Karen Guldberg and Lynn Plimley, School of Education, University of Birmingham

““Evaluation of a web based training Evaluation of a web based training course for parents and practitioners course for parents and practitioners

living or working with people with living or working with people with autistic spectrum disorders”autistic spectrum disorders”

““Evaluation of a web based training Evaluation of a web based training course for parents and practitioners course for parents and practitioners

living or working with people with living or working with people with autistic spectrum disorders”autistic spectrum disorders”

Karen Guldberg and Lynn Plimley,Karen Guldberg and Lynn Plimley,

School of Education,School of Education,

University of BirminghamUniversity of Birmingham

StructureStructureStructureStructure

• Training CoursesTraining Courses

• The Course and our StudentsThe Course and our Students

• Evaluating the CourseEvaluating the Course

• Development IssuesDevelopment Issues

Training CoursesTraining Courses What is available? What is available?Training CoursesTraining Courses

What is available? What is available?

• Awareness raising

• Day courses

• Short day courses

• Certificated course at different levels

• Postgraduate professional training

• Parent training initiatives

• Flexible training

Training CoursesTraining CoursesWhere are the gaps?Where are the gaps?

Training CoursesTraining CoursesWhere are the gaps?Where are the gaps?

• Practitioners with little or no training who have

a daily input into the care of people with

ASDs

• Parents who want to go beyond helping their

own child

• People with ASDs who want to care for and

work with others with ASDs

• In-depth training over a period of time

The Course The Course

• The University of Birmingham has developed a unique part-time programme for individuals interested in learning more about ASDs.

• It will provide a broad understanding of ASD, introducing the latest research findings and insights into current best practice.

• It will prepare students to draw upon recognised strategies for meeting the needs of individuals with ASDs in a variety of settings

The Course partnersThe Course partners

The course was initially funded by the The Shirley Foundation for the first 3 years

The Management mechanism for the development of the course has the representation of

• The University of Birmingham• The Shirley Foundation• Autism Cymru and• autism west midlands

Autism Cymru Autism Cymru

Where does Wales fit in ?

The Course and our StudentsThe Course and our StudentsThe Qualification(s)The Qualification(s)

The Course and our StudentsThe Course and our StudentsThe Qualification(s)The Qualification(s)

• University Certificate (ASDs)

• Certificate of Higher Education (ASDs)

• Level 1

• Springboard to further study

The Course and our studentsThe Course and our studentsOur studentsOur students

- some statistics


- some statistics

2002 FIRST STUDENT COHORT• 117 of which 83 retained 2003 SECOND STUDENT COHORT• 265 of which 211 retained

2004 THIRD STUDENT COHORT• 233 of which 216 retained

STUDENT NUMBERS FOR 2002-5 University Cert and Cert HE

STUDENT NUMBERS FOR 2002-5 University Cert and Cert HE

0.010.020.030.040.050.060.070.080.090.0

100.0

2002/3 2003/4 2004/5

previous

CertHE

current

Over to KGOver to KG



• Non-traditional students

• Mix of backgrounds

• Mix of professions

• Unusual composition for web based

study

• Uniting factor: community of practice

The Course and our studentsThe Course and our students GenderGender

The Course and our studentsThe Course and our students GenderGender

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

MaleFemale

The Course and our studentsThe Course and our students AgeAge

The Course and our studentsThe Course and our students AgeAge

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Under 2020-3030-4040-5050-6060 +

The Course and our students The Course and our students ExperienceExperience

The Course and our students The Course and our students ExperienceExperience

0

5

10

15

20

25

2yrs

2-5 yrs

5-10 yrs

Over 10yrsOther

The Course and our studentsThe Course and our students BackgroundBackground

The Course and our studentsThe Course and our students BackgroundBackground

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

ParentChildrenAdultsASD SelfOther

The Course and our studentsThe Course and our studentsStudent ProfileStudent Profile

The Course and our studentsThe Course and our studentsStudent ProfileStudent Profile

Student Needs Philosophy Pedagogy

Course Design

The Course and our studentsThe Course and our students PhilosophyPhilosophy


Overall:

• Understanding

• Developmental

• Holistic

• Autism as transactional disorder

• Mutual change and adaptation

• No single answers and no single approach



Develop the individual:

• Observation

• Critical thinking

• Reflection

• Practical experiences learning

• Learning daily practice

• Learn from each other: a community of

learners

The Course and our studentsThe Course and our students Pedagogy: The Learning EnvironmentPedagogy: The Learning Environment

The Course and our studentsThe Course and our students Pedagogy: The Learning EnvironmentPedagogy: The Learning Environment

• Multi-modal• Integrated

• Structured

• Collaborative

• Reflective

• Interactive

• Active

The Course and our studentsThe Course and our students Year 1 StructureYear 1 Structure


Module 1

Module 2

Module 3

Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

Section 5

Section 6

Section 1

Section 2

Section3

Section 4

Introduction

Audiovisual

Pause for Thought

Presentation

Time to Talk

Summary



Module 4

Module 5

Module 6

Unit 1

Unit 3

Unit 2

Workshop 1Observation

Workshop 2Team work

and problem solving

Workshop 3Perspectives

and behaviour

Workshop 4Evaluation and

reflection

Evaluating the Course Research and EvaluationEvaluating the Course

Research and Evaluation

• Qualitative and quantitative data• Process oriented• Practitioner / Action Research• Evaluative• Impact on practice

The Course and our studentsThe Course and our studentsResearch and EvaluationResearch and Evaluation

The Course and our studentsThe Course and our studentsResearch and EvaluationResearch and Evaluation

Questionnaire data

Time to Talk analysis

Student tracking

Module evaluation

Evaluation Cycle

Evaluation cycle

Observation Interviews



Understanding the needs of our students How do they learn? Is the course doing what it sets out to do? Is the course impacting on practice and if so,

how? What do we need to do to improve the

course?

The Course and our studentsThe Course and our students Community of learnersCommunity of learners

The Course and our studentsThe Course and our students Community of learnersCommunity of learners

• Face to face

• Online

• Sharing practice

• Reflection on learning

• Relating course material to practice

• Support and collaboration



• Continuous knowledge construction

• Active and creative individuals

• Think through the possibilities and probable

consequences of a line of action in the light of

their experience

• “Educators” with a purpose, able to take control

over their own futures

• Constructing a ‘world of practice’ that is

meaningful to them

Evaluating the Course Time To talk content analysis

Evaluating the Course Time To talk content analysis

Content/learning

• Students refer to themes from course material

• Topic relatedness/answering the question set

• Sharing their own experience/practice

• Referring to audiovisual material

• Formulation of own thoughts in relation to

reading material

• Offering a critical viewpoint about the question



Community of Practice:

• Autism Community

• The WebAutism course

• Learning through and with others

• Theory and practice

OVER TO LPOVER TO LP

Evaluating the CourseModule Evaluation


What did you value most?

• Reflection• Website links• Portfolio• Tutorials• Autism friendly design• The Module Reader• Video/audio clips



2003/4 Statistics:

• 85.5% found materials relevant

• 99% said range of materials suited their learning

• 93.2% found the Study zone fair-easy to access

• 65% rated the support of their tutor as fair-very good

• 84.9% rated the support of the Webautism team as

fair to very good

• 82.1% rated their peer support as fair to very good

LEARNING STYLESLEARNING STYLES

QUESTION TAILORED TO ELICIT SUITABILITY OF MATERIALS TO

STYLE OF LEARNING• Which 3 types of study materials suited

you the most - choose from• CD ROM video; CD ROM audio; Time

to talks; Online content; PDF materials; Face to face tutorials; Chat sessions

Style of Learning data n=71

Style of Learning data n=71

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

CD Rom ACD Rom VT2TOnlinePDFF2F

Future developmentsFuture developments

• Swedish Pilot group n=10• Nationality specific information• Involvement of Universitas 21• LDAF links• Online Graduation for students• Future Collection of data• Ongoing commitment to update and

revise the content

ConclusionConclusionConclusionConclusion

• Link between training & quality of life• One particular course• Evaluation process in that course• Specific and general issues• Celebration of what we can achieve

www.webautism.bham.ac.uk

[email protected]@bham.ac.uk

Karen Guldberg and Lynn Plimley, School of Education, University of Birmingham

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