Matt Olszewski

I’m Matt and I am from New Hampshire. On campus I like to hang with friends and also run track. I’m interested in educational psychology because I feel like there are so many aspects to learning and ways to improve learning and learning environments.

 

 

  1. One topic I would like to explore is the different ways that help ADHD students learn better and how to improve their learning. The “who” is the students with ADHD who are struggling with their learning and being affected by ADHD. The “what” is how the ADHD students are affected by their condition and what things–medication, learning environment, type of teacher–help them learn better. The “why” is the hope of helping students with ADHD learn better and struggle less in school. Another topic I would also like to explore is how different styles of attachment affect a child’s education and how well the child learns. The “who” are the parents and children. The “what” is the type of attachment style the child has and how that affects the children’s educations and how well they learn. The “why” aims to help the children learn better and receive a better education. The study also aims to discover ways to help the child become more securely attached to their parents if in the first place the attachment to their parents in the first place was impacting their learning and education in a bad way.

Research statement: In my research proposal, I will be looking at how people’s attitudes towards certain learning disabilities change as awareness of the disability increases. I will also possibly be looking at how these attitudes change based on different demographics. I hope to find evidence that as awareness and knowledge of the disabilities increase, the attitudes of people towards the disabilities will become more favorable and positive.

 

 

 

Annotated Bibliography

 

Madriaga, M., Hanson, K., Kay, H., & Walker, A. (2011). Marking-out normalcy and disability in higher education. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 32(6), 901–920. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2011.596380

This article argues for socially just teaching in higher education in order to challenge aspects of normalcy that will hopefully result in more positive attitudes towards academically disabled students. The article contains a survey of disabled students versus non-disabled students within one higher-educational institution in England. The article points to evidence of students with disabilities being more challenged compared to those with no disabilities. In addition, there is also evidence that the students with certain disabilities, who are not receiving disability support from their school, underperform.

This article is related to my topic of attitude changes towards disabilities after further learning about the disability, because there is evidence in the article of those students with disabilities needing academic support to succeed. Not only that, but those students also need to feel comfortable and not like they are “less” than someone who does not have a disability. In order to achieve this, there has to be more socially fair methods of teaching in institutions that reinforce the notion that everyone is equal and not everybody has the exact same learning style.

Riddell, S., Tinklin, T., & Wilson, A. (2005). New Labour, social justice and disabled students in higher education. British Educational Research Journal, 31(5), 623–643. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920500240775

This article talks about the ways in which social justice is key to access for academically disabled students in the educational setting. The author of this article emphasize the importance of social justice in institutions positively affecting how disabled students feel about themselves. This article will be helpful in my research because it relates to examines social justice affecting how disabled students view themselves. If there is more social justice present in a school, then the disabled and non-disabled students will view themselves similarly. I hope to use this article to help me further my examination into the ways in which perceptions of learning disabilities can change.

Andrews, S. (1998). Using Inclusion Literature to Promote Positive Attitudes toward Disabilities. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40016767

This article discusses the importance of using literature about disabilities to foster a positive attitude towards students with learning disabilities. The author talks about how when a person reads, their attitudes towards the topic can change positively or negatively. In this case, while reading about learning the disabilities the author of this article is trying to prove that the reader can develop a positive view on learning disabilities.

This is important to my research topic because the article talks about an effective way to change one’s view towards something that is so often viewed in a negative way. The article talks about how” inclusion literature is useful in helping to ease fears and anxieties fueled by ignorance; it can replace negative stereotypes with knowledge and understanding about disabilities” (“Using Inclusion Literature to Promote Positive Attitudes toward Disabilities,” n.d.). I will use this article in my research to understand more clearly how to change people’s views about disabilities and make them more optimistic in order to paint a more positive light.

Csizér, K., Kormos, J., & Sarkadi, Á. (2010). The Dynamics of Language Learning Attitudes and Motivation: Lessons From an Interview Study of Dyslexic Language Learners. The Modern Language Journal, 94(3), 470–487. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2010.01054.x

This article discusses “the dynamics of language learning motivation in Hungarian students with dyslexia” (Csizér, Kormos, & Sarkadi, 2010). It talks about how it is important to listen to students with learning disabilities about their experiences in language learning, rather than completely excluding them or not allowing them the opportunity to take a foreign language. The study looks into what motivates students with learning disabilities in language learning and how other internal and external factors impact their motivated behavior.

