Studien syftar till att ge ett kunskapsbidrag kring specialpedagogers erfarenheter av tydliggörande pedagogik i grundskola och gymnasium. Vi använde kvalitativ intervjumetod med tematisk analys som metodansats. I vår studie genomförde vi semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta specialpedagoger som utifrån sina roller beskrev hur de arbetar med tydliggörande pedagogik på individ-, grupp- och organisationsnivå samt vilka utmaningar, hinder och möjligheter de erfarit i det arbetet. I resultatet framkom att specialpedagogernas beskrivningar av innebörden av tydliggörande pedagogik varierar, från exempelvis hjälpmedel och arbetssätt till lektionsdesign, enhetlig struktur och förhållningssätt. Informanterna såg tydliggörande pedagogik som en självklar del av undervisningen för att möta elevernas behov, att det är bra för alla, men särskilt viktigt för elever med exempelvis neuropsykiatrisk funktionsnedsättning. Informanterna poängterade att arbetet med tydliggörande pedagogik handlar om ett förändringsarbete, ett arbete som ofta drivs av specialpedagoger. Detta förändringsarbete kan utgöra en utmaning då det kräver att all personal arbetar tillsammans och stöttar varandra, men även att skolledningen är positivt inställd och delaktig i arbetet. Resultaten diskuteras utifrån ett sociokulturellt perspektiv där begrepp som kommunikation, medierande resurser och proximal utvecklingszon är centrala. Vi drar slutsatsen att tydliggörande pedagogik kan ses som en medierande resurs som bidrar till att lärare lättare kan utmana elevernas proxiamala utvecklingszon.

Students’ and teachers’ own choices and actions – their agency – are an integral part of language education, yet we know little about agency in specific classroom contexts. One such context is when students search for information online as part of their foreign language education. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the agency enacted through the choices and actions of six upper secondary Spanish students and their teacher. Their choices and actions take place while they are working with a task that asks the students to read authentic web sites with text originally written in Spanish for a native Spanish speaking audience. Using a sociocultural perspective on the process of language learning in this task, the research question is: Through what choices, actions and reports do the students and the teacher exercise and express their agency? The study was carried out in two student groups in their second year at upper secondary school. Primary data were collected during the first lesson of a theme and consist of multiple sources, including computer screen recordings, sound and video uptake along with prompted interviews performed with both students and teacher. The main findings suggest that student and teacher choices and actions did not cohere, due to different objects of their respective activity system. The data shows that when students search for information online as a part of their language studies, they: Act as producers at the same time as consumers Multitask Translanguage Focus on end product more than the learning process Divide their work between them rather than work collaboratively Finding “third spaces” – where students’ home practices are not easily applied to student or teacher objects of the activity systems, leads to a discussion concerning language view and language learning through the use of the Internet.

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To examine to what extent current general education pre-service teachers within a teacher preparation program at a private institution of higher education know and understand the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), expert focus groups were conducted. General education program syllabi were examined for UDL content and found to be lacking in such content. General education pre-service teachers videotaped lessons were reviewed for UDL content and were also found to be inadequate in demonstrating knowledge and understanding of Universal Design for Learning principles. Focus groups comprised of university fieldwork instructors and teacher education experts were asked to review and give feedback on a current clinical observation tool being utilized. Feedback indicated that the current tool was insufficient for measuring pre-service teachers’ knowledge and understanding of UDL. Further, the current tool was not anchored to the UDL framework or any other teaching framework. In service to contributing to the field of teacher preparation, a new clinical practice tool grounded in Universal Design for Learning was created.

When discussing games and the experience of gamers those with disabilities are often overlooked. This has left a gap in our understanding of the experience of players with disabilities in virtual game worlds. However there are examples of players with disabilities being very successful in the virtual world video game World of Warcraft, suggesting that there is an opportunity to study the game for usability insight in creating other virtual world environments. This study surveyed World of Warcraft players with disabilities online for insight into how they used interface addons to manage their experience and identity performance in the game. A rubric was also created to study a selection of addons for evidence of the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The study found that World of Warcraft players with disabilities do not use addons more than able-bodied players, but some of the most popular addons do exhibit many or most of the principles of UDL. UDL principles appear to have emerged organically from addon iterations over time. The study concludes by suggesting that the same approach to user-generated content for the game interface taken by the creators of World of Warcraft, as well as high user investment in the environment, can lead to more accessible virtual world learning environments in the future.

The significance of students being able to express and demonstrate their knowledge and understanding in all content areas has always been important especially in the sciences. Students under the Next Generation Science Standards will be required to participate in science discourse through a variety of approaches. This study examined student engagement and student demonstration of content knowledge in inclusive science classrooms through a quasiexperimental research design which included four case study participants with a learning disability. The researcher also evaluated student content knowledge through the implementation of Universal Design for Learning-Expression (UDL-E) through a non-replicated control group design. Data were collected through a variety of sources including: researcher observations, review of student academic records, interviews, surveys, UDL-E products, and pre-test and posttest scores. Researcher observations spanned over a 10 week period and were coded and analyzed quantitatively. Findings from a Repeated ANOVA demonstrated no statistical significance, however based on interviews with students; findings show that the students did enjoy exploring the opportunity to express their knowledge using the Expression principle of Universal Design for Learning. Student time-on-task did remain equally as high during UDL-E and students’ inattentive behaviors decreased.

