Learning Disabilities and its Impact on Academic Achievement

Project Report from the year 2009 in the subject Pedagogy - Common Didactics, Educational Objectives, Methods, Vanier College, course: Research Methods, language: English, abstract: This pilot study consists of research about academic achievement and LD students. Our research project was initially to contribute to empirical data analysis on the question of how learning disabilities affect a College student's academic achievement and social life. However, due to certain practical issues, there was a shift in our research question. The purpose of our study is to determine the factors that hinder LD students in their academic achievement and social life and to propose solutions that help LD students academically and socially. We hypothesized that learning disabilities could negatively affect academic achievement and social life in College regardless of gender or cultural background and that there exist factors that hinder them in their academic achievement and social life. After interviewing a convenient sample of four different students who share similar learning disabilities, we found out that three out of four LD students require extra time to study and understand. They achieve well in school. Their heavy course workload and the teaching methods used hinder them in their learning process. However, the learning centre and other academic services help LD students to improve their academic performance. Some interviewees claimed that being more outgoing and open-minded with their learning disabilities help them in their long-term social relationships.