This is related to my topic because it examines how motivation for students with learning disabilities can impact how successful they are in language learning and therefore make them better or worse about themselves. This in turn can help them view their disability as something more or less positive. In this case, higher motivation and higher amounts of success in language learning will hopefully make the student with the learning disability feel better about themselves. My proposed study would build on the findings of this study because it would look into other ways in which attitudes towards learning disabilities can change.

Glock, S., & Kovacs, C. (2013). Educational Psychology: Using Insights from Implicit Attitude Measures. Educational Psychology Review, 25(4), 503–522. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-013-9241-3

This article highlights how teachers’ attitudes towards students are “mental states that may contribute to teachers’ judgments and students’ achievement” (Glock & Kovacs, 2013). The author discusses how a lack of educational success is often caused by special education needs (i.e. learning disabilities). It says how students with disabilities experience poorer outcomes in school compared to peers without disabilities.

This is related to my topic because it talks about how implicit attitudes are often more negative than explicit attitudes and how attitudes often guide behavior. In the educational setting, it is crucial to consider both types of attitudes in order to comprehend “the mechanisms underlying teachers’ judgments and decisions” (Glock & Kovacs, 2013). Altogether this relates to how perceptions towards learning disabilities can change, because depending on the teacher’s attitude and whether it is positive or negative, that can determine how the learning disability is viewed. The findings of this study help me think of my topic more clearly because they offer a new dimension: teachers’ attitudes. My proposed study would build on their findings in the sense that it would look into other ways that can impact how learning disabilities are viewed.

Higgins, E. L., Raskind, M. H., Goldberg, R. J., & Herman, K. L. (2002). Stages of Acceptance of A Learning Disability: The Impact of Labeling. Learning Disability Quarterly, 25(1), 3–18. https://doi.org/10.2307/1511187

            This article describes research as part of a 20-year longitudinal project that follows the lives of 41 different people with diagnosed learning disabilities. The goal of the research was to find the importance of the insider’s perspective in terms of changes in attitudes towards their disability. The research tried to find data that showed shared sets of understandings with regards to different stages of “coming to terms” with the unfortunate realities of their disability.

This article is pertinent to my research topic because both talk about the perceptions of students towards their disabilities and have to do with how comfortable different students are with their disabilities. Also, my research might have an interview as part of it in order to gather some of my data, and this research also has an interview as part of its methods in order to discover more about attitudes and perceptions towards the disabilities.

Nowicki, E. A., Brown, J., & Stepien, M. (2014). Children’s thoughts on the social exclusion of peers with intellectual or learning disabilities: Children’s thoughts on social exclusion. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 58(4), 346–357. https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.12019

            This article goes into detail on the reasons underlying the social exclusion of children with intellectual or learning disabilities. The author makes note that it is important to listen to the voices of children on the issue of social inclusion of learning disabilities, but it is also critical to be aware of the degree to which the ideas of those children are informed.

This is related to my topic because it looks into children’s ideas on why students with intellectual or learning disabilities are excluded in the educational setting. This relates to my topic of how attitudes towards learning disabilities can change. If we know more about children’s opinions regarding the exclusion of classmates with intellectual and learning disabilities, then maybe we can improve people’s attitudes towards learning disabilities. This would allow us to create a more welcoming and inclusive classroom environment for all types of students no matter if they have a disability or not.

Orsini, M. (2012). Autism, Neurodiversity and the Welfare State: The Challenges of Accommodating Neurological Difference. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 45(04), 805–827. https://doi.org/10.1017/S000842391200100X

            This article discusses the different difficulties that are faced when trying to accommodate students with disabilities, in this case autism. “This article draws upon some of these polarizing perspectives to ask how attention to accommodating this widely prevalent disability might reframe debates about the welfare state’s support for different forms of diversity” (Orsini, 2012). The author talks about different ways to advocate for autism-related policies in order to make sure autism students are treated fairly in the educational setting.

