Two issues emerged regarding curriculum modification for students with a
disability.
With curriculum defined as course content, delivery modes and assessment,
it emerged that at some universities, particularly the ‘sandstone’
universities, modification of curriculum had not emerged as a significant
issue. This appeared to be due to the lack of flexibility in entry
procedures, resulting in the fact that students who gain enrolment are,
overwhelmingly, high achievers who have met the standard tertiary entry
criteria, and who usually have their own established support systems which
they have developed during their prior negotiation of the education system.
These students are well-prepared for coping with regular curricula at
university.
This situation conceals the fact that many students with a disability who
are not high achievers and who have not been able to establish strong,
extensive support systems for themselves, are not making it into the
tertiary system, even though their peers without a disability, of equivalent
intellectual capacity, are able to do so. This is supported by the present
survey, a disturbing aspect of which is the preponderance of high
intellectual capacity amongst the students whom staff have described (almost
70% of the students in the case studies were described by staff as of
above-average intellectual capacity).
Where ‘curriculum modification’ did occur on a wider scale (largely in
the newer or recently amalgamated universities which offer a diverse range
of courses and some TAFE components), the main issue that emerged was not
the thorny one of modification of content, but of delivery and assessment.
While much staff concern about universities enrolling greater numbers of
students with a disability is based on the belief that this will necessitate
modifying course content and compromising educational standards, it was
apparent from the interviews that modification of course content was not the
issue. In all interviews, staff pointed out that students with a disability
had covered the standard course content as written; where modifications were
necessary was in the modes of delivery of the material and the modes of
assessment.