The prevalence of Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnoses has increased in the last two decades thanks to greater mental health awareness and access to mental health care. The number of students diagnosed with ADHD entering colleges and universities is also increasing, yet scholarship around effective pedagogical methods that cater to this population's strengths is severely lacking and remains largely deficit focused. After struggling to find published work on the experiences of adult physics students with ADHD, we set out to conduct our own research. Through our collaborative autoethnographic investigation we discovered that active learning environments such as those supported by the Learning Assistant (LA) Model cater to ADHD students' strengths due to their flexibility and adaptability to unique ways of thinking and processing. Furthermore, we found that these students' success was bolstered by the pedagogical and cultural changes in the department brought on by the adoption of the LA Program's evidencebased and equity-focused philosophy.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.