Increasing engagement may enable struggling readers to catch up with their peers. This study examined the impact of using multisensory strategies with Elkonin boxes to teach decodable words to first grade students. The study found that student interest impacted engagement, particularly when it was a combination of auditory, tactile, and visual.…

Objective: Measurement tools for children's foundational skills provide important insights towards the developmental mechanisms of these domains. This study examines the structure of sensorimotor, visuospatial processing (VP), executive function (EF) skills and their interrelationship. The NEPSY is a widely-used neuropsychological instrument, but…

This report explores how 1:1 semi-structured interviews were conducted and adapted to gain views from pupils with moderate and severe learning difficulties. The report conveys how interview questions were structured, scaffolded and integrated with multi-sensory activities to support pupils' confidence and ability to respond. By providing these…

This study examined the effects of multisensory storytelling facilitated through iPads on the understanding of science concepts related to botany among students with severe intellectual disability (ID). A single-subject, multiple- baseline design was used to evaluate three participants diagnosed with severe ID. During the intervention phase,…

The feasibility of a pedagogical approach--MultiSensory Music Drama (MSMD)--was investigated in collaboration with a teacher and a student with severe/profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (S/PIMD). Educational research for this group of learners is scarce, but research has suggested the potential of integrating music and multisensory…

Children's participation in daily occupations can be influenced by a range of factors. One such factor is interoceptive awareness which allows a person to understand their internal body signals and can support emotional and self-regulation. The current literature surrounding interoceptive awareness and children's participation is lacking. To…

The purpose of this study was to examine how the implementation of the Wilson's Language Training program, Fundations, influences the reading growth of first-grade graders. Reading proficiency at the school in this study was quite low at six percent. During the intervention, emphasis was placed on phonemic awareness. The Wilson's Fundations…

The present paper examines possible benefits of spatial audio guides on learning outcomes in the spatial learning setting of an experimental exhibition and attempts to differentiate between different mechanisms underlying such an effect. In Experiment 1, we examined whether the spatial contiguity principle may be such a mechanism. A spatial audio…

Associating names to faces can be challenging, in part because this task lacks an inherent semantic relationship between a face and name. The current study seeks to understand whether bolstering names with cross-modal cues--specifically, name tags--may aid memory for face and name pairings. In a series of five experiments, we investigated whether…

Sensory obstacle courses provide lesson ideas for teachers targeting objectives in both cognitive and psychomotor domains. Specific cognitive learning includes the movement concepts needed to navigate obstacles set up in the gymnasium aimed at developing athletic motor skills competences needed for sports. Sensory courses include using stations…

The need for effective reading instruction is of high priority. One of the many ways that students learn to read is through multisensory instruction. Elementary-age students struggle to become proficient readers. This is due to the lack of reading skills. The goal of reading is comprehension. As students learn letter-sound correspondence,…

Multi-sensory environments are widely used with autistic children. However, there are no data on how autistic children choose to spend time in the room and how this relates to their sensory, behavioural and intellectual profiles. We observed the frequency and duration of visits to multi-sensory environment equipment of 41 autistic children during…

We evaluate the impact of gestures during the teaching of vocabulary in a foreign language (FL). Spanish speakers learned words in a FL in four gesture conditions according to the relationship between the meaning of the words and the gestures (congruent gestures, incongruent gestures, gestures without meaning, and no gestures). The participants…

Interacting with objects in virtual reality can be an exciting experience. Haptic feedback allows virtual environments to appear more immersive. Does this increased immersion bear the potential to enhance learning if used properly in educational VR environments? This dissertation pursued two goals. First, to investigate the relationship between…

This paper offers an example of what a sensuous approach to food and taste education can look like by investigating the role of learners' senses when taste experiences are translated into words and drawings. The context of the Reggio Emilia approach -- and specifically the food atelier setting -- creates a space to explore food and taste based on…