Comparative Efficacy of Cognitive Retraining Techniques and Remedial Training in Children with Learning Disability.

Background : Computer-assisted cognitive retraining approaches that work on the principle of cerebral plasticity are by now established rehabilitation methods for various neuropsychiatric conditions including Learning Disability. Also, remedial education is considered to be an integral part of management of learning disability. Objectives: To compare the efficacy of cognitive retraining techniques and remedial education for enhancing academic performance of children with learning disability. Sample & Methods: Pre-Post experimental design study was carried out with forty children(between seven to ten years of age), with diagnosis of mixed disorder of scholastic skills (ICD-10). Subjects in Group1 (n=20) were given 36 hours of manualized CR package over 18weeks, consisting of activities for sustained attention, visuospatial skills, visual memory; and verbal learning and memory. Subjects in group 2 (n=20) were given 36-remedial education sessions. Pre and post intervention assessment; was done using NIMHANS Index for Specific Learning Disability, Grade Level Assessment Device(GLAD).SPSS version 12.0 was used for descriptive and analytical statistical analysis. Results: Highly significant improvement was noted in mathematics (p > 0.01) for Group 1. Also, there was significant improvement in Hindi language of Group 2 (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Both-manualized cognitive retraining and remedial education over thirty six hours can help to partially improve scholastic performance in children with learning disability. The findings have implications for combining both the approaches for future educational curricula aiming at improved academic performance stemming from an enhanced skill base rather than from just educational based interventions.

Evaluation of Remedial Education in Biology at Kinki University School of Medicine / 医学教育

Remedial education in the basic sciences (biology, physics, and chemistry) for medical students was introduced at Kinki University in 1993. The effects and problems of premedical education were examined on the basis of a questionnaire to students and of scores on biology examinations at the time of university entrance and at the end of the first academic year. From 1999 through 2002, the average percentage of incoming freshmen who had not taken a biology course in senior high school ranged from 45.8% to 61.6%. The average score of these students on biology examinations was 23.2 to 29 points higher at the end of the first academic year than at university entrance. Thus, we found that remedial education helped improve these results. However, according to the questionnaire 26.4% of students who received remedial education felt that it had had no effect. Even at the end of the first academic year, the difference in the average score between students who had studied biology in high school and those who had not was 17 points.