Traditional science instruction is typically reliant on visual modes of learning, such as textbooks and graphs. Furthermore, since science instruction is often heavily dependent upon visual cues, students with visual impairment often do not have access to the same educational opportunities in most science classes (Jones, Minogue, Oppewal, Cook,…

Introduction: This study investigated the use of accommodations and the performance of students with visual impairments and severe cognitive disabilities on the Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessment (PASA)yCoan alternate performance-based assessment. Methods: Differences in test scores on the most basic level (level A) of the PASA of 286…

Introduction: The study presented here was designed to determine whether there were significant differences in the frequency and preference scores of personality functions and the frequency of personality types, as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), by gender, school level, and level of visual function, of students with visual…

Introduction: This study investigated differential item functioning (DIF) of test items on Pennsylvania's Alternate System of Assessment (PASA) for students with visual impairments and severe cognitive disabilities and what the reasons for the differences may be. Methods: The Wilcoxon signed ranks test was used to analyze differences in the scores…

There is a dearth of information about how students with visual impairments learn science-process skills. This study investigated students' concepts and skills in one science area: the estimation of measurements. The estimation of measurements is one of the fundamental concepts that connects all science disciplines that provide the necessary…

Arguing the issue of fairness and the additional advantage for test takers with visual impairments, some professionals have expressed negative attitudes toward test accommodation. However, researchers have found that the validity of test accommodations increases when the test scores of students who need a particular accommodation increases, while…

English and language arts teachers of braille-reading students in general education classes rated these students' academic engagement and the academic achievement of low- and average-achieving sighted students in the same classrooms. The braille readers were found to be statistically similar to the low-achieving students with regard to effort,…

The purpose of this study was to understand and describe the misconceptions of students with visual impairments about seasonal change. Students who participated in traditional instruction exhibited alternative conceptions before and after instruction, whereas those who participated in inquiry-based instruction had alternative conceptions before…

This study investigated the use of assistive technology by students in the United States who are visually impaired through a secondary analysis of a nationally representative database. It found that the majority of students were not using assistive technology. Implications for interventions and potential changes in policy or practice are…