Abstract
Imperatives of the Fourth Industrial Revolution are pushing the margins of children’s educational outcomes and inclusion for neurodevelopmental conditions in mainstream education, gaining traction in modern curriculum reforms. However, the paucity of empirical evidence about children’s diversity and digital competencies for lifelong learning adversely impacts gender equity and social inclusion in African post-pandemic education. Therefore, we examined early childhood teachers’ didactic practices and digital integration for neurodiverse assessment in Ghana’s standards-based education system. A school-based participatory research design was employed with a randomised sampling approach involving 1,307 pupils and 102 teachers from private and public schools. Using an observation protocol with a Likert-type scale, a test of the variance assumption for Kruskal–Wallis and descriptive statistical procedures were explored in the IBM-SPSS package version 23. The results showed children’s digital ecosystem comprising 61% of teachers’ 3-G mobile devices and personal laptops, and 30% computer laboratories with mainstream classrooms accommodating 11 neurodevelopmental disorders, including dyslexia, dyscalculia, autism, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Also, teachers’ tenure had no statistically significant impact on inclusive didactics using educational technology tools to support neurodiverse children’s learning outcomes. Based on our Monte Carlo simulation of significance, the study concluded that early-grade facilitators lack application of digital resources that support children’s creative learning needs and low teacher TPACK didactics in post-pandemic early-grade classrooms. Implications for deepening children’s global learning crisis occasioned by COVID-19 and other contextual factors in marginalised schools are discussed for edtech product design and deep learning for inclusive education from learning scientists’ perspectives.
Plain Language Summary
The recent pandemic’s disruption to education systems affected all, including vulnerable children in marginalised communities. However, little evidence exists about teachers’ creative didactic practices using new media to support inclusive education outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa. Without clinically diagnosed neurodevelopmental data to guide differentiated instruction, the study established teachers’ low awareness about the impact of dyslexic conditions’ effects on children’s global learning crisis in Ghana’s post-pandemic classrooms. We conclude that low teacher technology pedagogical content knowledge guiding universal design approaches will impact education systems’ preparedness to deliver instructions in future pandemics. Recommendations for teacher professional development and clinical diagnosis to support social justice philosophy in education towards sustainable learning goals are proposed.
Introduction
The view that holistic concepts of diversity and lifelong learning develop a fair society without discrimination underscores quality education outcomes for children with developmental disabilities for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. But ecological conditions, underdeveloped medical systems and poor nutrition are a few development indicators threatening education systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, as over 16 million children under 5 years are living with intellectual disability (Olusanya et al., 2022). Existing school structures and low-technology environments are increasing the digital divide and lifelong learning possibilities for children with disabilities in the Global South due to contextual conditions impacting the children’s digital ecosystems. While inclusive education systems are essential for developing 21st-century skills, quality education largely depends on teacher professionalism, with curriculum reforms emphasising standards-based education and mainstream learning in post-pandemic classrooms. With few digital interventions for inclusive didactics during the pandemic, mainstream education must transcend rhetoric, as education stakeholders have yet to estimate the pandemic’s impact on children’s global learning outcomes in developing countries. Therefore, the study examines teachers’ neurodiversity knowledge and authentic assessment practices using an asset-based approach to digital inclusion and sustainable livelihoods in Ghana’s post-COVID nation-building.
As a continuous process from a micro-school setting to a larger society, inclusion and sustainability have gained attention and need to be embedded in the educational curriculum (Schreiber & Siege, 2016). Hence, digital inclusion for students with neurodevelopmental conditions in mainstream education, such as text-to-speech applications addressing reading difficulties in the classrooms, supporting teacher-inclusive didactics for neurodiverse learners globally (Alqahtani, 2020), impacting self-directed learning experiences and accessibility (Bhat, 2023), and differential learning styles and expanded access to educational content. Computer tools foster greater independence and self-advocacy (Westerman, 2017) and supportive communities for social inclusion with disabilities. Hence, ignoring technology’s impact on children’s learning outcomes due to resource constraints will aggravate algorithmic skills for adolescents in post-COVID Sub-Saharan Africa, as innovations are pushing the frontiers of 21st-century education and deep learning pedagogy on scale, scope, and complexity, ushering in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
While development institutions are yet to estimate the impact of digital algorithms on human development indices across all sectors of the global economy, they concur that a comprehensive and integrated response involving education stakeholders is required to support sustainable learning outcomes (World Economic Forum, 2016). Indeed, natural language processing models absorb routine jobs and inform future skills across the life span (O’Neill et al., 2024). Such transformations are occasioning rapid industrialisation and unprecedented knowledge incubation, which is impacting nations’ economies, social structures, and educational learning outcomes (Scotney, 2023). Without digital inclusion, educational didactics majors focus on high-stakes examinations and memorisation, ignoring critical differential abilities in sports, arts, and culture for many children. From a human development view, a differential education requires eliminating barriers for all people, irrespective of gender, religion, cultural and social origin, cognitive, physical and psychological preconditions.
Within the social justice framework, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 has targeted quality and equitable educational opportunities for all individuals, irrespective of racial disparities or disabilities, by 2030 (United Nations, 2023). Therefore, Ghana’s standards-based curriculum framework has targeted inclusive and differentiated pedagogical approaches to support special needs children (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment [NaCCA], 2018). Also, most African countries’ policy development and implementation focus on resource provisions such as textbooks and innovative classrooms supporting quality and inclusive education for all (Nyaaba et al., 2021). Though Schreiber and Siege (2016) shared that the scientific acceptance of inclusive education has been broadened since the 1990s, mainly in Europe, they recognise the role of teacher didactic knowledge in its success. As technology must be equitable and valuable to promote inclusion (Lee & Templeton, 2008), learning scientists have proposed that the conditions and experiences of neurodiverse children require a multifaceted approach. For instance, teacher pedagogical content knowledge training supporting disability didactics in inclusive classrooms using universal design principles has been recommended (Ministry of Education [MoE], 2013).
