Assessment insights from the Margins: Garnering the Views of Learners with Disabilities Through Lesson Study

This presentation reports on a small-scale British Academy funded research project using Lesson Study at two universities, one in the UK and the other in Brazil. Specifically, this presentation presents findings from one aspect of the research carried out in the UK, which sought perspectives from a sample of Level 5 university students regarding their experiences of assessment. The students self-identified and willingly participated on the basis of certain characteristics: all had a cognitive or neurological disability, and all identified as being the ‘first in family’ to have attended university. Data arising out of the ‘de-briefing’ sessions with the students of three rounds of LS was analysed and various themes emerged. Many of these reflected previous findings in research literature. A closer reading of the data revealed facets that might otherwise have been ‘occluded’ from view had not such a research process occurred. A tentative framework using the notions of ‘proximity’ and ‘perceptibly’ that might help staff consider the requirements of such students is proposed.