Learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics: Supporting students with learning disabilities.

Abstract

This paper illuminates the challenges that students with learning disabilities (LDs) confront in science education, with a particular focus on cognitive processing issues that may inhibit their learning during their engagement with inquiry and problem-based learning tasks in science and other related fields, including technology, engineering, and mathematics. This study converges at the intersections of special, inclusive, and science education to identify, understand, and address the underlying reasons that impact the cognitions and academic achievement of students with a LD. A better understanding of the cognitive challenges faced by these students will inform the efforts to enact effective learning environments for students with LDs and provide potential new avenues for looking at LDs within this context.To understand the current landscape of science education, in the first section Contemporary Approaches to Science Education, we offer an overview of the epistemological principles and pedagogical practices guiding the inquiry-based approaches to science teaching and learning. In the second and third sections, we provide an overarching definition of a learning disability (What Is a Learning Disability?) and discuss Definitions and Identification of LDs while highlighting continuing controversies surrounding its definition and identification. In the fourth section, Barriers to Inclusion of Students with LDs in Science, we point out the challenges that science teachers face while teaching students with LDs in inclusive settings. In the fifth section, Cognitive Processing Issues and STEM Learning, we discuss how specific cognitive processing issues may affect the achievement of students with LD in science. Finally, in the sixth section, Insights and Recommendations, we present effective interventions to address cognitive processing issues and to promote the achievement of students with a LD in science, and, subsequently, offer insights and recommendations based on our entire analysis herein for promoting the inclusion of students with a LD in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Drawing on the insights from research on cognitive processing deficits in relation to problem-based learning approaches to science education, this work offers a new framework to science educators to understand and address the unique needs of students with LDs in STEM learning.Contemporary Approaches to STEM EducationAs science becomes increasingly intertwined with modern life, understanding the myriad of mechanisms by which we can engage with science becomes of paramount importance. Contemporary developments in science and technology have been significantly shaping our lives personally, socially, politically, and professionally. Thus, examining the role of science education in the 21st century is critically important in the wake of these developments (Carnevale, Smith, & Melton, 2011). Three salient themes emerge from the science education reform literature and policy documents: developing a scientifically literate citizenry (DeBoer, 2000), preparing students to pursue STEM disciplines at the college/university level, and developing a highly educated and trained workforce to take on various careers in STEM fields (Dobson & Burke, 2013).Scientific literacy focuses on understanding the impact of science on our personal, social, and political spheres; thus, it allows us to critically examine the impact of science and technology on our lives and our natural environment, to recognize issues involving science, to identify the problems posed by scientific and industrial activities, and to engage in debates on scientific issues (National Research Council, 2012). In other words, scientific literacy promotes informed, responsible, and constructive civic engagement around socioscientific issues, such as climate change, energy resources, conserving ecological balance, and environmental protection regulations (Brigham, Scruggs, & Mastropieri, 2011; Bybee, Fensham, & Laurie, 2009; Council of Ministers of Education Canada, 2016; Kolsto, 2001; Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2009). …