Transformative learning environments incorporating problem-based learning activities should adjust and respect pupils’ personalities and multiple preconditions using problem-based didactics (Jonassen, 2004). Hence, standards-based curriculum reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa are prescribing deep learning principles that account for the heterogeneity of children in formal school systems (Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, 2020; NaCCA, 2018). Indeed, competency-based education provides a broader lens to interrogate teacher deep learning pedagogical approaches, which account for neurodiverse learning needs in the Digital Age. However, clinical diagnosis required to inform differential learning outcomes remains unexamined in the Global South schools, resulting in derogatory labelling of children as school dropouts, academically weak, or unintelligent (Kyere-Nartey, 2022). Lessons from the COVID-19 disruptions should guide evidence generation for sustainable education systems based on large-scale deployment of assistive technology for standardised neurodevelopmental measures and problem-based learning in the Global South schools. Hence, learners with disabilities need appropriate technologies and devices; otherwise, a well-crafted policy framework alone might not birth the anticipated miracle for inclusive education in developing countries, which are combating massive underachievement on most global development indicators, including missed childhood developmental milestones, curriculum philosophy reforms, and employability skills (Ananga & Anapey, 2016).
Genetic and environmental conditions have also contributed to high prevalence rates of varied neurodivergent conditions, including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), that are frequently associated with careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. However, epistemic and cognitive marginalisation have dominated neurodivergence diagnostics globally and contributed to stereotypes and discrimination in both social and educational contexts (Legault et al., 2021), mistreatment of neurodivergent individuals (Mellifont, 2023), physical, verbal, and sexual abuse and dependence trap for parents and children with differential abilities (Yoon et al., 2024). Comorbidity and biopsychosocial factors have occasioned multiple diagnoses such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, acquired brain injury, Tourette syndrome, and other forms of mental illness (Clouder et al., 2020). Hence, learner diagnostics is essential to support children’s learning style inventory, global skills and holistic classroom development. As competency-based curriculum varies across the life span, impacting children's learning variability for differentiated pedagogy, the advancement of assistive technologies for neurodivergent conditions has not been appropriately managed (Ringland & Wolf, 2021), occasioning teacher pessimism about technology pedagogical content skills for deep learning in children’s classrooms (Hunt, 2021). Underprivileged schools without certified clinical psychologists will likely miss many of these diagnoses in classrooms.
Classroom practices have relied on teachers’ intuition to diagnose pupils’ learning styles with little application of digital tools, psychometric resources, and the availability of standardised diagnostic frameworks on professionally differentiated learning inventories for children. Learning Scientists must deal with teachers’ negative attitudes towards neurodiverse pupils, integrate assistive tools to support caregivers with neurodevelopmental and executive functioning cases in basic schools at the experimental stage in Sub-Saharan Africa (Mensah & Hayfron-Acquah, 2018). In addition, the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution have implications for teacher pedagogical approaches and problem-based learning outcomes for children with neurodevelopmental conditions in mainstream education. However, the paucity of knowledge translation and implementation science for lifelong learning goals is impacting social justice philosophy of education in the Global South. Consequently, many neurodiverse children are graduating from Africa’s basic education systems with underachievement scores on core competencies development and maladaptive skills, while widening the learning crisis in post-pandemic classrooms.
Literature Review
Spectrum of Neurodevelopmental Conditions in Classrooms
In the traditional learning environment, every child is assumed to learn the same content, impacting teachers’ ability to segregate the spectrum of neurodevelopmental conditions for inclusive education outcomes. Hence, scholar-practitioners’ knowledge about clinical utility and developmental conditions that impact biopsychosocial functioning across the lifespan is imperative for competency-based curriculum reforms. Diagnoses thought to reflect developmental processes that manifest early in life include schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders, and conditions manifesting in adolescence and young adulthood, such as bipolar, depressive, and anxiety disorders, which greatly facilitate information to assist in diagnostic decision-making in childhood settings (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Also conceptualised as neurodiversity, it is the diversity of various human minds, and infinite variation in neurocognitive operations within the human species, distinguished by biological characteristics rather than by a specific perspective, belief, method, political standpoint, or dimension. Broadening the understanding of neurodiversity, dysfunctional neurons have accounted for the origin of conditions mostly in humans, with variations attributed to inheritance rather than a mental deficit (Léon et al. 2023).
Categorised into two types- neurotypical and neurodivergent humans; and sub-types including brain injury, ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, intellectual disability, mental health, ASD, and Tourette syndrome (Resnick, 2021). Others include dysgraphia, Down syndrome, and chronic mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, epilepsy, borderline personality disorder, anxiety, and depression (Shields & Beversdorf, 2020). In simple terms, neurodiversity posits that the human brain is programmed differently from each other; these differences have a significant impact on the thinking and learning abilities of every human (Clouder et al., 2020) and are lifelong conditions (Léon et al., 2023). Neurotypical individuals exhibit typical brain functioning, behaviours, and standard cognitive processing. They interact with others daily without necessarily considering whether their brains operate similarly to others. Scientific evidence indicates that their brain functions are comparable to other humans (Resnick, 2021). Neurotypicals usually develop life skills, including social or organisational skills, at the same pace as others their age (Sörös et al., 2019). Their brains are wired to attain standard abilities that are common in other neurotypical individuals, and these include tolerating sensory discomfort such as noise, easy adaptation to new routines, ability to remain focused in class for extended periods, and development of interest in a variety of hobbies (Sörös et al., 2019).
Neurodivergent individuals also do not possess the cognitive power and profile to align with established norms and do not attain any benefit from the epistemic and cognitive capability of neurotypical humans (Legault et al., 2021). Neurodivergent individuals have their brains functioning differently, which is not standard; exhibiting moderate ways that are unnoticeable by other humans, to more obvious actions that are highly noticeable by others in society. Neurodiversity has been extensively explored across various domains, including workplaces, gender contexts, film, and academia. However, speech-language pathologists face institutional challenges such as eligibility assessments and individualised education program processes that are not aligned with the neurodiversity paradigm (DeThorne & Searsmith, 2021). Therefore, DeThorne and Searsmith have suggested that embracing the neurodiversity paradigm could provide a structured approach to support speech and language development for autistic students effectively.
