Experiences of hearing impaired learners in assessment
Date of Award
12-2016
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Master of Education (MEd)
First Supervisor/Advisor
Dr. Nicholas Wachira
Second Supervisor/Advisor
Dr. Fulgence Swai Saronga
Department
Institute for Educational Development, East Africa
Abstract
This study sought to find out the experiences of HI leaners in assessment.The HI students are those whose ability to hear and subsequently engage in conversation is severely compromised by their inability to hear. As part of the governments‟ agenda to provide free education to all children the HI students have been admitted in inclusive schools. However, they face many challenges and opportunities in their quest for an education and more specifically when engaging with assessment activities. Assessment activities are crucial to learning as they give insight into the extent of which the student has learnt. This study sought to investigate the experience of the HI students in assessment. The study employed a concurrent mixed method approach which involved in depth investigation of experiences of HI students in assessment in inclusive secondary school in Kenya. Data collection methods included semi structured interviews, FGD, questionnaires and document analysis. Participants of the study were drawn by stratified and purposive sampling to get fair representation of the population. A sample of 51 respondents participated in the study Findings suggest that the experiences of HI students on assessment is riddled with many challenges that include a lack of ability to infer meaning from assessment tasks, lack of experienced and qualified teachers, limited access to assistive devices and limited ways for completing the assessment tasks. The outcome of this is that the performance of HI learners has been dismal both in standard and in comparison to hearing students. However, their challenges seem to have been recognised and some alterations have been provided to allow alternate modes of accessing and completing the assessment tasks. To support HI learners schools need to have a policy that guide on the alterations in assessment and teachers need to be sensitized on the needs of the HI for them to be fulfilled.
Recommended Citation
Jenniffer Jeptepkney. (2016). Experiences of hearing impaired learners in assessment (Unpublished Masters Thesis). Dar es salaam: Aga Khan University