Investigation on academic adaptabilities of university students with visual impairment

Aim: To investigate both the academic adaptabilities of university students with visual impairment (VI) and their opinions toward school supporting services in an integrative education environment. Methods: The researchers made a semi-structured interview of 9 students with VI (3 were blind, male; 6 were poor-visual, 3 males and 3 females) who were majoring English or Applied Psychology in the University of Shanghai. Blind: The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of good eye was less than 0.05; Poor-visual: BCVA of good eye was less than 0.03. The interviews lasted 90 minutes for per student, and covered both academic adaptabilities in curriculum, in class, after class, in homework and in examination and the students' opinions toward school supporting services. The students were demanded to answer questions following the contents of the interviews. The researchers got 9 notes transferred from records of the interviews while other information such as academic results and the students' performances offered by their tutors, teachers and classmates were collected. Results: Nine students with VI all finished the interviews and entered the result analysis. 1 Students with VI were able to accomplish the curriculum they were studying, and had a correct idea of exempt Physical Education, Computer and curriculum for English Majors. The poor-visual students were able to adapt to the homework and examination completely. The blind students thought mail or floppy disk on computers were the best way to finish their homework, and adapted to curriculum, homework and examination. 2 Students with VI failed to catch their teachers in class and study alone after class. 3 There were differences between the blind students in academic adaptability because their characters, attitudes to study and standard of self-demand were different: The students with VI who thought knowledge seriously made better performances in average academic results and examination rank in class than those who had the opposite opinions. There were also differences between the poor-visual students. 4 The blind students were more unadaptive to the use of extracurricular resources, while the poor-visual students could read some extracurricular books in library by magnifying glass. Conclusion: Students with VI adapt to the curriculum, homework and examination well while they fail to catch their teachers in class and study alone after class. There is difference between the blind students and the poor-visual students in academic adaptability. The way of providing school supporting services in universities and reforming the curriculum and teaching in schools for the blind can promote the academic adaptabilities of students with VI.