A broad spectrum of neuronal conditions among children also requires sophistication in diagnostics, as brain imaging provides a physical view of individual thinking pathways for neurotypicals (Clouder et al., 2020; Léon et al., 2023). However, grouping the condition into applied and clinical neurodiversity provides an expansive approach to its diagnostics in inclusive education settings. While applied neurodiversity describes innate neurological conditions for individuals, it is not considered a health condition (Shields & Beversdorf, 2020). Applied neurodiversity refers to an individual’s difficulty applying skills, including gross motor control, reading, and number concepts. Neurological conditions and characteristics categorised under applied neurodiversity include dyscalculia, dyslexia, and dyspraxia. Characteristics of Dyscalculia result in difficulty comprehending mathematical calculations (Legault et al, 2021). Lack of formal assessment regimes in schools has aggravated children’s learning outcomes, with inclusive learning remaining a policy discourse rather than teachers’ didactic innovations required for differential instruction in most developing countries.
Applied and clinical neurodiversity are common in inclusive classrooms with geographical prevalence mainly in the West. For instance, 5% to 7% of elementary school children have dyscalculia in the United States (Jacobson, 2022), approximately 6% in the United Kingdom have dyscalculia, with teachers’ special education expertise as a higher predictor of dyscalculia management (UCL, 2022). According to Venketsamy and Hu (2023), poor mathematics teaching and learning approaches have been attributed to dyscalculia as preschool teacher competencies, improper curriculum structure and development, and lack of student motivation. On the contrary, the right attitude of teachers and parents towards mathematics and preschool children with dyscalculia can help to improve the learning of children with the condition.
With 5% to 10% of school-aged children in South Africa affected with dyscalculia (Sousa et al., 2020), Sub-Saharan Africa’s story is different, with diagnostic gaps and minimal differential instruction for neurodiverse learners. The paucity of clinical and school-going records on children with dyscalculia has an impact on inclusive education practices in Africa’s standards-based education system. Ghana’s inclusive policy recognises the differential abilities of children (MoE, 2013), yet assessment practices target recall of facts in examination settings instead of problem-based didactics. However, mainstream media, medical, and psychological literature draw stakeholders’ attention to neurodiversity and its management through creative arts or visual elements (Deh, 2019). Deh’s recommended treatment for the category of dyslexia, dysgraphia, or dyscalculia is teaching observation, curiosity, responsiveness, and independent thinking to victims. The prevalence of dyscalculia and dyslexia among children is contributing to poor academic performance in numeracy and effective communication in developing countries. At least one person copes with dyspraxia in every American classroom (Rhoton, 2022).
Dyslexia is a condition that impacts language processing in the brain, resulting in difficulty with reading, fluent speech, and writing (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). As a neurological condition associated with problems in social skills, communication, action, and impulse control (Shields & Beversdorf, 2020), there are over 780 million people in the world with dyslexia. Out of this number, 40 million US adults have the condition, and only 2 million have been diagnosed and are under management (Elias, 2023). Childhood dyslexia is estimated at 20% among preschool children in the US (Yang et al., 2022). Despite inadequate literature on dyslexia, 10% of Ghana’s population may have dyslexia (Kyere-Nartey, 2022), with an average of 62% of preschool teachers’ knowledge of dyslexia (Acheampong et al., 2019). In South Africa, dyspraxia affects 6% of preschool children (Pedro & Goldschmidt, 2019). Globally, about 57 million people are autistic, with a 178% prevalence rate; in Ghana, 82 out of 10,000 children are living with the condition (Centre for Disease Control, 2024). In 2021, it was discovered that 1 in 100 children lived with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as 90 cases of autism were reported in Ghana in the same year (Sasu, 2022). The prevalence of autism among this demographic, with clinical psychologists expanding the literature to include the self-efficacy of teachers and their autism management skills (Twi-Yeboah et al., 2021), suggests that educators may not employ effective strategies to enhance the learning experiences of preschoolers in inclusive classrooms. ADHD is another neurological condition which affects childhood development (Legault et al., 2021), with a varying prevalence rate between 7% and 12% in Ghana (Anokye et al., 2020). Similarly, 7% of the pupils were diagnosed with ADHD symptoms, with boys exhibiting a higher prevalence compared to girls (Ntiakoh-Ayipah et al., 2018).
The absence of a neurodiversity diagnosis affects the realisation of the Sustainable Development targets for early grade literacy in most developing nations. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has been recommended to enhance children’s classroom attentiveness and reduce impulsivity (Senyametor et al., 2021). While a significant increase in intellectual disability amongst preschool children has been reported (Zablotsky et al., 2019), teachers must be trained to recognise that intellectual disabilities are neurological conditions affecting the development of children’s cognitive and adaptive functioning in Sub-Saharan Africa. Children face labelling, stigma, and inadequate care from parents and teachers, as some often rely on coping mechanisms such as spiritual beliefs and support networks when raising their children (Oti-Boadi, 2020). As Research funding has impacted the documentation of childhood learning disorders in the West, little is known about teachers’ competency in digital integration, assessment, and effective instructional strategies for inclusive practices during the post-COVID pandemic in the Global South.
Disability Diagnosis and the General School Environment
Global educational policy, including the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, is promoting equal access to all levels of education for people with disabilities as the social justice movement continues to gain traction (Braun & Naami, 2021). As Ghana’s inclusive policy encourages mainstreaming, many schools accept students with disabilities into schools (MoE, 2013), but such environments are not disability friendly. The SDG 4 targets facilities and resources that are child, gender and disability friendly in providing safe, nonviolent, practical learning and inclusive learning environments for all (United Nations, 2023). However, most schools lack flexible curricula and infrastructure to meet the needs of students with disabilities in developing countries.
Disability-unfriendly schools are likely to promote bullying, discrimination, depression, and negative social interactions as rejection from peers and school members makes educational services meaningless for the children (Rose et al., 2016), with poor and limited facilities also impacting children with disabilities (Oluremi, 2012). Therefore, strong policies and their compliance in schools on inclusive education, high accessibility in school environment, skills, teachers’ acceptance and competency on disability services providing accommodating curricula and assessments, specific lessons and compensatory programmes for persons with disabilities, and strong community support have been recommended. Every child wants to be socially and emotionally accepted and cared for in class. Hence, an inclusive learning environment provides a safe and guided setting for children to explore their potential, and it is a child-centred learning environment which focuses on the needs, abilities, interests and learning style of the child. As the child actively participates in the learning, the teacher is the facilitator and encourages active learning. The physical and psychological atmosphere must be friendly, safe, and accessible to the child with special needs, as the psychological atmosphere makes for mutual understanding between learners and teachers.
