Abstract:

Europe is currently experiencing a progressive rise in the number of students who declare a disability at entry stage to Higher Education. This increase poses problems both for the administrative and student support systems but also for academic departments involved in the education and development of these students. Equality legislation requires all students to be treated equally, a challenge in some cases for students with some disabilities. The SALEIE project, LLP Programme 527877-LLP-1-2012 – “Strategic Alignment of Electrical and Information Engineering in European Higher Education Institutions” included, as part of its work, the development of student support resources specifically, although not exclusively relevant to the Electrical and Information Engineering (EIE) disciplines within Higher Education across Europe. One part of this workpackage led to the establishment of a database of final year student projects whose objectives are to look at issues students with disabilities have in EIE laboratories. An initial database of 15 projects, with full details including proposed title, more detailed description, academic level and study programmes for which it could be suitable are all freely accessible on the SALEIE Project website. This paper presents examples of students undertaking disability related projects over the past academic year from three of the SALEIE Partner Institutions and some important aspects related to each university graduate information. The projects are shown to be a useful means of both allowing the students to demonstrate they meet institutional final project learning outcomes but also serve to raise general awareness of the issues faced by individuals with disabilities in EIE employment.

Keywords:

Disabilities, Assistive Technologies, Final year projects, Equality in higher education.