Abstract
Concussion is a functional brain injury that can produce physical, cognitive, emotional and sleep-related symptoms. With correct management, most symptoms will resolve within a month and a gradual, progressive return to activity (cognitive and physical) that allows students to stay below the thresholds that make symptoms worse, can be started after the immediate post-impact rest period of 24-48 hours. The 6-step Return-to-Learn protocol works well to manage the return to the classroom for elementary and high school-aged students, however it is difficult to implement in a postsecondary setting, as it requires a level of monitoring not generally available through college or university student wellness centres. As a result, course instructors are often given the task of providing accommodations to help students recovering from concussion manage and master the content and complete the required work to pass their course. This paper will discuss the challenges facing the postsecondary student recovering from concussion and provide accommodation ideas and examples, with resources, that instructors may find helpful.
Highlights
Les commotions cérébrales sont des lésions fonctionnelles au cerveau qui peuvent provoquer des symptômes physiques, cognitifs et émotionnels ainsi que des troubles du sommeil qui ont des répercussions sur l'apprentissage de l'étudiant
The instructor can focus efforts to make helpful accommodations by initiating a discussion with the student about the parts of the course that seem more difficult compared to before the concussion, the length of time after which it becomes hard to focus or fatigue sets in, whether the student's ability to concentrate, read or work at normal speed is related to the time of day, Managing the Transition from Concussion to Return to Learn in Postsecondary Education and whether there are specific things in the classroom environment that seem to distract the student ("Returning to School After a Concussion," 2017)
Before considering the specific challenges of physical classroom spaces, online learning environments and course design with respect to postconcussion symptoms, the authors will describe a conceptual framework from which to reimagine content, assessment and course organization in ways that will support both the teaching and learning challenges associated with returning to learn following concussion. This framework uses the principles of Universal Instructional Design, referred to as Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Summary
2018 CELT Vol 11 celt.uwindsor.ca to Return to Learn in Postsecondary www.stlhe.ca. Concussion is a functional brain injury that can produce physical, cognitive, emotional and sleep-related symptoms that impede student learning. The 6-step Return-to-Learn protocol (Parachute, 2016) works well to manage the return to the classroom for elementary and high school-aged students; it is difficult to implement in a postsecondary setting, as it requires individual management, gradual resumption of schoolwork and reintegration into classes, and potentially extensive modifications in workload and assessment (McGrath, 2010) While some of these services may be available to college or university students through campus wellness centres, often these centres are limited to assisting cases of documented chronic or permanent disability, leaving individual course instructors with the responsibility for helping students with acute concussion symptoms that will resolve in a relatively short period. A COF would allow a student needing accommodation to avoid 'screen time' but remain connected to the course in an online scenario and would allow a student in a face to face context the possibility of supported planning for the inevitable executive function demands that missing classes and assessments would entail
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call