The environment celebrates learner differences, stimulates all children, and promotes participation, cooperation, collaboration, and a healthy lifestyle. At the same time, teachers benefit from learning, provide various materials for all school subjects, and engage in authentic assessments such as children’s work samples. It is gender fair, non-discriminatory and provides learning relevant to children’s daily lives through problem solving (Jonassen, 2004). In this environment, children take responsibility for their learning. However, it has been observed that the most significant impediments to children attaining literacy and numeracy in basic education are a lack of a suitable learning environment, characterised by inadequate classrooms, furniture, equipment and learning materials; a lack of the national government's preparedness for the inclusion of special needs persons into their regular classrooms as parents are encouraged to send their special needs children to regular schools, little or no effort has been made to ensure that the learning environment is inclusive and learner-friendly in most Sub-Saharan African schools.
Because inclusive education is relatively new and special needs children benefit maximally in an inclusive learning-friendly environment, there is a need to ascertain how learner-friendly the public primary schools in low- and middle-income countries are, as very little attention has been paid to neurodiverse children’s learning outcomes in Africa. Therefore, early diagnosis of children’s disabilities can lead to the development of quality educational interventions that enable children to achieve their full potential. Incorporating strategies in schools will likely impact over 200 million people living with disabilities (Scherzer et al., 2012). The challenge lies in identifying and operationalising appropriate interventions for the specific disability confronting each child. Periodic developmental assessment in schools should complement limited training in diagnosing disabilities in schools (Moyle et al., 2010). As current teacher certification varies for private and public school teachers, examining inclusive teaching based on early-grade teachers’ years of education would be essential for professional development in developing countries. With government-assisted early grade schools considered resource-dominant compared with private, minimal evidence exists on differential didactics in line with social justice philosophy for post-COVID education.
Edtech Ecosystem Imperatives for Neurodivergent Education
Technology has a positive and significant impact on the personal and academic development of neurodiverse children (Brice & Strauss, 2016); however, the dominant narrative about technological protectionism to limit screen time is impacting school administrators and caretakers’ decision-making in childhood education today. Instead, the functional considerations of digital tools to support playful exploration and creativity, proclaiming the potential for children to learn and use technology in transformative ways, are gaining traction (Ames, 2019). Amidst the various types of disabilities, policy intentionality about pedagogical considerations and frameworks, such as efficacy and systematic evaluations by practising teachers with scoring usually aligned with established learning science theories, has been recommended (Kucirkova et al., 2003). Within inclusive practices, the diversity and participatory design frameworks for technologists working with neurodivergent learners are essential for teachers (Benton et al., 2019).
Likewise, computer resources should complement policy frameworks with cost considerations for developing nations seeking to implement inclusive education for all. Regardless of age, gender, race or any other exception, edtech resources are required to enhance the state and level of economic growth in local and international economies through capacity building. Consequently, international organisations and governments have implemented policies that seek to develop a suitable environment for individuals to attain knowledge and eventually, contribute to national development (Boyle et al., 2020). It appears that individuals with special needs and neurodivergent individuals are categories of people lacking adequate resources to participate inclusively in educational processes in many marginalised communities.
Besides policy implications, inclusive education challenges for marginalised children include policy alignment with SDG Goal 4 on quality education for all and supporting children with special needs (Slee, 2018). Ghana’s inclusive education (IE) policy recognises the right of all citizens based on the value system that all persons who attend an educational institution are entitled to equitable access and quality teaching, which transcends the idea of physical location but incorporates the fundamental values that promote participation, friendship and interaction (MoE, 2013). Pedagogically, the policy acknowledges neurodiverse learners’ needs by integrating the universal learning design (UDL) framework to guide instruction. Others called for the utilisation of educational technology. To augment the capabilities of individuals with disabilities. As over 90% of children with disabilities benefit from assistive technology for vision, hearing, movement, and communication (Lin & Gold, 2017) in developed societies, a sharp contrast to the prevailing conditions in developing countries requires a learning sciences approach. Teachers’ knowledge about neurodiverse conditions and the efficiency of digital tools will be instructive in promoting inclusive learning for children. For instance, at the intersection of ADHD and technology utilisation among neurodivergent readers in schools, computer programs are predominantly employed to mitigate student challenges, including dyslexia and ADHD, to communicate, coordinate, socialise, and learn new skills (Benton et al., 2019). Today, experiences of ASD children in basic schools are being shared with generative artificial intelligence (AI) powered tools through gamification activities for social-emotional learning (Spiel et al., 2022).
Contrarily, edtech application in inclusive education is a constraint in the early childhood ecosystem in Global South schools (Mensah & Hayfron-Acquah, 2018) and clinical infrastructural limitations occasioning delayed diagnosis of autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions (Nana et al., 2023). In contrast to the advanced societies where assistive technology is widely available, an inclusive ecosystem for neurodivergent children is widely not accessible in Sub-Saharan Africa, casting more doubt about the effective implementation of social justice in education and the achievement of the SGE 4 on quality education.
Pedagogical Model for Inclusive Education Implementation
Different pedagogical approaches have been proposed to address inclusion in education. For instance, Meyer et al. (2014) suggested that integrating universal design for learning (UDL) principles with technology can enhance engagement and motivation among students with disabilities. Theoretically, UDL serves the general purpose of making education accessible to more learners in inclusionary schools through modification, representation, expression, and engagement of a much wider range of learners in mainstream classrooms (MoE, 2013). Indeed, inclusive policy engaging learners coheres with Mayer et al.’s learner motivation, but is silent on classroom instructional resources. Hence, Bekteshi (2015) proposed the capability of information and communication devices to aid students with impairments to express themselves, accommodate diverse learning profiles, and foster greater participation in classroom activities. In our view, UDL strives for teacher competencies in content, pedagogy, and digital skills in inclusive classrooms. Therefore, we propose an amalgamation of design principles of representation, expression, engagement, and teacher pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) to give impetus to global social justice policies in education.
