Browsing by Author "Dewage, N"

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Open Access
ACADEMIC SUCCESS OF PERSONS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AND BLINDNESS IN THE TERTIARY SECTOR: EXPLANATORY MODEL
(Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu, 2022-01-14) Suraweera, T; Bandara, S; Wickramarachchi, C; Dewage, N; Gunawardana, T; Nanayakkara, N; Yapa, E; Thelijjagoda, S; Jayathilaka, R
Ensuring universal access to education is an effective and sustainable means of empowering people with visual impairment and blindness. Literature confirms that blindness of a person is not a barrier for learning, yet past research brings about a range of diverse obstacles for productive engagement in education due to universities being designed for the sighted persons. Given that the persons with impairment are looked after comparatively better in the western world than in the developing nations for realising their challenging academic goals. Purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a comprehensive study on the academic work of persons with visual impairment and blindness in the tertiary sector. This population included recent undergraduates and those who have completed a university degree. The two distinct outcomes presented are; (first phase) the critical factors influencing the academic performance of persons with visually impairment and blindness and, (second phase) an explanatory model that characterizes the construct ‘the academic performance’. Using a semi-structured questionnaire, purposely selected eleven key informant interviews were utilized for the first phase for the qualitative investigation. Thematic analysis was used as the main method of data analysis. The Second phase employed a sample survey. Fifty respondents who had studied in universities during the 5-year period from 2015-2020 were selected through snow-ball sampling. Exploratory factor analysis was used as the main data analysis technique. The key findings of phase one revealed that external support, physical environment, motivation to learn, instructional strategies, ICT and English literacy are major contributory factors to academic performance. The second phase of the quantitative analysis derived five composite factors. Of these, the factor labeled “Motivating influences” appears to be mostly contributing to the academic performance of persons with visual impairment and blindness. While education is a lifelong endeavor of a person, these findings can contribute to make a substantial change in the quality of life of this community in the long run.
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Factors Affecting Academic Performance of People with Visual Disabilities in the Tertiary Sector
(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences,SLIIT, 2021-09-25) Suraweera, T; Wickramarachchi, C; Dewage, N; Gunawardana, M; Nanayakkara, T; Yapa, N; Handapangoda, R; Wickramarachchi, C
The role of education in enriching people’s lives is an undisputed fact. Most past studies have been conducted on the factors affecting academic performance focused on the sighted learners engaged in education in the academic systems. Given that the persons with disabilities are guarded/protected comparatively better in the Western word than in the developing nations, achieving academic goals for visually handicapped persons could be further challenging. This research is aimed at exploring the critical factors influencing academic performance of visually handicapped persons in Universities of Sri Lanka, a developing nation. Adopting a qualitative approach, eleven persons were purposely selected to represent varying levels of academic achievements in universities as case study subjects. The data collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews were analysed mainly through thematic analysis. Having a clear understanding of the key elements influencing academic performance of persons who are visually handicapped could make a significant difference to this community and is an eye opener for the policy makers in the tertiary education sector.