College students with a disability attempting science, engineering, or mathematics studies: Fourteen case studies
"Fourteen college students in science, engineering, or mathematics (SEM) programs who have a vision/hearing/motor impairment were interviewed to investigate: (1) What might explain why proportionately fewer students with disabilities pursue SEM than others? (2) In light of those factors, why and how do these exceptional ""survivors"" pursue collegiate SEM studies? After the interviews, a portrait was written for eleven students. The resulting diverse stories show only two commonalities: (1) All were mainstreamed into regular schools--although many were originally denied access. (2) All have been undergoing an intensive search for answers regarding disability and beyond, which evidently shaped their outlook and priorities. This appears consistent with their two categories for pursuing SEM: (1) They had an inherent fascination with SEM since youth, or (2) they found a way to use SEM to reach some charitable goal, consistent with their priorities. Once either of these intrinsic motivations was instilled, extrinsic factors proved to curb or boost their SEM success, all of which require reexamination to make SEM more accessible. These factors include technology, societal attitudes, innovative instruction, and mainstreaming."
Education, Mathematics, Education, Special, Education, Technology of, Education, Sciences, Education, Curriculum and Instruction
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign