The academic journey of students with specific learning difficulties undertaking pre-registration nursing programmes in the UK: A retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of nursing students with specific learning difficulties enrolled on pre-registration nursing programmes and the impact that this diagnosis has on their programme outcomes are currently unknown. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this paper is to report on data that explored and compared the academic journey of students with and without learning difficulties on pre-registration nursing degree programmes. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort design. SETTINGS: One university in the UK offering BSc Honours Degree programmes in Adult and Mental Health Nursing. PARTICIPANTS: Pre-registration adult and mental health nursing students (n = 1152) enrolled in the programmes between 2012 and 2016. METHODS: Pearson's Correlation, ANOVA and crosstabulation were used to identify the differences and associations between each group of students with the outcome variables grade percent average and programme completion. RESULTS: A total of 12.5% of the students were identified as having a diagnosed specific learning difficulty and were entitled to reasonable adjustments. The analysis shows that their grade percent average and completion rates are equivalent to students without a specific learning difficulty. CONCLUSIONS: The differences between students with a specific learning difficulty and those without are small across the variables measured. Reasonable adjustments appear to mitigate the learning difficulties that students with specific learning difficulties have. Educators need to continue to promote ways of identifying students with specific learning difficulties as early as possible in the student's academic journey. Responsive adjustments in teaching and assessment in theory and practice components should be implemented to ensure that all students' opportunities to succeed are maximised.

Developing Adaptive Serious Games for Children With Specific Learning Difficulties: A Two-phase Usability and Technology Acceptance Study.

BACKGROUND: Specific learning difficulties (SpLD) include several disorders such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia, and the children with these SpLD receive special education. However, the studies and the educational material so far focus mainly on one specific disorder. OBJECTIVE: This study's primary goal is to develop comprehensive training material for different types of SpLD, with five serious games addressing different aspects of the SpLD. The second focus is measuring the impact of adaptive difficulty level adjustment in the children's and their educators' usability and technology acceptance perception. Receiving feedback from the children and their educators, and refining the games according to their suggestions have also been essential in this two-phase study. METHODS: A total of 10 SpLD educators and 23 children with different types of SpLD tested the prototypes of the five serious games (ie, Word game, Memory game, Category game, Space game, and Math game), gave detailed feedback, answered the System Usability Scale and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) questionnaires, and applied think-aloud protocols during game play. RESULTS: The games' standard and adaptive versions were analyzed in terms of average playtime and the number of false answers. Detailed analyses of the interviews, with word clouds and player performances, were also provided. The TAM questionnaires' average and mean values and box plots of each data acquisition session for the children and the educators were also reported via System Usability Scale and TAM questionnaires. The TAM results of the educators had an average of 8.41 (SD 0.87) out of 10 in the first interview and an average of 8.71 (SD 0.64) out of 10 in the second interview. The children had an average of 9.07 (SD 0.56) out of 10 in the first interview. CONCLUSIONS: Both the educators and the children with SpLD enjoyed playing the games, gave positive feedback, and suggested new ways for improvement. The results showed that these games provide thorough training material for different types of SpLD with personalized and tailored difficulty systems. The final version of the proposed games will become a part of the special education centers' supplementary curriculum and training materials, making new enhancements and improvements possible in the future.

Timing is key to providing modified assessments for students with specific learning difficulties.

INTRODUCTION: Medical students who are diagnosed with a specific learning difficulty (SpLD) will typically receive a reasonable adjustment within examinations in the form of modified assessment provision (MAP). This study investigated whether the timing of SpLD diagnosis and subsequent implementation of MAP has an impact on performance in applied medical knowledge multiple choice question (MCQ) assessments. METHOD: The MCQ performance of 108 students diagnosed with SpLD who received a MAP was monitored and compared with 1960 students who received an unmodified assessment, over 5 years of a medical program. Students who received a SpLD diagnosis in the latter years of the program were identified as not receiving a MAP in assessments prior to diagnosis. RESULTS: Differences were found between declaration and diagnosis, with 44.4% of students who declared and 48.1% who did not declare subsequently receiving a diagnosis. Students with SpLD who receive a MAP increase their applied medical knowledge assessment performance, although there is a delay of up to a year for this impact to reach significance. CONCLUSION: Early diagnosis of SpLD is necessary to ensure the intended benefit is received from MAP.

Exploring the disclosure decisions made by physiotherapists with a specific learning difficulty.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the disclosure decisions made in the workplace by physiotherapy staff with a specific learning difficulty (SpLD). DESIGN & SETTING: An exploratory qualitative design was used, which was informed by the social model of disability. The research was undertaken in North West England. It is presented according to the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research. PARTICIPANTS: A purposive sample of eight physiotherapists recognised as having a SpLD were recruited. All participants had studied on one of two programmes at a university in England between 2004-2012. Their NHS workplace experience was from across the UK. DATA GENERATION: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were undertaken within the university setting or via telephone. Interviews lasted 40 to 70minutes and were digitally recorded. An interview guide was used to direct the interview. DATA ANALYSIS: Interview data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. FINDINGS: Four participants were female. The mean number of years qualified as a physiotherapist was 4.5years (SD=2.27). Three themes were identified: 'Disclosing during the workplace application'; 'Positive about disabled people scheme'; 'Disclosing in the workplace'. CONCLUSIONS: Disclosure of dyslexia is a selective process and is a central dilemma in the lives of individuals who have a concealable stigmatised identity. As a consequence, physiotherapy staff with dyslexia may choose to conceal their disability and not disclose to their employer. In order for staff with dyslexia to get the support they need in the workplace, disclosure is recommended. A number of recommendations have been made to facilitate the disclosure process.