching each other for up to twenty minutes. The tutor provides feedback to his or her partner's responses. In one approach, students exchange written answers to study guide questions and give one another feedback on the accuracy of responses (Poison 1995). Feedback consists of an accuracy rating for the answer to each question, such as poor, OK, or good. Students have time at the end to discuss problems and ask the instructor questions. In another approach, students prepare flash cards with key terms written on one side and definitions on the other. Students take turns presenting the cards to one another. In a predefined time period (for example, one minute or less), a student must define all key terms correctly. Cards for terms defined correctly are moved out of the pile, and terms defined incorrectly are presented again. Instructors may take advantage of peer tutoring dyads by pairing high-performing students with lowerperforming students. Fluency Building
• Locus. A concern with locus.
a behavior occurs is described as
FIGURE 1. Sample of guided notes from a lecture on collecting behavioral data, adapted from Alberto and Troutman (1995). Students write lecture information in underlined blank spaces and after bullets.
advantages, written response cards may allow for a broader range of correct answers, more demanding recall responses, and more creative responses. In terms of disadvantages, they may generate lower rates of ASR because of time consumed by writing and erasing, produce higher rates of errors, and be more difficult to see.
2. Maintain a lively pace. 3. Provide clear cues for when to hold up and put down the cards. 4. Provide feedback based on the majority response. 5. If an item results in too many errors, present it again later. 6. Allow students to look at each other's answers (it is not cheating).
Heward (1994) suggests the following guidelines for using response cards:
Peer Tutoring
1. Model several questions and responses, and let students practice using them. Vol. 52/No. 4
Peer tutoring is another way to increase ASR in college classrooms. Peer tutoring has been used successfully to teach a vari-
To generate successful outcomes, instructors must teach students to respond quickly as well as accurately (Binder 1993). Fluency is a measure of both the speed and accuracy of a student's responses. Students who perform skills fluently will experience increased retention and maintenance, increased resistance to distraction, improved transfer to other skills, and better essay writing. Although few college educators emphasize fluency in their teaching practices, many teachers of music, athletics, dance, martial arts, and foreign languages have recognized the importance of fluency for student mastery. SAFMEDS allows instructors to incorporate fluency building into college classrooms (Calkin 1996). SAFMEDS stands for "Say All Facts a Minute Each Day Shuffled." SAFMEDS are twosided flashcards with terms printed on one side and definitions on the other. In one minute, the student must correctly say aloud as many terms as possible by flipping the cards in rapid succession 131
(without looking at the answers on the back). To reach the fluency criterion, the student must say at least sixty terms correctly in one minute. Only with repeated daily practice is it possible to achieve this aim. The instructor may set aside a few minutes of class for pairs of students to time each other on SAFMEDS, although additional practice outside of class will be necessary to achieve fluency.
Positive S^
Negative S^
Punishment
Extinction
Feedback Postsecondary students' academic performance is a direct reflection of how a course is taught. Scores on tests, papers, and other assignments provide critical feedback for the instructor. In the interest of fairness, it is advisable to throw out and revise test items that the majority of the class gets wrong. Anonymous written surveys also are a helpful way for instructors to get valuable feedback. Surveys might include questions such as "What did you find most useful in this course?", "What was least useful?", "How have you used what you've learned outside of the course?", and so on.
Conclusion Underachievement by students with disabilities is a pervasive but preventable problem. Although helping students with disabilities requires work on the front end, the long-term benefits far outweigh shortterm costs. The strategies discussed in this paper will improve instructional outcomes for students with and without disabilities. Key words: disabilities, grade improvement, teaching strategies REFERENCES
Alberto, P. A., and A. C. Troutman. 1995. Applied behavior analysis for teachers. Englewood, NJ: Merrill. Austin, J. A. 2000. Behavioral approaches to college teaching. In Handbook of applied behavior analysis, ed. J. A. Austin and J. E. Carr, 449-72. Reno, NV: Context Press. Barbetta, P. M., and C. L. Skaruppa. 1995. Looking for a way to improve your behavior analysis lectures? Try guided notes.
132
FIGURE 2. Sample preprinted response card for a lecture on consequences of behavior. When given a question by the instructor, students move the attached paper clip to the correct answer.
Behavior Analyst 18:155-60. Binder, C. 1993. Behavioral fluency: A new paradigm. Educational Technology 33:8-14. Calkin, A. B. 1996. Learning Russian. Journal of Precision Teaching and Celeration 14:57-71. DuPaul, G. J., R. A. Ervin, C. L. Hook, and K. E. McGoey. 1998. Peer tutoring for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Effects on classroom behavior and academic performance. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis ?,\:519-92. Gamble, D. 2000. An analysis of disability support services in higher education. ERIC, ED 445445. Greenwood, C. R., J. C. Delaquardi, and R. V. Hall. 1984. Opportunity to respond and student academic performance. In Focus on behavior analysis in education, ed. W. L. Heward, T. E. Heron, D. S. Hill, and J. Trap-Porter, 58-88. Columbus, OH: Merill. Gumpel, T. P , and R. Frank. 1999. An expansion of the peer-tutoring paradigm: Crossage peer tutoring of social skills among socially rejected boys. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 32:115-18. Heward, W. L. 1994. Three low-tech strategies for increasing the frequency of active student response during group instruction. In Behavior analysis in education: Focus on measurably superior instruction, ed. R. Gardiner III, D. M. Sainato, J. O. Cooper, T. E. Heron, W. L. Heward, J. Eshleman, and T. A. Grossi, 283-320. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
. 2000. Exceptional children: An introductory survey of special education. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Horn, L., and J. Berktold. 1999. Students with disabilities in postsecondary education: A profile of preparation, participation, and outcomes. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, National Center for Education Statistics. Hughes, C. A., and S. K. Suritsky. 1994. Notetaking skills of university students with and without learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities 27:20-24. Malott, R. W. 1984. In search of human perfectibility: A behavioral approach to higher education. In Focus on behavior analysis in education, ed. W. L. Heward, T. E. Heron, D. S. Hill, and J. Trap-Porter, 218-45. Columbus, OH: Merill. Ohio State University Office for Disability Services. 2000. Instructor handbook: Teaching students with disabilities. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University. Paul, S. 2000. Students with disabilities in higher education: A review of the literature. College Student Journal 34:200-10. Poison, A. D. 1995. Fostering multiple repertoires in undergraduate behavior analysis students. Behavior Analyst 18: 293-99. Schmetzke, A. 2001. Online distance education— "Anytime, anywhere" but not for everyone. Information Technology and Disabilities 7, http://www.rit.edu/~easi/itd/itdvO7n2/axel. htm.
COLLEGE TEACHING