This relates to my topic because it asserts that there are many ways to spread awareness on disabilities, whether it be learning or developmental disabilities. In my case, I will be looking into the ways to make people more aware of learning disabilities such as ADHD and Dyslexia. My proposed study would not build on the findings of this article, rather it would be connected to some of the findings of this article and take a different turn—in the direction of awareness for learning disabilities.

Shaywitz, S. E. (2019). Dyslexia. Scientific American, 8.

This article goes into depth on how dyslexia affects people and the ways in which it interferes with learning. It also explains how certain people who are very smart and can understand difficult concepts, still have trouble with the smaller and simpler details. The author’s goal is to also explain how the phonological model works and how it relates to dyslexic students.

This article is related to my research topic because it focuses on one of the most prevalent learning disabilities and the findings of the article help me think of the disability more clearly. By using this article as a source I will be able to expand on how dyslexia affects students and be able to illustrate how dyslexia should not only be thought of as something negative; it can also be something positive. I can use the findings and information in this article to hopefully be able to shine a brighter light on learning disabilities and focus on them from more of a positive standpoint.

Students Diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Collaborative Strategies for School Counselors. (2019), 11.

This article explains ADHD in-depth and talks about how school counselors can use collaborative strategies for students with ADHD. The author hopes to convey the different strategies that are able to be used in order for ADHD students to be successful and feel comfortable in the educational setting.

This article is connected to my topic because the strategies for counselors to use for ADHD students, as well as the ways that parents can intervene, can all help with changing people’s attitudes about ADHD into ones that are more positive. Since there are effective ways to intervene with this learning disability, this learning disability should not be looked at constantly from a negative point of view. Rather, it is something that makes a student unique.

Barragan, E., & Nusbaum, E. A. (n.d.). Perceptions of Disability on a Post-­Secondary Campus, 19.

            This article explores how disability was understood and the attitudes possessed by people towards the disability on the campus of a California public university. The author hoped to discover that “disability perception and forms of oppression were intimately connected” (Barragan & Nusbaum, n.d.). Surveying was used as the research method so that the perceptions of the people on campus could be discovered.

This is related to my topic because it helps me to think about how peoples’ perceptions of learning disabilities affect the learning of students with disabilities. By knowing this, I can hopefully tie this into the ways of changing peoples’ attitudes towards learning disabilities. One student who was surveyed described himself as feeling “invisible” and excluded in the classroom, and other areas on campus such as the cafeteria. He said that there was not any acknowledgement or bond among students that were disabled. Part of this is due to the fact that many people have a negative opinion or outlook on learning disabilities. My research will build on the findings of this article and will allow me to focus on the ways in which we can change attitudes towards learning disabilities so that disabled students do feel more included and more “visible.”

Lewis, A. (2019). Disabled children’s ‘voice’ and experiences, 17.

This book chapter describes the importance of listening to the voices of children whether or not they have disabilities. The author sums it up perfectly: “This chapter is written from the underlying perspective that all children, with or without disabilities of special needs, have a right to have their views (narratives) heard and to be asked about matters concerning them” (Lewis, n.d.).

This is related to my topic because not only is the awareness of the disability important in order for attitudes to change, but the experiences and voices of children being heard is crucial, too. In order to understand the learning disability better, people need to be exposed to factual information, the experiences of students with disabilities, and the relationships of the students to other people. This article will be helpful in my research because it illustrates the importance of the experiences and voices of students with disabilities, which I will include in my research. I will not only be including factual information on disabilities, so this will help me explain the dimension of students’ experiences.

Tachibana, T. (n.d.). Attitudes of Japanese Adults Toward Persons with Intellectual Disability: An Exploratory Analysis of Respondents’ Experiences and Opinions, 9.

