How are examinations inclusive for students with disabilities in higher education? A sociomaterial analysis

Tai, Joanna; Mahoney, Paige; Ajjawi, Rola; Bearman, Margaret; Dargusch, Joanne; Dracup, Mary; Harris, Lois Ruth

doi:10.1080/02602938.2022.2077910

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Students, including SWDs, are diverse in their disabilities and personal circumstances, which emphasises an education that is flexible and varied (Reyes et al., 2022; Tai et al., 2022). For SWDs, predictability in higher education is essential, but the ability to make personal adjustments or flexibility is equally vital.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The teaching dimension, with its content and climate developed by the teacher (Garrison, 2019), greatly impacts SWD. While SWD report that online teaching and learning brings both challenges and advantages, they express a lack of clear structure and guidance, leading to ambiguity in learning objectives and instructions (Mullins & Mitchell, 2021; Tai et al., 2022). Additionally, SWD grapple with barriers stemming from their living conditions, health issues and unique online learning environment challenges, such as technical problems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Studying online with special needs: A student perspective

Öhrstedt,

Käck,

Reierstam

et al. 2024

Research in Spec Educ Needs

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As diversity is increasing in higher education, the number of students with disabilities (SWD) grows. In parallel, technological development and online education change the conditions for teaching and learning. Previous research indicates that the digitalisation provides both challenges and opportunities for equal participation. This study explores the experiences of SWD in online higher education, using the Communities of Inquiry model as a theoretical framework. A questionnaire with 6256 students (430 SWD) examines the differences and similarities between SWD and other students in online courses. The results show that SWD are a heterogeneous group with diverse needs and preferences, and that online education can offer both advantages and disadvantages for them. The main advantages are using technology to compensate for disabilities, enabling more equal participation, and the flexibility and convenience of online courses. The main challenges are difficulties in planning and self‐regulation, decreased motivation and increased stress, perceived uncertainties about examination requirements and proceedings and the unfulfilled need for interactive environments and feedback. The importance of faculty–student relationships is highlighted, and the significance of clarity and accessibility, feedback and interaction and flexibility and variation in creating inclusive online courses is emphasised. Implications for policy and practice are suggested.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Studying online with special needs: A student perspective

Öhrstedt,

Käck,

Reierstam

et al. 2024

Research in Spec Educ Needs

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“…The interviews revealed that differences from pre-pandemic times reflected an intensified commitment to inclusivity and student-centred learning. The increased use of online learning activities, online assessments, and online, unsupervised, flexible exams aligns with calls for accessible, equitable online learning environments (Butler-Henderson & Crawford, 2020) and accommodation of diverse student needs and life circumstances (Tai et al, 2023b). This was most apparent in learning activities, where, except for oncampus lectures, which decreased, online forms of learning supplemented rather than replaced traditional modes, thus catering to diverse student needs.…”

Section: Learning Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 91%

Beyond emergency remote teaching: did the pandemic lead to lasting change in university courses?

Broadbent,

Ajjawi,

Bearman

et al. 2023

Int J Educ Technol High Educ

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The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted traditional methods of teaching and learning within higher education. But what remained when the pandemic passed? While the majority of the literature explores the shifts during the pandemic, with much speculation about post-pandemic futures, a clear understanding of lasting implications remains elusive. To illuminate this knowledge gap, our study contrasts pedagogical practices in matched courses from the pre-pandemic year (2019) to the post-pandemic phase (2022/2023). We also investigate the factors influencing these changes and the perceptions of academics on these shifts. Data were gathered from academics in a large comprehensive Australian university of varying disciplines through a mixed-methods approach, collecting 67 survey responses and conducting 21 interviews. Findings indicate a notable increase in online learning activities, authentic and scaffolded assessments, and online unsupervised exams post-pandemic. These changes were primarily driven by university-guided adaptations, time and workload pressures, continued COVID-19 challenges, local leadership, an individual desire to innovate, and concerns about academic integrity. While most changes were seen as favourable by academics, perceptions were less positive concerning online examinations. These findings illuminate the enduring effects of the pandemic on higher education, suggesting longer-term implications than previous studies conducted during the acute phase of the pandemic.

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“…[12][13][14] However, to date, there are no empirical studies in this area: Tai and colleagues looked at how emergent combinations of social and material arrangements of examination arrangements impacted on students with disabilities, but their focus was the materiality of written assessments, not OSCEs. 15 We would argue that an OSCE has a different and even more complex assemblage than a written examination. OSCE delivery and administration are enmeshed with material actors of all kinds: buildings, virtual or physical spaces, desks, beds, iPads and checklists, human and nonhuman bodies, procedural equipment and so on.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We are not the first to propose that the materiality of the OSCE matters because it effects educators thinking and planning with respect to what can and cannot be assessed, the manner in which it is assessed and candidate experience and performance 12–14 . However, to date, there are no empirical studies in this area: Tai and colleagues looked at how emergent combinations of social and material arrangements of examination arrangements impacted on students with disabilities, but their focus was the materiality of written assessments, not OSCEs 15 . We would argue that an OSCE has a different and even more complex assemblage than a written examination.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disembodied, dehumanised but safe and feasible: The social‐spatial flow of a pandemic OSCE

et al. 2023

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IntroductionThe Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is a key feature of healthcare education assessment. Many aspects of the OSCE are well‐investigated, but not so its sociomaterial assemblage. The Covid‐19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to (re)consider taken‐for‐granted OSCE practices. Drawing on Law's modes of ordering, our aim was to demonstrate the ‘mangle of practice’ between space and people; the spatialised and spatialising processes of an OSCE.MethodsWe used a case study approach to critically examine a redesigned final year MBChB OSCE held during the pandemic. We used multiple sources of data to attune to human and non‐human actors: OSCE documentation, photographs, field notes and semi‐structured interviews with OSCE staff/organisers. Law's modes of ordering was used as an analytical lens to critically consider how people and things flowed through the adapted OSCE.FindingsThe overarching ordering was the delivery of a ‘pandemic safe’ OSCE. This necessitated reordering of ‘usual’ process to deliver a socially distanced, safe flow of human and non‐human actors through the assessment space. Each change had material and social ‘knock on’ effects. We identified three main interrelated orderings: Substituting technologies for bodies: Disembodied and dehumanised but feasible; Flow through space: Architectural affordances and one‐way traffic; Barriers to flow: Time and technology.DiscussionLooking at the OSCE through a sociomaterial lens allows us to critically examine the OSCE's essential and complex processes and the restrictions and affordances of the spaces and props within the OSCE. In doing so, we open the possibility of considering alternative ways of doing OSCEs in the future. Moreover, conceptualising the OSCE as a living set of socially (human) and materially (nonhuman) enacted processes changes the social perception of the OSCE and highlights that an OSCE has agency on people, places and things.

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How are examinations inclusive for students with disabilities in higher education? A sociomaterial analysis

Cited by 10 publications

References 29 publications

Studying online with special needs: A student perspective

Studying online with special needs: A student perspective

Beyond emergency remote teaching: did the pandemic lead to lasting change in university courses?

Disembodied, dehumanised but safe and feasible: The social‐spatial flow of a pandemic OSCE

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