Abstract:

One of the current challenges in university teaching is to achieve the full inclusion of students with functional diversity. Another challenge, no less important, is to attract the attention of undergraduate students without disabilities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects such as Statistics, due to the high technological stimuli that exist today in the classroom, which hinder both their concentration and their motivation for the subject. The research presented shows how involving Statistics students in a practical way to generate and explain inclusive content has a double benefit for students with and without functional diversity. On the one hand, said inclusion helps to obtain equal opportunities regardless of the functional diversity of the student, achieving access for people with mild cognitive disabilities to the contents of a STEM university subject such as Statistics. On the other hand, the active participation of students without functional diversity causes a greater motivation for the subject, a deep reflection on the problem of disability in society and a greater assimilation of content due to the need to seek real applications, which favors the acquisition of the required competencies. This involvement of undergraduate students makes possible they reach and maintain higher levels of concentration and positive stimuli in the subject, which favors the assimilation of content during inclusive sessions. Likewise, high levels of satisfaction are achieved in students with mild cognitive disabilities since they understand the contents taught by their own classmates in a simpler and more dynamic way. In the study presented, it is empirically proved that active participation in inclusive workshops leads to an improvement in academic performance for undergraduate students. This teaching innovation has been carried out in the inclusive subject Statistics of the Degree in Computer Engineering and Information Systems and the University Diploma in Training for Employment and Autonomous Life for People with Intellectual Disabilities (FEVIDA) taught at Pablo de Olavide University (Spain).

Keywords:

Higher education, inclusion, mild cognitive disability, performance, Statistics.