Thesis (M.Ed.(Educational Psychology))-University of Pretoria, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this study was to determine if social interaction is associated with a higher work performance in developmentally disabled adults.

A thorough investigation of postsecondary programs for learning disabled (LD) students is not available in the professional literature. In previous studies the perspectives of college faculty and staff have been explored regarding services for LD students, but few have investigated the perspectives of the students themselves. Therefore, more information is needed about what postsecondary students consider helpful as they cope with college life. The purpose of this study was to investigate learning disabled students' perceptions of factors that enhance their "adjustment" on the postsecondary level. The study was designed to determine what types of academic and personal support services LD students consider helpful in making their adjustment to college life; what services they use most often; what impact the type of learning disability has on service preference; and what impact the type of institution (two- or four-year) has on service preference. / Ed. D.

Background: Learners with severe intellectual disability are those with a serious condition of learning disability due to the· limitation in intellectual functioning. These learners participate in the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) approach since there is no special curriculum for them. The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of severe intellectual disability and to find out whether learners of this condition are able to achieve the learning outcomes and assessment standards prescribed by the NCS. To get access to the different age groups of learners, the study investigated both the Middle and Senior phases of the two schools. Method: Ethnographical study of qualitative research was followed. Data for the study were collected using class observations and educators' questionnaires. Data from the related literature review were also collected. Results: The results revealed that learners with severe intellectual disability could not achieve the learning outcomes and -assessment standards prescribed by the NCS within the whole school period, 8 to 21 years. Conclusion: Learners with severe intellectual disability could not benefit from participating in the standard school curriculum. Suggestions were given from both the empirical study and the literature on the curriculum that would provide better learning opportunities for learners with severe intellectual disability. / Thesis (M.Ed.) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2010

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of South Africa, 2002.

No description available.

Differences in cerebral lateralization of verbal and nonverbal stimuli between left- and right-handed good readers and left- and right-handed reading-disabled children were examined. The study utilized the dichotic listening paradigm and examined the effects of directed attention on the processing of consonant-vowel (CV) and tonal stimuli by the four groups. The sixty subjects included fifteen right-handed good readers (eleven females and four males, mean age 10-3), fifteen left-handed good readers (eight females and seven males, mean age 10-5), fifteen right-handed reading-disabled children (six females and nine males, mean age 10-5), and fifteen left-handed reading-disabled children (four females and eleven males, mean age 10-8). All left-handed subjects had sinistral relatives. A three-factorial analysis of variance resulted in a significant left ear advantage (LEA) for tonal stimuli across all directed attention conditions for all groups. When presented with CV stimuli, the right-handed good readers produced a significant right ear advantage (REA) across all attentional conditions. The left-handed good readers and left-handed reading-disabled children were left ear (LE) dominant in the free recall and directed left conditions but produced a shift toward the right ear (RE) during the directed right condition. Right-handed reading-disabled children demonstrated a REA during free recall and directed right but were able to direct attention to the LE in the directed left condition. The study provided initial findings on the auditory processing of simple tonal stimuli among anomalous groups of children and documented the strong LEA found in previous studies of adult subjects. Verbal processing results for right-handed good readers and reading-disabled children confirmed previous findings with these populations. Reversed verbal processing (right hemisphere) was documented in both left-handed groups in two of the experimental conditions. The results provide additional support for the structural theory of lateralization and suggest reversed or bilaterialized processing abilities for language in strongly left-handed good reader children. Components of the attentional bias model are necessary to explain the effects of directed attention on the auditory perceptual asymmetry found in the reading-disabled groups.

The aging of the learning disabled population has necessitated the development of instructional methods designed to meet the unique requirements of the secondary setting. Learning strategies have been proposed as viable alternatives to the tutorial and basic skills approaches. This study investigated the effects of a vocabulary learning strategy, SOS, on science concepts. Six mainstreamed learning disabled adolescents who attended a high school resource room one period per day took part in this five month study. The design was a multiple baseline across two sets of three subjects. A continuous baseline was maintained for each subject, followed by staggered application of the independent variable. The independent variable was a vocabulary learning strategy called SOS, an acronym for Search, Operate and Study. The dependent variables were tests of science vocabulary definitions and meanings at instructional and grade level. The experimental phases included (a) baseline, (b) intervention which included training in instructional level materials and generalization to grade level materials, (c) maintenance of the strategy over time and (d) retraining if the strategy was not maintained. Criterion measures of strategy training in instructional level materials and strategy generalization to grade level materials were recorded during the intervention phase of the study. A pre and post measure of student attitude toward science was administered prior to and at the end of the study. Visual analysis of the data indicated that this vocabulary learning strategy positively affected performance on grade level and instructional level science vocabulary tests for all subjects. Five of the six subjects were able to apply the total strategy to instructional level materials and generalize it to grade level materials. All subjects maintained at least part of the strategy. Strategy training positively affected attitudes toward studying science and science vocabulary. Overall findings were discussed in the context of learner characteristics and strategy efficacy.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of background knowledge on comprehension monitoring of learning disabled students when reading expository texts with inconsistencies and when topic interest was controlled. Eight fifth- and sixth-grade learning disabled students were asked to rate their levels of knowledge and interest for 30 topics and then answered a background knowledge survey to determine three high background knowledge and three low background knowledge topics, both of medium interest. An expository passage was adopted for each of the six topics, controlling for readability, length, and structure. Each passage contained inconsistencies in the main idea and in the details, and each was followed by ten probe questions. Responses to text inconsistencies were analyzed with percentages, and a non-parametric statistical method was performed on the use of strategies. The results from the study provided additional support for the conceptualization of learning disabled students as inactive learners.