After years of studying teachers at different grade levels and designing experiments to determine how classrooms operate, Mishra and Koehler (2006) developed the technology pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) model derived from the complex inter-relationships between the teacher’s knowledge about pedagogy, strands, and the different ways to impact understanding on learners. The broad conception of TPACK is the knowledge regarding the interactions between Content Knowledge (CK), Pedagogy Knowledge (PK), and Technology Content (TK) in teaching with technology, as Koehler and Mishra emphasised. Therefore, the choice of the model to explore teachers’ digital device use and assessment of neurodiverse children in a standards-based education system will highlight school systems’ preparedness to advance creative pedagogical practices in marginalised schools. The TPACK framework also proposed quality teaching and an understanding of the interactions between domains of technology, didactics, and content standards, which have been outlined in Ghana’s standards-based curriculum framework (NaCCA, 2018). Based on its flexibility and alignment with competency-based education globally, the TPACK framework can apply to any learning environment, and it does not demand specific instructions about what content should be taught, which pedagogical method is valid, or what technology can be used in teaching. We surmise that effective inclusion implementation hinges on educators’ technical, content, and digital dexterity to serve children with disabilities in post-pandemic mainstream classrooms.
Keeping technology as a separate knowledge set causes problems. When teachers understand the framework of TPACK, they can integrate assistive devices to support age-appropriate content and pedagogy in the classrooms. Mishra and Koehler (2006) provided a procedural framework to guide teacher TPACK model implementation - first, choose the learning outcomes for a particular day or a lesson, identify lesson activities, and then, the technology that will be adopted to facilitate the activity to aid students to learn. However, navigating this framework is even more daunting for many schools in the Global South with low teacher quality and digitally marginalised schools where children’s access has been predominantly limited to learning about computers instead of supported problem-based learning and creative assessment (Anapey, 2024). Another challenge with separating the situational nature of the classroom lies with how a teacher can adjust a lesson to ensure it meets the diverse learning styles of the specific group of children. Consequently, teachers are indifferent about what technology to adopt for neurodiverse inclusive classrooms and constructive collaboration between curriculum content and performance indicators to elicit children’s 21st-century skills.
Indeed, evidence is required to support teacher professional development and children’s digital ecosystem resourcing with imperatives for sustainable global skills development following the vestiges of the COVID-19 disruption to school systems in marginalised communities.
Methods
Research Design
Based on the need to contextualise the preparedness of school systems to expand access to education for children with differential abilities, we adopted a participatory research design involving school leaders, classroom teachers, children, and learning scientists to share experiences about deep learning pedagogy and learner diagnostics to construct meanings in situ. According to Cargo & Mercer (2008), participatory approaches strive for systematic inquiry and participant collaboration. They are supported by a learning cycle to share experiences, conceptualise abstracts, test and reflect on events in an iterative process. Also, Vaughn and Jacquez (2020) applauded the impact of knowledge sharing associated with participatory methods.
Indeed, we leveraged the potential for a sustainable impact by sharing with teachers how children with disabilities can benefit from their creative learning in the mainstream by observing IE classroom experiences. Specifically, the study used observation techniques to assess the phenomena of pupils’ disability groupings and assistive device integration in Ghana’s standards-based education environment. Eight field enumerators were trained to observe classroom teachers’ deep learning pedagogical practices and children’s differential learning needs for Ghana’s standards-based education. With ethical clearance and school authorities’ consent, each field staff member spent an average of 2 days in each school participating and observing STEAM-based subjects in teacher-led teaching. The multistage randomised sampling approach enabled the enumerators to observe 1,307 pupils in Basic 2, 4, and 6 classrooms. Geographically, research surveillance sites in Ghana’s coastal, forest, and savannah regions were mapped for the participation of 102 schools under the supervision of four learning scientists.
Sample Description
Our samples involved 1,702 girls (M = 17, SD = 7.73) and 1,605 boys (M = 16, SD = 7.21) in Basic 2, 4, and 6 classrooms; with class sizes for girls ranging between 3 and 40, while the lowest was four and the highest was 39 for boys, from 102 in this study. There was a significant relationship (r = .68, p = .001) between boys’ and girls’ enrolment rates in Ghana’s basic classroom, with a practical illustration that out of every 10 pupils observed, 6 were girls in each early grade classroom. Geographically, 66% (n = 67) of rural and 34% (n = 35), with 46% (n = 47) private and 54% (n = 55) public school children’s assistive devices integration in the standards-based curriculum were supervised by 43 male and 59 female teachers. In addition, 37 teachers had taught between 2 months and 5 years; 34 were between 6 and 10 years, and 23 had tenure between 11 and 30 years.
Measures
The measures for the study involved a checklist observation guide on neurodevelopmental conditions assessment for teaching, assistive technology use, and inclusive and disability-friendly learning environments; using a four-point Likert-type scale (1 = not observed; 2 = ineffective; 3 = somewhat effective; and 4 = effective). Teachers’ tenure was coded as: 2 months to 5 years = 1, 6 to 10 years = 2, and 11 to 30 years = 3. Teachers in mainstream Basic 2, 4, and 6 early grades reported their experiences of a broad spectrum of applied and clinical neurodiversity with an observation approach to diagnostics for inclusive didactics. Applied neurodiverse conditions examined included gross motor control, reading, and numeracy difficulties; while neurological conditions included autism, dyscalculia, and dyslexia. Also, we used multiple response items to elicit teachers’ digital device ownership matched with their technology pedagogical content knowledge and children’s learning disabilities in the early grade classrooms. A moderate reliability coefficient between .5 and .9 was recorded for items measuring teacher differential didactics in this study.
Data Analysis
The matric data generated from the field were coded and analysed using IBM-SPSS Package Version 23. Descriptive statistics such as percentages, means, and charts were applied to Research Questions 1 and 2. At the same time, the analysis of variance test was helpful in Hypothesis 1 (HA1)-group differences on teaching experience (tenure) for RQ3 after assumption explorations. We heuristically ensured assumptions of independence of scores and randomisation during data gathering and used Kolmogorov–Smirnov and the Shapiro–Wilk test for normality (K–S (102) = 0.39, p = .001); and Levene’s test for equal variances (p < .05), which were statistically violated in this study. The untenable assumptions might be due to inter-rater reliability differences and item scores; hence, the justification for our choice of the Kruskal–Wallis variance test (H). The robustness of the variance test to detect within-group differences (Field, 2018) provided confidence for HA1 exploration in the following results sections. We used a Monte Carlo simulation to mitigate the unreliability of the standard asymptotic distribution and exhaustive enumeration of all possible sample sizes in scientific explorations. North et al. (2002) recommended Monte Carlo methods to obtain an empirical p-value that approximates the exact p-value without relying on asymptotic distributional theory or significant sample size determination. Indeed, Monte Carlo simulations are helpful when dealing with complex systems with high uncertainty or randomness, as illustrated by this study’s equal variance and normality assumption violations.
