Accessibility in the Psychology Undergraduate Curriculum

5.1. Orientation

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  Meeting with personal tutor
  
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  Welcome and introduction
  
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  Introduction to computing facilities
  
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  Introduction to research
  
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  Improving financial capability
  
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  International student meeting
  
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  Personal development planning, career planning
  
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  Research participation and ethics
  
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  Seminars and tutorials
  
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  Library facilities
  

As part of the introductory talk, one of the School’s Disability Contacts is introduced.

5.2. Reading

The School’s Teaching, Learning and Assessment policy is that learners play the leading role in their own training. Readings are the primary source of information at all levels of the degree programme, beginning primarily with textbook chapters in Year 1, and progressing to an emphasis on original research articles in academic journals in the Final Year.
Most reading materials are accessed either from the library (books, journal articles, and photocopy items) or the internet (email, online library catalogue, journal articles, e-books, Learning Central, PSYCH web pages, lecture notes, student handbooks, etc.). Issues relevant specifically to the internet and to lecture materials are discussed farther below.

5.2.1. Alternative formats

Some students are able to access paper-based readings, but only slowly. Other students have difficulty accessing paper-based readings in their original format. In principle, readings can be converted to alternative formats (Braille, large font, electronic, audio). Diagrams are sometimes harder to convert to useful alternative formats, but textual descriptions or tactile diagrams can often be helpful substitutes. The “Core Graphics Pack: Psychology” (available from the School’s Disability Contact, Todd Bailey) has tactile versions of some key psychology diagrams, along with textual and Braille descriptions of those diagrams and more. The Dyslexia and Disability Service provides good practical advice on the best option for a particular student and how to make it happen. The School’s Disability Contact liaises with instructors and with the Dyslexia and Disability Service to arrange for readings to be converted to alternative formats as appropriate for particular students.

5.2.2. Reading speed

Students using alternative formats almost always require more time to cover the same amount of material. The marking criteria index the amount of independent learning exhibited (so higher marks are awarded to students who know more). The choice, then, is for students to take the time required to access the “readings”, or receive lower marks.

5.2.3. Advance readings

The potential value of preparatory reading varies with the purpose and content of a lecture. Given that readings are intended to be the primary source of information for students, and given that lectures are generally a poor way to convey information, instructors often use lectures to motivate interest in a topic, to outline the range of topics students are expected to learn, to demonstrate classic experiments with audio-visual aids, and/or to direct active learning exercises or discussions. For some of these types of activities, advance reading might not be important to all students.
Nevertheless, advance reading is an effective way for students to prepare for informational lectures, and this may be particularly important for students who have some difficulty extracting auditory or visual information from lectures on the fly (e.g. a student who is lip-reading cannot watch slides on the screen and the instructor at the same time). Moreover, for any type of lecture there is almost certainly some potential student who would benefit from a relevant advance reading (e.g. to identify technical vocabulary so that a deaf student and sign interpreter could agree on appropriate signs). Useful advance readings might take the form of book chapters, journal articles, lecture notes, key points, or just a list of technical vocabulary.
Module descriptions include indicative reading lists for lectures, and these are prepared for Registry every spring. These are available far in advance of the related lectures, but the weakness of these lists is that they are very general. During the course of the term, instructors typically suggest specific readings within or in addition to those published in the module descriptions. Some instructors provide detailed reading lists at or even before the start of term. Other instructors list readings on handouts given out in lecture, which may not be available in advance except by prior arrangement. Individual instructors choose whether or not to identify a few specific readings for all students in advance of lectures. Where not identified for all students, advance readings can be identified for specific students on a case by case basis (where this is recommended by a needs assessment).

5.2.4. Prioritizing

Reading lists generally distinguish between core readings and supplementary ones, with the expectation that students should focus first on core readings before delving into a selection of secondary readings. The indicative reading lists given in module descriptions make this distinction, and the library stocks books in different numbers based on the module descriptions.
The School’s marking criteria state that a first class piece of work must show evidence of independent learning. Reading lists for specific lectures often list more supplementary readings than most students will be able to do, and students are also expected to be able to identify further relevant readings on their own (e.g. by following up referenced papers, or searching online databases of journal articles). Thus, the ability to prioritize potential readings is an important skill that students are expected to develop. This skill is assessed indirectly, by how well students do overall in their written assessments (including essays, practical reports, and essay exams).
There is a trade-off between time spent practising prioritizing skills and time spent learning the target material itself. Generally, prioritizing various supplementary readings will be more difficult when the speed of information access is slow, because it will take students longer to evaluate each potential reading (e.g. by skimming abstracts, or whatever). This will be the case for some students using paper-based readings (e.g. dyslexic students), and also for students using alternative formats. Such students might benefit from more specific advice on reading priorities.

5.2.5. Online materials

Students access a variety of reading materials online, including databases of published research, online journal articles, library information, course handouts and lecture slides, and email. Standard computers can be hard to operate for people with limited manual dexterity or limited vision. The Disability & Dyslexia Service is very helpful in identifying and obtaining hardware and software relevant to particular disabilities, which is often installed on the student’s own laptop. We have sometimes installed special software on some of the computers in the undergraduate computing lab, e.g. using non-standard screen settings to obtain large print.

5.2.6. Lecture materials

Many lectures are accompanied by electronic notes of some sort, according to the judgment of the instructor. Material might include copies of lecture slides, an outline of the lecture, key points and diagrams, detailed lecture notes, or some combination of these.
Like other readings, lecture materials must sometimes be provided in alternative formats. In practical terms, this often just means providing the student with an electronic version (which could be viewed at different levels of magnification, or read aloud by text-to-speech software, etc.). Lecture materials are routinely made available on the web via Learning Central, in advance of the lecture when possible.
Visual material (pictures, graphs, tables) is sometimes harder than straight text to convert to useful alternative formats. The “Core Graphics Pack: Psychology” (available from the School’s Disability Contact, Todd Bailey) has tactile versions of some key psychology diagrams, along with textual and Braille descriptions. Tactile versions of diagrams can be created if necessary (though with a longer lead time). The School’s Disability Contact liaises with instructors and with the Dyslexia and Disability Service to arrange for content to be converted to alternative formats as appropriate for particular students.
Lecture materials are sometimes not available in advance. The specific content of lectures often changes from year to year, for a variety of reasons (changes in the curriculum, changes in lecturing staff, new developments in psychology, changes in teaching strategy based on critical reflection, etc.). Specific readings can sometimes be an appropriate substitute when lecture materials cannot be made available in advance (e.g. to identify key concepts and vocabulary).

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