I Skollagen framgår det att skolan ska ta hänsyn till elevers olika behov, samt att barn och elever ska ges stöd och stimulans så att de utvecklas så långt som möjligt. Trots det finns det inte mycket forskning om hur en sådan lärmiljö kan skapas eller utformas. Mot bakgrund av detta genomfördes denna studie med syfte att undersöka hur några lärare i mellanstadiet organiserar undervisningen samt den fysiska miljön för att skapa förutsättningar för lärande. Frågeställningar togs fram med inspiration från TEACCH- modellen som handlar om att skapa förutsägbarhet och förståelse för sammanhang genom en tydliggörande pedagogik. De tre frågeställningarna var: Hur är den fysiska miljön organiserad?, Hur är den tydliggörande arbets- och aktivitetsordningen organiserad? och Hur ser organiseringen av undervisningen ut? Sex stycken lärare observerades under ett eller två lektionstillfällen vardera utifrån ett observationsschema som utgick från de tre frågeställningarna. Utöver observationerna skickades en enkät ut som 28 lärare deltog i. Enkätens frågor utgick, liksom observationerna, från de tre frågeställningarna. Resultatet analyserades sedan utifrån det teoretiska ramverket och förhållningssättet Universal Design for Learning. Studien visar att en tillgänglig lärmiljö skapas i olika utsträckning, samt att lärarna inte fullt ut skapar en tillgänglig lärmiljö och därmed inte uppväger skillnader mellan elevernas olika förutsättningar. Hinder för att lärarna inte fullt ut skapar en tillgänglig lärmiljö kan relateras till olika nivåer av yttre kontroll, såsom fysiska och organisatoriska begränsningar. Utifrån resultatet kunde slutsatsen dras att tydliggörande och tillgänglig undervisning behöver utvecklas som forskningsfält då forskning ännu inte har klargjort hur och på vilket sätt enskilda faktorer inom tydliggörande pedagogik påverkar lärande. I den specialpedagogiska praktiken skulle lärarnas arbete kunna försvåras på grund av komplexiteten och oenigheten inom den vetenskapliga forskningen om vad som specifikt främjar lärande samt hur olika faktorer påverkar lärmiljön.

Preparing undergraduate students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields continues to be a national priority. This project analyzed the effects of virtual metacognitive academic coaching between graduate student coaches and undergraduate STEM majors with Executive Function disorders at a large, four-year university. The project team analyzed the persistence of the undergraduate students in their major, as well as the graduate students’ abilities to transfer the coaching experiences to K-12 settings. A mixed-methods design evaluated qualitative (i.e. student/coaches’ surveys and interviews) outcomes for undergraduate STEM majors and for graduate students. The goal of this project is to develop iteratively a model of scalable supports that can be utilized to support undergraduates with disabilities in STEM majors’ at large universities such as UCF. Graduate student coaches paired with undergraduate STEM majors with Executive Function disorders (n=26) worked collaboratively throughout one semester to developed strategies that supported the success of the undergraduate students’ coursework. Both coaches and students provided examples of positive effects of the academic coaching process that supported student course work and created experiences that the graduate students could use in a K-12 setting.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has been identified as a contemporary instructional model for promoting inclusion and equitable opportunities for diverse and struggling learners. However, research regarding teachers' perceptions of UDL and its effective implementation is limited, making planning, implementing, and providing professional development difficult for administrators. Guided by the constructivist views of Vygotsky and Piaget, this qualitative case study was designed to understand teachers' knowledge and perceptions of how UDL can be used to promote equitable inclusive instruction, implementation barriers, educational applications for UDL, and perceived needs to implement UDL. Participants were teachers who had implemented UDL from a public charter school serving only students in Grades 3-11 with low incidence disabilities; 20 participated in an online survey, 7 participated in an individual interview, and 3 participated in a group interview. Data were coded and analyzed for common themes. Participants expressed resistance to change, negative impressions of UDL, and disability bias. Recommendations for administrators included strategies for implementation of UDL, periodic collection of teachers' perceptions of UDL for formative purposes, modeling UDL for teachers, monitoring teachers' lesson plans, and classroom observations. This study contributes to social change by identifying teachers' perceptions of their own knowledge, needs, and barriers to implementation of UDL in order assist administrators in effectively preparing them for delivery of instructional services to enhance learning for all diverse and struggling students.

Multiple approaches have been used in U.S. community colleges to address the learning needs of postsecondary students who are underprepared in basic skills math. The purpose of this exploratory interview study was to gain a deeper understanding of community college basic skills math learning through instructors' lived experiences using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach and its technology tool, a computerized pen. The conceptual framework for this study used Knowles's adult learning and Kolb's experiential learning theories with UDL principles. The central research questions investigated the professional development and teaching experiences of community college basic skills math instructors in their basic skills math curriculum in the California Community College system using a Smartpen. Interviews were conducted with 4 instructors, 2 of whom also participated in the 2011-2012 community college pilot project of the approach. The analysis consisted of coding and theme development in relation to the experiential learning process and the instructors' andragogy practices. This study identified 4 themes for use in understanding the instructors' experiences teaching with a Smartpen: instructor preparation, technology use and savvy, student needs, and instructor flexibility/adaptability. The study findings are of interest to community college basic math skills instructors, who can use these findings to inform their teaching preparation and teaching approaches, improving pedagogy and helping their students successfully complete their math courses.