Ethical Considerations
Before undertaking the research, ethical approval for the observation protocol was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of Ethics Committee for the Humanities under University of Ghana. Participants’ consent was sought, and they were assured of their data’s anonymity, non-intrusion in classroom learning activities, and the right to withdraw from the study. Data protection procedures were followed with a password-protected database in an institutional repository. Also, we obtained gatekeeper permission from the education service regulatory body for participating schools in the study.
Results
RQ1: Categories of Tech Devices in Inclusive Classrooms
Based on children’s neurodevelopmental assessment, the study explored teachers’ device ownership for integration in differential learning abilities. Figure 1 illustrates that 43% of digital tools teachers used as EdTech tools were 3G phones, 30% access to a computer laboratory, and 18% personal laptop ownership. While schools did not keenly adopt mobile computers in this study, 8% of teachers had no access to digital devices to support children’s differentiated learning pedagogies in the classroom.
Teachers’ digital device ownership.
RQ2: Categories of Children’s Learning Disabilities
Learner diagnostics is essential to support children’s differential learning styles (Shaheen & Lohnes Watulak, 2019). Hence, we explored categories of learning disabilities in standards-based classrooms based on teachers’ perceptual assessments. Using multiple response items, 11 neurodevelopmental disorders were identified from 102 classrooms, with dyslexic conditions, such as children’s reading difficulties, dominating 79% of teachers’ observations in public and private schools and 37% dyscalculia attributed to arithmetic challenges (Table 1).
Neurodiverse Conditions in Mainstream Classrooms.
Also, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) constituted 24%, while 22% visually impaired, 17% auditory, and 16% physically challenged pupils were reported in the mainstream classroom. The broad spectrum of conditions, such as shyness (12%), autism (8%), speech disorders such as aphasia (1.3%), and Down’s syndrome (1.3%) were noted in this sample.
As a supplementary finding from RQ1, 15% of children in the study were classified as physically challenged, so we examined the built environment for inclusion. Indeed, 81% (n = 83) of teachers assessed their built environments as not disability conducive, with 19% (n = 19) believing that their school environments can support the movement of children with physical disability in this study. However, 26% (n = 26) of teachers interviewed could not identify any form of neurodevelopmental disorder in their classrooms. This might denote a deficit in teacher neurodiversity capacity required for learner diagnostics in an inclusive, standards-based educational system.
RQ2: Children’s Differential Learning Activities in Private and Public Schools
Between public and private schools selected for the study, RQ2 explored children’s differential learning, based on performance indicators outlined in Ghana’s standards-based curriculum. Table 2 shows that Younger tenured teachers from private schools participated in this study compared to long-serving teachers in public schools. However, an intra-group analysis illustrated that both groups were almost equal, with 49% (private) and 51% (public) on their inability to support children’s differential learning needs, irrespective of years of teaching experience. Indeed, 55% of public school teachers had access to computers but demonstrated inadequate TPACK skills to connect performance indicators and children’s content standards in mainstream classrooms compared with 45% of private school facilitators.
Teachers’ Tenure and Children’s Differential Learning Engagements.
Source. Field data (2023).
Note. PBL = problem-based learning.
Overall, only five teachers demonstrated edtech integration into children’s problem-based learning: with four public and one private school showing promise. Instructively, 73% of classrooms delivered lessons in the traditional mode, with the teacher presenting strands from textbooks. Children were expected to recall the facts and do the same for the assessment. Differential instruction that recognises children’s creativity, problem-based learning (PBL), drama, storytelling, sports, and modelling were absent, as 27% showed a glimpse of edtech use in this study. RQ2 has important implications for teacher certification, standards-based curriculum reform, and TPACK interventions for marginalised schools in developing countries, which must manage the already widening digital divides and gender equity and socially inclusive children.
Research Question (RQ) 3 Results
From RQ1, teachers reported 11 categories of differential learning groups in their schools when interviewed. Examining the impact of early-grade teacher digital access on neurodiverse children's performance indicators would provide context for learner variability studies in resource-constrained environments. Therefore, the study explored their practical knowledge about learner character assessment for differential didactics in the early grade classrooms in RQ3. RQ3 was translated into Hypothesis 1 (HA1) for significant testing based on the parametric assumptions explored. The study predicted teachers’ years of instruction (tenure) while applying standardised electronic assessment tools to impact children’s differential learning in inclusive classrooms.
The average group responses for neurodevelopmental assessment were not observed (M = 1.41, SD = 1.31) for 102 early-grade teachers, while most of the teachers had been teaching between 2 months and 5 years (M = 1.85, SD = 0.79). The mean rank scores for the test statistics in each tenure group were 47.43 for 2 months to 5 years, 50.53 for 6 to 10 years, and 43.13 for 11 to 30 years. However, the test statistics from the Kruskal–Wallis (H) test of variance for HA1 were non-significant (H = (2) 1.08, p > .05; two-tailed) in this study (Table 3). Confirmed by the Monte Carlo estimate of significance, which is slightly higher than the asymptotic value (0.584), it is illustrated that should HA1 be tested in over 20 million samples, the test statistics will lie between 0.57 and 0.60, all conditions being equal. As the p > .05 in this study, we surmised that the median scores obtained for the H statistics were not statistically different from zero; and the small CI (0.025) difference (lower–upper) for the Monte Carlo estimation indicated a robust value for the iteration between 10,000 and 2,000,000 teachers in this study.
Teacher Tenure and Neurodevelopment Conditions Assessment.
Source. Field data (2023).
Kruskal Wallis test.
Grouping variable: Grouped tenure.
Based on 10,000 sampled tables with starting seed 2,000,000.
