Improving Learning of Figurative Concepts in Individuals With Blindness: Adopting Teaching Strategies to Enhance Learning Motivation

Abstract

Introduction: This study examines teaching strategies that help enhance learning motivation in individuals with blindness to facilitate improved learning of figurative concepts: attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction (ARCS). We began by teaching the origin of life and the reproductive system in the first unit of the relatively lacking gender-equality education. We established various teaching strategies through expert interviews. A teaching experiment was carried out to validate the strategy. Methods: Participants comprised eight individuals with blindness. They were first asked to draw various parts of the female reproductive system. Teaching activities based on the teaching strategy were then conducted. Upon completion of the activity, the participants were asked to redraw the diagram and the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey was administered to check the ARCS score. Results: The scores for each of the ARCS elements were attention = 3.99 (SD = 0.31), relevance = 3.99 (SD = 0.36), confidence = 3.61 (SD = 0.37) and satisfaction = 4.15 (SD = 0.46). The Kendall's W values obtained were attention = 0.21(p = .01), relevance = 0.31(p = .004), confidence = 0.25(p = .03), and satisfaction =0.67(p < .001). In the posttest, the average completion rate for each part of the drawing was 83.9% (standard deviation [SD] = 19.4) and the pretest was 35.7% (SD = 21.6). The test results were p < .001, t = −10.425, and the degrees of freedom = 7, thus, the learning effect is significant. Discussion: A, R, and S grades around 4 (agree) and C 3.61 (nearly agree) improved motivation. Additionally, a significant improvement was observed in the participants’ drawing-task performance as they could correctly express the relative position of each part. Implications for Practitioners: We conclude that the method tested in this study is feasible for teachers who wish to design teaching materials and lesson plans for figurative-concept learning and cognition. This teaching strategy could be referred to as a means of enhancing their students’ learning motivation and learning efficiency.