Using Evidence-Based Multimedia to Improve Vocabulary Performance of Adolescents With LD

Abstract

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that is commonly used for guiding the construction and delivery of instruction intended to support all students. In this study, we used a related model to guide creation of a multimedia-based instructional tool called content acquisition podcasts (CAPs). CAPs delivered vocabulary instruction during two concurrent social studies units to 32 SWD and 109 students without disabilities. We created CAPs using a combination of evidence-based practices for vocabulary instruction, UDL, and Mayer’s instructional design principles. High school students with and without learning disabilities completed weekly curriculum-based measurement (CBM) probes (vocabulary matching) over an 8-week period along with two corresponding posttests. Students were nested within sections of world history and randomly assigned to alternating treatments (CAPs and business as usual) that were administered sequentially to each group. Results revealed that students with and without disabilities made significant growth on CBMs and scored significantly higher on the posttests when taught using CAPs.

Assistive technology interventions for adolescents and adults with learning disabilities: An evidence-based systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Quite a few studies used multimedia presentations, but even these were designed differently. In the Higgins studies (Higgins & Boone, 1990; Higgins et al, 1996), the multimedia presentations were interactive ”hypertext study guides”, but in the Kennedy studies (Kennedy et al, 2014, 2015), they were non-interactive ”content acquisition podcasts”; essentially slide-based presentations. But these studies were otherwise relatively homogenous: they all included high school students, outcome variables were similar to or identical with preexistent school testing, and even the subject material was similar (history lessons).…”

Increasing College Entrance Testing Vocabulary for Secondary Students with High-Incidence Disabilities

“…Vaughn et al (2015) also completed a meta-analysis of the number of reading interventions available for students with reading disabilities; they found there were twice as many reading interventions available for elementary students than for secondary students. The overwhelming consensus from this information indicates that remediating secondary students with reading deficits, specifically vocabulary acquisition, remains a challenge and warrants continued research (Boon, Fore, & Spencer, 2007;Bryant et al, 2003;Kennedy, Thomas, Meyer, Alves, & Lloyd, 2014).…”

“…Consequentially, as the 21 st century marches on and assistive technologymore specifically, instructional technologybecomes more ubiquitous, it begins to take a greater position on the educational platform (Lombardi et al, 2017;Malcolm & Roll, 2017). This, combined with students' seemingly innate enthusiasm for electronic devices and computerized devices, have caused educators to rush and create more modern hightech versions of traditional evidence-based strategies such as graphic organizers and other direct instruction techniques, but little evidence exists to measure their effectiveness (Kennedy et al, 2014). Research takes time, and with the rapid speed at which technology is evolving, it is difficult for researchers to keep up with the demand for sound knowledge (Malcolm & Roll, 2017).…”

Desenho Universal para a Aprendizagem: a Produção Científica no Período de 2011 a 2016

“…However, one of the premises and goals of the UDL is to provide a framework for planning instruction that meets the needs of all students, the purpose of the Special Education to provide individualized instruction to help minimize the impact of a specific disability condition towards a task or a set of demands (Kennedy, Thomas, Meyer, Alves, & Loyd, 2014). It becomes clear that there is a distinction between the bases and the structures of each model.…”