An investigation into best
lecturing practice for students
with learning difficulties with
special emphasis on Dyslexia:
A comparison of two student cohorts
Dr Nicola Blackie
Introduction
• Dyslexia
– 4 % of the population are seriously affected
– 10 % of the population are affected to some
extent
• What is dyslexia??
– Dys = difficulty
– Lexia = with words (reading, writing, spelling)
– Over 500 definitions of Dyslexia exist
Introduction
• Dyslexia in the classroom
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Reading, writing, spelling
Difficulties ‘getting ideas down on paper’
Maths
Disorganisation
Difficulties in sitting and listening
Difficulties in following instructions
Distracting behaviour
Attention/focus problems
Low confidence
Loss of motivation
Poor attainment
Introduction
• However,
– Dyslexia can be managed
– Many dyslexic students find effective
strategies
– Dyslexic students can be the most careful
Dyslexia does not affect:
– Reasoning, problem solving, creativity or
intuition
Methods
• Questionnaire given to all the first year
Agriculture and Animal Students
– Total students = 139
– Total responses received = 101
– Response rate = 73%
• Mix of open and closed questions
• Emphasis on learning style and use of
PowerPoint technology for teaching
Percentage of respondents
Results – Basic student details
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Male
Agriculture
Animal
Student Group
Female
Percentage of respondents (%)
Results – Basic student details
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Agriculture
Animal
17-20
21-24
25-28
Student age group
29-32
33+
Percentage of repondents (%)
Results – Basic student details
Yes
100
No
80
60
40
20
17 %
15%
0
Agriculture
Animal
Do you have a learning difficulty?
64% of learning difficulties = Dyslexia, others include Dyscalculia, Dyspraxia and
Physical problems
Percentage of respondents (%)
Class Preference - Agric
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Practical
Lecture
Small Group
Other
Rank 1
Rank 2
Rank 3
Order of Preference
Rank 4
Percentage of respondents (%)
Class Preference - Animal
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Practical
Lecture
Small Group
Other
Rank 1
Rank 2
Rank 3
Order of Preference
Rank 4
Percentage of repondents (%)
PowerPoint Style
100
80
Dark writing on a light back ground
Light writing on a dark background
Other
60
40
20
0
Agriculture
Animal
Course
PowerPoint Style
100
Dark writing on a light back ground
90
Light writing on a dark background
80
Other
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Agriculture
Agriculture LD
Animal
Animal LD
PowerPoint Style - Colour
• What colour(s) if any cause you problems
on PowerPoint slides for you?
• Red (8)
• Yellow (34)
• Blue background/ Yellow writing (8)
• Orange (5)
• Blue (9)
• Bright (5)
• Pale/Light colours (12)
PowerPoint Style - Colour
• What colour(s) if any cause you problems
on PowerPoint slides for you?
• Green (9)
• Dark
Dark background (9)*
• Bright White (4)
• Purple (1)
• Not enough contrast
PowerPoint Style - Colour
• Learning difficulties specifically
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Yellow, red
White background
Blue or light colours
Dark backgrounds make text hard to read
Yellow (words)
Bright white (2)
Blue/Yellow hard to see
Red
No background colour, light lilac preferred
Green + Red (light blue on dark background
preferred)
– Yellow on blue - hard to read
– Bright colours such as Yellow/Orange
PowerPoint Style - Colour
• Generally students with Dyslexia gave
more detail on colour
• We are encouraged to put everything on
PDF format on Moodle
– Student can’t adjust to requirements
– Inclusive approach?
• Avoid Yellow and light colours??
Percentage of repondents (%)
Recording Lectures
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Do not record lectures
Record lectures
63 %
9%
Learning Difficulty
18 % of students record lectures
No Learning difficulty
Font Type
• Sans Serif
– Arial
– Calibri
– Tahoma
–Veranda
• Serif
– Times New Roman
– Century
– Footlight MT Light
14%
77%
9 % have no preference
Font Type – Learning difficulties
• Sans Serif
– Arial
– Calibri
– Tahoma
–Veranda
• Serif
– Times New Roman
– Century
– Footlight MT Light
19%
81%
What do students find useful?
92 % like
Photos
What do students find useful?
61 % like
figures
What do students find useful?
61 % like
mind-maps
Learning Styles
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
All = 4 %
Auditory = 7 %
Kinaesthetic = 30 %
Read/ Write = 16 %
Visual = 16 %
Visual + Kinaesthetic = 10 %
Other combinations = 17 %
Learning Styles
Agriculture
Percentage of respondents (%)
40
Animal
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Auditory
Kinaesthetic
Read/Write
Learning style
Visual
Other
So what do we do well?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Repetition of complex or difficult topics
Miss out words so you have to fill them in
Pictures, examples
Give practical examples of information
Use videos and images
Clear text, interesting pictures and
diagrams
• Use real world examples/ experiences to
describe case studies
What is not so good?
• Reading the slides out
• Putting lots of info on one slide = hard to read
• Speed, some lecturers go too fast, or putting up
irrelevant wording or text
• Yellow and blue colours, too much text
• Blocks of text, blocks of figures
• Not explain or talk about any slides/ diagrams/
pictures etc
• Covering over pictures with more pictures,
Figures etc too small and unclear. Adding
additional slides that are not in the lecture notes.
What do they want more of?
• Provide PowerPoint's as a handout or on
moodle before
• Ask questions at the end of lecture
• More visual aids
• Make lectures more interactive, work as groups
to answer questions
• Videos!
• Online quizzes
• Further reading sources
• Have a visual and attractive PowerPoint so it
doesn’t look boring
Questions?