This article does a very good job of describing how perceptions of intellectual disabilities largely determine or play a role in how attitudes towards the disability are formed. It is an explanatory analysis of the respondents’ experiences and opinions. The research proposes to investigate the  relationship between “actual experience with persons with intellectual disabilities, perceptions, and attitudes towards persons on the open-ended responses indications” (Tachibana, n.d.).

This article is related to my research proposal because it looks into how one’s experiences can impact how they view the intellectual disability. As the article says, an unpleasant experience with a person with an intellectual disability usually resulted in negative attitudes towards that disability. This article will help me think more clearly about how experiences can negatively or positively impact the attitudes of someone towards a learning disability. There is not only one thing that influences how someone changes their attitude towards a disability, there are several factors. My research will build upon the fact that someone’s experiences impact their attitudes towards an intellectual disability. I will focus on how experiences impact attitudes, but also how both people’s relationships with each other and factual information about learning disabilities impact attitudes.

Hall, E. (2004). Social geographies of learning disability: narratives of exclusion and inclusion. Area, 36(3), 298–306. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0004-0894.2004.00227.x

This article argues that the social geographies of people with learning disabilities have not gotten the attention the deserve. The author says that people with learning disabilities are one of the most marginalized groups in all of society and that in order for them to be understood better, they need to be recognized more. The author looks into the hidden geographies of people with learning disabilities through the understanding of narratives of people who have learning disabilities.

This article is pertinent to my topic because it looks into the ways that people with learning disabilities are included and excluded within “mainstream socio-spaces” (Hall, 2004). This article also looks at learning disabilities from the standpoint of invisibility and visibility. My research will build upon this article because I will look at different experiences from people with disabilities and the ways in which students with disabilities can feel more comfortable. In addition, the article talks about safe spaces that people with learning disabilities have created for themselves in between social exclusion and inclusion, which is something that made me think of my topic more clearly. It reminded me that people with learning disabilities often find themselves in a different position compared to other students with the same disability, or just a learning disability.

Navarro, S. B., Zervas, P., & Gesa, R. F. (2019). Developing Teachers’ Competences for Designing Inclusive Learning Experiences, 12.

            This article talks about the challenge of having inclusive education, all learners having equal educational opportunities, in educational systems worldwide. The author makes note of the fact that learners with diverse needs and preferences need to receive a different type of teaching sometimes in order to more effectively learn. The author talks about how specific educational design frameworks have been proposed so that the large diversity of learners is recognized, as well as the fact that teachers are provided with ample opportunities for using the Open Educational Resources (OERs).

This is related to my topic because it talks about how inclusive learning needs to be more present in the educational setting. If this happens, learners of all types, learning disabled students included, will feel more comfortable and valued in the classroom and around their peers. Regarding how attitudes would change towards the learning disabilities, people would likely view them as more positive when students of all types are included.

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 

  • Start with hook
  • Students with learning disabilities in the classroom must feel comfortable
  • Attitudes of teachers, parents, and other students should have positive attitudes towards learning disabilities
  • Much research has been done on how students’ personal experiences can impact their attitudes towards a learning disability
  • There are many articles on exclusion versus inclusion of students with learning disabilities and the impact of labeling
  • Implicit and explicit attitudes of teachers towards students and teachers creating inclusive learning experiences can both help towards more positive attitudes towards Dyslexia, ADHD, etc.
  • Academic disability support in the academic setting is key, everyone learns differently, especially those with disabilities
  • Socially just teaching methods as well as inclusion literature in the classroom are vital
  • This study will focus on a few different common learning disabilities and how through specific intervention(s), peoples’ attitudes can become more favorable and positive towards the disabilities.

 

 

SUB TOPICS:

Inclusion and Fairness

  • Socially Just Teaching Methods (Marking-out normalcy and disability in higher education.)
  • Inclusion Literature (Using Inclusion Literature to Promote Positive Attitudes toward Disabilities.)
  • Student Background (Social geographies of learning disability: narratives of exclusion and inclusion.)

