There are three controversial issues in the field of intellectual styles: whether or not certain relationships exist among different style constructs (style overlap); whether or not styles are value-laden; and whether or not styles could change. The present research mainly aimed at further addressing these three controversial issues respectively by: 1) exploring the relationships between two style constructs (field dependent-independent styles and thinking styles); 2) investigating the influence of intellectual styles on quality of university life and university self-efficacy; and 3) examining how personal factors (ability and conceptions of learning) and university experiences impacted intellectual styles among university students with and without hearing impairment from art and design academic disciplines. The present research adopted quantitatively-driven mixed methods, including a pilot study, a main study with a test at Time 1 and a test at Time 2with the duration of one academic-year, and a qualitative study. The pilot study validated all the inventories among 213 students with hearing impairment and 274 students without hearing impairment. The main study examined the interrelationships among the six main research variables and how personal factors impacted intellectual styles among 256students with hearing impairment and 286students without hearing impairment. Based on results of the main study, 36 participants (16 with hearing impairment and 20 without hearing impairment) were selected for the follow-up semi-structured interviews which explored how university experiences influenced intellectual styles, partially verified quantitative findings regarding style changes, and explained some unexpected results in the main study. Results of the main study generally supported the research hypotheses. To be specific, for all the participants, results of the present research showed that: 1) thinking styles overlapped field dependent-independent styles; 2) Type II intellectual styles tended to be positively related to quality of university life in the first academic year, while Type I intellectual styles tended to be positively related to quality of university life in the second academic year; and 3) students with Type I intellectual styles tended to have higher levels of university self-efficacy, while those with Type II intellectual styles tended to have lower levels of university self-efficacy. These findings suggested that intellectual styles overlap with each other, and that intellectual styles are value-laden. It was also identified that, after studying art and design courses for one academic year, students without hearing impairment tended to score higher on Type I intellectual styles and lower on Type II intellectual styles, while students with hearing impairment tended to score higher on both Type I and Type II intellectual styles. For all the participants, both personal factors (ability and conceptions of learning) and university experiences significantly influenced their intellectual styles. These results indicated that intellectual styles are malleable. Apart from these, intellectual styles were found to mediate the relationships between personal factors and student developmental outcomes among all the participants. Discussions focus on contributions of the research findings to the styles literature and on the implications of the findings for higher education of student with and without hearing impairment. Recommendations for future studies are also made. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Over the past two decades, increasing attention has focused on inclusive education and how it can contribute to improved teaching and learning experiences and thus to the attainment of better learning outcomes for all learners, including those with special educational needs. Initially, attention centred on inclusion in primary and secondary schools, but increasing interest is now being shown to students with special educational needs and their inclusion in tertiary institutions of learning as well. Research on the inclusion of students with special educational needs has largely focused on either one particular group of students, such as students with a particular disability, or on students with disabilities in general, such that these findings are often either only applicable to a specific group or are too general. Not many studies have attempted to compare the experiences of students with different educational needs without being too general. This study explores issues related to the experiences of deaf/hard of hearing and visually impaired students in relation to their inclusion in three Rwandan universities. Inclusive education as an educational policy has a very young history in Rwanda and there is insufficient empirical evidence about its implementation. This study therefore adds to the little knowledge there is about this subject. The study addressed the following questions: what are the experiences of deaf/hard of hearing and visually impaired students in Rwandan universities in terms of educational access and social inclusion in the university environment? What are the similarities and differences between the experiences of deaf/hard of hearing and visually impaired students? What are the underlying causes of these experiences? In what ways do these experiences, either negative or positive, influence the academic performance of these students? How do these experiences influence these students’ perspectives, expectations and hopes for the future? How do the attitudes of students and lecturers in universities with deaf/hard of hearing and visually impaired students concerning inclusion influence the interaction between these students and lecturers on the one hand and the deaf/hard of hearing and visually impaired students on the other? The study was conducted using the mixed methods research approach. Triangulation was the research design employed. Data were collected using questionnaires and interviews. Questionnaires were completed by 220 students who were neither deaf/hard of hearing nor visually impaired and 55 lecturers without disabilities from three of the five Rwandan universities with deaf/hard of hearing and visually impaired students. Interviews were conducted with six deaf/hard of hearing students, nine visually impaired students, and three lecturers from the same universities. The study found that deaf/hard of hearing and visually impaired students had both positive and negative experiences in their inclusion in Rwandan universities. There were, however, major differences between the perceptions of deaf/hard of hearing and visually impaired students concerning their inclusion in these universities. There were also differences between the deaf students and hard of hearing student about the level of their inclusion. Finally, there were significant differences between the efforts of the three universities to meet the needs of deaf/hard of hearing and visually impaired students. This work concludes by making some recommendations for improving the inclusion of deaf/hard of hearing and visually impaired students in Rwandan universities, recommendations which could be useful to other higher institutions of learning as well in their efforts to include students with special educational needs.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Community and Continuing Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / Access and support for students with disabilities remain limited despite strong legislative and policy framework for addressing inclusivity in the education sector. Presently, TVET colleges encounter severe obstacles and hiccups in that they must improve the quality of education provided together with other compulsory obligations. As a result, TVET col-leges continue to encounter challenges as and when they try to improve the quality of education. In South Africa, the integration of people with disabilities has been an ongoing process since the advent of the democratic government. The study investigated the inte-gration of inclusive practices for students with disabilities at Technical and Vocational Edu-cation and Training (TVET) colleges. The study followed the qualitative research ap-proach. The purposive sampling technique was used to select participants. Twenty-seven participants took part in the study. Participants comprised campus man-agers, HoDs, student support officers, lecturers and students with disabilities. Two differ-ent methods to analyse data were used, namely, thematic categorisation (for interviews and observations) and content analysis (for documents). The study is premised on the social model of disability and Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological system theory to understand participants’ views and how they carry out inclusive practices in their lecture rooms. Data was collected using three techniques, namely, interviews, observations and document analysis. The findings of the study revealed the following: lecturers at TVET colleges are struggling to support students with disabilities due to lack of training on different types of disabilities; students with disabilities are given access to certain types of training based on the nature of their disability; students who experience mobility disabilities are faced with challenges of inaccessible of physical environments; the curriculum at TVET col-leges does not fully cater for a range of diverse needs of and students with impairments. The study recommends that: lecturers require training on different types of disabilities in order to support students with diverse learning needs; the involvement of disabled stu-dents in the planning of their support programmes; all stakeholders be encouraged to appreciate change and to contribute towards meaningful inclusive practices.