Consequently, we failed to retain the alternate hypothesis (Ho1). We concluded that despite early-grade teachers’ awareness of neurodevelopmental conditions affecting children in mainstream classrooms, their teaching experience did not impact inclusive didactics in this study. Also, should this study be expanded to include all early childhood teachers, the probability of recording teachers deploying digital tools for differential learning outcomes that support children’s core competencies will be nonexistent. Implications for this conclusion for curriculum development, teacher TPACK capacity building, critical disability diagnosis, and differential learning practices are discussed next.
Discussion
The impact of COVID-19 on educational systems has exposed the unpreparedness of many school systems to meet diverse learners’ needs using digitally mediated platforms. While children in developing countries lack access to modern tech devices, their teachers’ technology pedagogical skills also came to the fore, thereby threatening the achievement of global development indicators on quality education by the year 2030. Indeed, access to empirical data to inform targeted solutions is imperative. Therefore, the current study examined inclusive education practices from the perspectives of neurodiverse children’s learning and digital integration in mainstream classrooms from the Global South. In this study, our epistemological point of departure was a participatory research design involving learning scientists observing classroom teachers and children’s inclusive learning experiences in Ghana’s post-pandemic standards-based education system. While survey approaches have been widely used in edtech research, the tendency to yield desirability responses is high (Johnson & Christensen, 2019). Hence, neurodiverse learning needs, digital ecosystem, and creative didactics eliciting children’s global skills were observed in 102 early-grade classrooms in Ghana.
Findings revealed that 11 neurodevelopmental conditions, including dyslexia, dyscalculia, ADHD, autism, and auditory and physical disabilities, were reported by teachers in school settings. These findings conceptualise that the diversity of various human minds and neurocognitive operations is part of the human species and propose that neurodiversity traits are distinguished by biological characteristics rather than by a specific perspective, belief, method, political standpoint, or dimension. Also affirming dysfunctional neurons as accounting for the origin of conditions mostly in humans, with variations attributed to inheritance rather than a mental deficit, Léon et al. (2023) suggested. Consequently, it is absurd to conceive that no human institution will be devoid of neurodevelopmental conditions. So, any professional, like a teacher working with children, must appreciate such diversities and design differential instructions to meet their 21st-century skills development.
While teachers’ heuristics were relied on to account for nearly a dozen learning disabilities in Ghana’s classrooms, much is required to advance inclusive education and differential didactics in marginalised schools. The dominant learning disability reported in this study was reading difficulty, shyness, and speech disorder (see Table 1); teachers could not categorise them as dyslexic conditions, reflecting low awareness among early grade teachers. Our finding aligns with Shields and Beversdorf’s (2020) association of social and communication skills with dyslexia. Clinical diagnosis has been challenging, while the statistics differed for different regions (Elias, 2023). Recent discussions placing Ghana’s dyslexia count at 10% of the population (Kyere-Nartey, 2022), with early grade facilitators’ lack of appreciation of the symptoms (Acheampong et al., 2019) imply education stakeholders’ intentionality about teacher preparedness to address children’s learning crisis.
The 26% of teachers who had no knowledge about diverse learning needs in their classrooms in this study, and 81% of built school environments that are not disability friendly significantly impact SDG 4 on inclusive and quality education for all. While Ghana has a comprehensive policy framework on inclusive education addressing neurodiverse learning needs within the UDL pedagogical frame (MoE, 2013), the results in this study appear to be at variance with implementation science, as teachers lack the pedagogical skills to meet learners’ needs in the mainstream classroom. According to Jonassen (2004), learning is beneficial when children apply domain knowledge to solve real-world problems as teachers engage in authentic assessments. Contrarily, the most significant impediment to basic education in children’s literacy and numeracy is a lack of a suitable learning environment. Most schools in Sub-Saharan Africa are characterised by inadequate resources and preparedness for the inclusion of special needs into their regular classrooms. Though parents are encouraged to send their special needs children to regular schools, little has been done to ensure that the learning environments are effective for inclusion.
In this study, teachers’ 3-G mobile phones and laptops were the dominant edtech devices available in early-grade classrooms, with few workstation computers for ICT lessons. This finding aligns with Lin and Gold’s (2017) demand to adopt Edtech to augment the development of core competencies, as over 90% of children with disabilities benefit from assistive technology in advanced societies. However, specialised learning devices are absent for neurodiverse conditions in educational learning for children. However, edtech tools for inclusive education are constrained in the early childhood ecosystem in Global South schools (Mensah & Hayfron-Acquah, 2018). Schools need investment and capacity building to use assistive devices to support early diagnosis (Nana et al., 2023). Indeed, mobile devices are convenient tools for quick content search and communication in the school setting, hence many teachers own them in addition to their laptops. However, these tools ought to be appropriately integrated into inclusive didactics. Mishra and Koehler (2006) acknowledge that separating ICTs from creative learning is problematic and recommend the TPACK framework. However, access had minimal impact on inclusive education practices, as over 72% of classrooms were not observed using available edtech tools to impact differential learning for neurodiverse children in this study.
There was no statistically significant impact of a teacher’s years of instructional experience on using digital resources to support children’s neurodiverse learning needs in the mainstream classroom. Understandably, current teacher certification programmes are yet to address effective technology integration, though the national standards-based curriculum mandates teachers to teach with edtech while developing children’s digital skills (NaCCA, 2018). Similarly, Ghana’s inclusive policy encourages teachers to ensure that teachers are oriented in the early detection of disabilities and referral services and promote the availability and training of relevant professionals for educational and psychological assessment (MoE, 2013). These documents highlight learner diagnostics to support children’s learning style inventory for inclusive classrooms.
On the contrary, a gap in policy and implementation is evident in assistive technology deployment for neurodivergent children. The lack of teachers’ TPACK knowledge might be occasioning pessimism about the realisation of deep learning skills in inclusive classrooms. Reliance on teacher intuition to assess pupils’ learning would not prepare children for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Instead, psychometrics and diagnostics are required for learner variability data for inclusive education. The unavailability of psychometrically validated measures and practical clinical training on neurodiverse screening could also impact teachers’ attitudes towards neurodiverse pupils. Supporting caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental cases in basic schools is at the experimental stage in Sub-Saharan Africa (Mensah & Hayfron-Acquah, 2018). Increased access to online education and targeted enrolments for marginalised students through customisable content and lesson sequencing have also been recommended for scholar-practitioners of learning sciences.
