Beyond Academics: A Model for Simultaneously Advancing Campus-Based Supports for Learning Disabilities, STEM Students’ Skills for Self-Regulation, and Mentors’ Knowledge for Co-regulating and Guiding

Abstract

Learning disabilities are highly prevalent on college campuses, yet students with learning disabilities graduate at lower rates than those without disabilities. Academic and psychosocial supports are essential for overcoming challenges and for improving postsecondary educational opportunities for students with learning disabilities. A holistic, multi-level model of campus-based supports was established to facilitate culture and practice changes at the institutional level, while concurrently bolstering mentors’ abilities to provide learning disability-knowledgeable support, and simultaneously creating opportunities for students’ personal and interpersonal development. Mixed methods were used to investigate implementation of coordinated personal, interpersonal, and institutional level supports for undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students with learning disabilities. A one-group pre-test post-test strategy was used to examine undergraduate outcomes. Participants included 52 STEM undergraduates with learning disabilities, 57 STEM graduate student mentors, 34 STEM faculty mentors, and 34 university administrators and personnel as members of a university-wide council. Enrolled for 2 years, undergraduates were engaged in group meetings involving psychoeducation and reflective discussions, development of self-advocacy projects, and individual mentorship. Undergraduates reported improved self-efficacy (p = 0.001), campus connection (p < 0.001), professional development (p ≤ 0.002), and self-advocacy (p < 0.001) after two academic years. Graduate student mentors increased their understanding about learning disabilities and used their understanding to support both their mentees and other students they worked with. Council members identified and created opportunities for delivering learning disability-related trainings to faculty, mentors and advisors on campus, and for enhancing coordination of student services related to learning and related disorders. Disability-focused activities became integrated in broader campus activities regarding diversity. This research explicates a role that college campuses can play in fostering the wellbeing and the academic and career development of its students with developmental learning and related disorders. It offers an empirically tested campus-based model that is multilevel, holistic, and strengths-based for supporting positive outcomes of young people with learning disabilities in STEM. Moreover, findings advance the knowledge of supports and skills that are important for self-regulating and navigating complex and multi-faceted disability-related challenges within both the postsecondary educational environment and the young adults’ sociocultural context.

Strategies for Coping with Time-Related and Productivity Challenges of Young People with Learning Disabilities and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

“…We found that effective strategy use across life’s contexts was critical to self-managing as a young person in college who is transitioning to adulthood with a chronic neurodevelopmental condition. This finding is consistent with research reporting the essential nature of executive skills to college success for those with LD/ADHD; critical executive skills include planning, goal setting, organization, flexibility, time management, and structuring time and tasks [23]. For our participants, the transition to adult roles involved simultaneously learning to cope with time and productivity challenges while also learning to self-manage LD/ADHD-related health, role, social, and emotional concerns.…”

“…This paper reports on a secondary data analysis. Data were transcripts from group discussions and individual interviews that were collected as part of a larger study, which developed and tested a campus-based model of holistic LD/ADHD supports [23]. The data were originally collected for the purpose of gaining actionable insights into the participants’ needs and experiences as emerging young adults with LD/ADHD within a college environment.…”

Universal Design for Learning in postsecondary STEM education for students with disabilities: a systematic literature review

“…Journal reflections showed an increase in the application of UDL strategies in trying to make better class materials and using different teaching methods to engage all students in the lessons (Moon et al, 2011). Kreider et al (2018) researched the benefits of the Comprehensive Support for STEM Students with Learning Disabilities (CS 3 LD), a campus-based framework for supporting students with disabilities. The CS 3 LD model supports students with learning disabilities (LD) at three different levels, institutional, personal, and interpersonal.…”

“…The model also focused on the student's health and well-being. Kreider et al (2018) utilized a mixed-methods design for their 4-year project. Qualitative data consisted of focus group discussions, participant communications, and individual interviews.…”

New approaches to learning knowledge-intensive activities

“…In our opinion, the competence approach is not universal. On the one hand, in recent years much attention has been paid to the role of universities, taking into account not only their educational function [10,11]. On the other hand, the role and functions of education are changing constantly, since in the era of rapid information deterioration, the most important function of education is the formation of appropriate cognitive structures providing perception and information processing.…”