Neurodiverse undergraduate psychology students' experiences of presentations in education and employment

Abstract

PurposeAudio-visual presentations – delivered either in real-life or virtually – feature heavily in educational assessments and employer recruitment. This study explored neurodivergent undergraduate students' experiences of presentations. The aim was to understand how neurodivergent students describe experiences of presentations in educational and workplace contexts and how neurodivergent students experienced training, support activities and learning technologies associated with presentations.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory qualitative phenomenological approach was taken, from students' perspectives. Overall, 12 neurodivergent undergraduate students (Mage = 21.89 years, SDage = 2.57; nine women, two men, one non-binary) discussed their experiences of presentations within educational and/or professional contexts via semi-structured remote interviews. The sample included individuals with diagnoses of anxiety, depression, dyslexia, borderline personality disorder, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, and panic disorder.FindingsThematic Analysis of interview transcript data revealed four main themes (with sub-themes in parentheses): Control (preparedness; delivery); Audience Perceptions and Behaviours (expectations of “normality”; shared knowledge; audience “expertise”); Intervention Efficacy (early access; individuality; learning technologies) and Value of Presentation Skills (reciprocity between education – workplace; self-efficacy; self-esteem; learner development).Research limitations/implicationsThe dataset was extracted from a relatively small sample from a single university and indeed a single academic discipline. Furthermore, the dataset was collected during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic – although this gives us a valuable snapshot of students' experiences and perceptions during this time, whether the author can extrapolate these findings in future is unclear.Practical implicationsThe findings help understand how we better support students. Better ways to support learners can be developed in developing presentation and audience skills. This research shows that alternative assessment provisions must be based on individuals and their own specific needs and skills, rather than their divergence label. This research can inform the development of digital learning technologies.Social implicationsThis research can inform how educators, coaches, trainers, and facilitators “train” audiences to be more inclusive and less prejudicial/biased. We can understand how to better construct social spaces for presentations, in the classroom and the world of work.Originality/valueThis report presents a valid and valuable methodological approach, conducted and reported transparently. This research was conducted during a crucial, unprecedented and precarious time period for learners and education professionals. Implications are considered with respect to the design of teaching, learning and assessment activities; facilitator, learner, and peer behaviours; the role of digital learning technologies; and employment/employability.

Digital Teaching Competence and Educational Inclusion in Higher Education. A Systematic Review

“…Joshi (2021) advocates for holistic learning environment designs in Higher Education for quality inclusive education, aligned with Guo-Brennan (2022) reflecting on global spaces. Methodological changes and teacher training are linked to improved digital competence and progress toward inclusive education (Rodríguez, Calvo, and Martín, 2020;Hand, 2023). However, deficiencies persist in training programs and designing inclusive educational environments (Choudhary and Bansal, 2022;Herrera, Crisol, and Montes, 2019).…”

“…Second, the sample sizes in the analyzed studies varied considerably, both in the number of participants and in the type of sample, ranging from teachers and students (Medina-García et al, 2021;Belenkova, Skudnyakova and Bosov, 2022;Leiva et al, 2022;Hand, 2023) and the design of virtual and inclusive educational environments through universal design for learning (Begnum, Pettersen and Sørum, 2019;Joshi, 2021;Guo-Brennan, 2022), to the analysis of training programs and scientific literature (Bong and Chen, 2021;Joshi, 2021), making it difficult to determine the representativeness of the study population. Additionally, most studies did not provide information on how sample sizes were estimated within the selected population.…”

Communication apprehension and self-perceived communication competence: a study of undergraduate students in their final year

“…The need for academics and program administrators to be aware of the anxieties students have regarding oral communication in general and the process of evaluation should also be given further consideration. Therefore, communication skills training programs to reduce students' apprehension are recommended (Araújo et al ., 2022; Hand, 2023). Universities and instructors must be able to help increase the students' SPCC as the higher the students' SPCC, the lower their CA tended to be.…”