Based on a Monte Carlo simulation of over two million teachers in Ghana’s early-grade classrooms, a non-significant outcome for Hypothesis 1 indicates that early-grade facilitators’ years of service had no impact on neurodevelopmental condition detection, instruction and assessment for learning, either using assistive devices in post-pandemic classrooms. Despite the inclusive education policy formulation (MoE, 2013), the results amplify the lack of implementation in structures supporting social justice in education and the attainment of SDG 4 on quality learning outcomes for all. TPACK and UDL training for pre- and in-service teachers are imperatives for school systems in Sub-Saharan Africa.
From a design perspective, instructional materials are developed with accessibility in mind to create equal learning opportunities for neurodiverse learners. However, ensuring all online content is accessible to students with various disabilities necessitates ongoing attention to inclusive design for children with low-technology learning environments in the Global South. As machine learning models are altering global educational targets, the literature extolling the magic wand about assistive devices is oblivious to the widening digital divide for low-technology countries with mass education systems specialising in regurgitation of strands, low teacher creative pedagogy and digital integration skills; invariably missing diverse learners’ needs in the traditional classroom.
Conclusion
Based on the overarching objective to examine teachers’ inclusive education didactic practices and children’s neurodevelopmental assessment in early-grade classrooms, the results established that teachers’ digital access had no predictive effect on their inclusive education practices despite the availability of elaborate inclusion policy and standards-based learning frameworks for Ghana’s schools. Our study confirmed Kyere-Nartey’s (2022) categorisation of dyslexia, including reading difficulties for many children in Ghana. A Monte Carlo simulation accompanying the Kruskal–Wallis statistics also predicted the unlikelihood of problem-based learning and digital integration for special needs children’s core competencies assessment and development, should the current sample size be extended to over 20 million early childhood teachers. Consequently, we surmised that education policy and implementation gaps have reflected in teachers’ weak technology pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) required for assessing differential learning outcomes for the 21st century. A teacher’s ability to decide content standards, performance indicators, and core competencies to guide children’s inclusive learning depends on many professional principles and learning theories. However, the findings in this study have highlighted training in learning sciences philosophy, teachers’ digital skills, and inadequate tech devices to support children’s creative learning.
Policy Recommendations
Reflecting on a widening digital gap in assessing neurodiverse children’s learning needs and teachers’ TPACK interventions, we offer the following policy recommendation for education stakeholders:
Knowledge translation and implementation science from the current study would impact learner variability measures for early childhood education systems and inclusive education for special needs pedagogy in developing countries.
Evidence to design practices that connect digital algorithms with industry players to develop assistive devices in low-tech environments should consider the technology certification process of efficacy and impact for marginalised communities.
While inclusive education policy and competency-based curriculum frameworks are essential to guide quality learning outcomes, Learning Scientists’ support is needed to operationalise these guides to impact children’s learning in neurodiverse classrooms. The instructional process ought to be supported by UDL and TPACK frameworks, which guide children’s deep learning targets outlined in the standards-based curriculum.
Early-grade teachers’ professional development should entail practical and theoretical knowledge in developmental psychology, instructional design, alternative assessments, and educational technology to support neurodiverse children’s learning outcomes.
Above all, a clinical team of developmental and clinical psychologists, guidance and counselling experts, occupational therapists, and critical disability experts with curriculum knowledge should be engaged in diagnosing and treating developmental conditions with sophisticated digital innovations for knowledge translation in Schools.
Disability is an essential educational theme underpinning learner variability, formative assessment, and inclusive education. However, 25% of standards-based classroom teachers’ inability to assess disabilities to inform differential pedagogy requires further exploration. Also, future studies about the lack of standardised psychometric inventories and professional support for classroom teachers will be critical for advancing empirical data for teacher decision-making and digital interventions critical for accessible and inclusive education for key populations in the Global South.
Study Limitations and Suggestions for Further Study
Despite the valuable insights generated from this school-based participatory research and Monte Carlo simulation highlighting knowledge implementation science for neurodiverse learners, a few limitations should be acknowledged for further studies focusing on foundational learning outcomes and inclusive education in the Global South. While the Likert-type scale was useful for point estimation for the observation protocol and quantifying perceptions and behaviours, it may have constrained the depth of qualitative insights into teachers’ pedagogical strategies and learners’ engagement with digital tools. Also, the digital ecosystem dominated by teachers’ personal devices and limited computer lab access may miss the broader disparities in edtech availability and usability in more rural schools with limited broadband connectivity. It could influence the interpretation of inclusive pedagogy for neurodiverse classrooms.
While the study identified 11 neurodevelopmental disorders, the classification and identification relied on observable characteristics and teacher perceptions, which may not capture the full spectrum or severity of neurodiverse conditions in the study areas, as formal diagnostic data were unavailable for educational instructional decision-making. The study equally appreciated the limitations of pandemic contextual factors, including trauma, resource allocations and educational policy shifts that may impact both teacher-inclusive pedagogy and foundational learning outcomes, and conclusions. School disruptions during the 2019 pandemic and limited digital resources for children’s education in marginalised communities, and the unavailability of clinically diagnosed evidence about neurodiverse children in Ghana’s early grade classrooms have been observed as a limitation to advancing inclusive education in this study.
Future research can benefit from a large sample size for a minimum detectable effect size for predicting teachers’ TPACK and differential competency, dyslexic classification, and education systems’ resilience. Besides, culturally nuanced narrative data could complement quantitative analysis for depth in exploring participants’ perspectives on neurodiversity, early grade didactics, and global skills assessment in mainstream education in Sub-Saharan Africa
Footnotes
Ethical Considerations
Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of Ethical Committee for the Humanities under the University of Ghana [reference number ECH/184/22-23]. All participants gave their consent for participation.
Consent to Participate
The participants who volunteered to respond to the survey instruments consented to participate in the study under the approval of the Research and Ethical Review Board.
Consent for Publication
Participants agreed to use the interview and observation data for publications following our adherence to anonymisation protocols, including integrity, confidentiality, and data protection.
Funding
The research leading to these results was funded by Jacobs Foundation with funding number JF-5625296. However, any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agency.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Data Availability Statement
The data used for analysis is available on the open-source framework (OSF) website.