 

Support

  • Academic Disability Support (New Labour, social justice and disabled students in higher education.)
  • Students Voicing Their Own Experiences (Stages of Acceptance of A Learning Disability: The Impact of Labeling.) , (Children’s thoughts on the social exclusion of peers with intellectual or learning disabilities: Children’s thoughts on social exclusion.) , (Disabled children’s ‘voice’ and experiences) , (Attitudes of Japanese Adults Toward Persons with Intellectual Disability: An Exploratory Analysis of Respondents’ Experiences and Opinions,)

Being accommodating: (Autism, Neurodiversity and the Welfare State: The Challenges of Accommodating Neurological Difference.)

Counseling: (Students Diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Collaborative Strategies for School Counselors.)

 

Attitudes

  • Positive Language Learning Attitudes (The Dynamics of Language Learning Attitudes and Motivation: Lessons From an Interview Study of Dyslexic Language Learners) , (Attitudes of Japanese Adults Toward Persons with Intellectual Disability: An Exploratory Analysis of Respondents’ Experiences and Opinions,)
  • Implicit And Explicit Attitudes Of Teachers Towards Students (Using Insights from Implicit Attitude Measures.) , (Developing Teachers’ Competences for Designing Inclusive Learning Experiences)

 

Experiences

  • Students Voicing Their Own Experiences (Stages of Acceptance of A Learning Disability: The Impact of Labeling.) , (Children’s thoughts on the social exclusion of peers with intellectual or learning disabilities: Children’s thoughts on social exclusion.) , (Disabled children’s ‘voice’ and experiences) , (Attitudes of Japanese Adults Toward Persons with Intellectual Disability: An Exploratory Analysis of Respondents’ Experiences and Opinions,)

 

Current Study

  • Describe what we know about my topic of research
  • Describe what we don’t know about my topic of research
  • State the hypotheses for my topic

 

 

 

 

Methods

Participants

            People with or without disabilities were surveyed before and after the intervention. Participants were not asked if they had a diagnosed disability or not prior to or after the intervention.

  • Describe what types of people were part of the study (if referring to students, talk about whether there was a trend in majors between subjects, classes they took, or class year)
  • Give percentages of participants (students, teachers/professors, parents)
  • Give background on educational trends among participants

 

 

Instruments/Materials

  • Instruments and variables used in the present study to examine how attitudes towards learning disabilities change after an intervention compared to before, have been used by researchers in other research regarding attitudes towards learning disabilities.
  • Explain background of instrument, what it is based on and how it relates to my study/can be utilized
  • Variables:

Independent: intervention

Dependent: attitudes of people towards disabilities

  • Instruments: Use a scale of 0-10 to assess people’s attitudes towards the learning disabilities (0=very negative attitude, 10=very positive attitude)
  • Compare alpha coefficient in a different study similar to mine

 

 

Procedure

            A survey was administered to participants prior to the intervention. A consent form was given for people to read before taking the survey. After the first survey, the participants were part of an intervention whose goal was to change the attitudes and perceptions of students towards learning disabilities. After the intervention, the people then took a second survey that attempted to capture their changed attitudes and perceptions towards learning disabilities.

  • Describe intervention
  • Describe how the survey was administered

 

Implications

  • Describe the “so what” and what this study means for future research
  • Talk about the field, the students, the teachers/professors, the parents, policy

 

 

Reflection on IS poster presentations

The IS poster presentations really gave me a good chance to learn about the design of an IS poster and it was really helpful to see them being presented in person, as well as see the methods and results of studies. In one study titled, “The effective mentor: non parental mentorship and the outcomes across adolescence,” participants were recruited through the nursery school as well as COW students were recruited and given an incentive in the form of SONA credits for their classes. The results of the study showed that mentor involvement in the college sample was found to have a significant effect on greater well-being. Another study focused on factors influencing individual motivation and team success in intercollegiate athletes. Student athletes were surveyed at the College of Wooster with several independent variables and two dependent variables. Individuals who perceive that their coach empowers them, are more likely to be intrinsically motivated and freedom or expression for athletes is key as well. Lots of ANOVAs were conducted in the studies I saw, as well as may surveys. The posters were very organized and split up into different sections on the poster board, indicating different parts of the study. I am very glad I went to the poster presentations just like last year–I learned a lot.

 

 

 

 

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