Abstract The affordances of online learning have the potential to improve learning outcomes for students with disabilities by allowing customization and flexibility to meet individual needs. However, there are significant executive function and language processing demands that may be particularly challenging for this population. With that in mind, interventions guided by social presence theory may increase students' ability to engage in online settings. This study implemented a computer mediated, blended classroom setting in order to assess students’ understanding of statistics concepts following synchronous and asynchronous online, video-based discussion sessions. Social presence theory predicts that the immediacy of synchronous interactions should improve social presence, thereby increasing student engagement and performance. Data was collected from 105 students with high-incidence disabilities using a mixed methods experimental design with a within subjects quantitative component. Our findings indicate that while students with disabilities expressed preference for synchronous discussions, including self-reported greater engagement and self-reported improved comprehension, their performance on assessments of conceptual understanding was slightly better following asynchronous discussions. Implications for these disparities between preference and performance are discussed.

中文翻译：

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比较残疾学生的同步和异步在线讨论：社会存在的影响

摘要 在线学习的可供性通过允许定制和灵活性来满足个人需求，有可能改善残疾学生的学习成果。然而，对于这一人群来说，有显着的执行功能和语言处理需求可能特别具有挑战性。考虑到这一点，以社会存在理论为指导的干预措施可能会提高学生参与在线环境的能力。本研究实施了以计算机为中介的混合课堂设置，以评估学生在同步和异步在线视频讨论之后对统计概念的理解。社会临场理论预测，同步互动的即时性应该会提高社会临场感，从而提高学生的参与度和表现。数据是使用混合方法实验设计从 105 名高发病率残疾学生中收集的，其中包含受试者内的定量成分。我们的研究结果表明，虽然残疾学生表达了对同步讨论的偏好，包括自我报告的更多参与和自我报告的更好理解，但他们在概念理解评估方面的表现在异步讨论后略好。讨论了偏好和表现之间的这些差异的含义。包括自我报告的更多参与和自我报告的更好理解，在异步讨论后，他们在概念理解评估方面的表现略好。讨论了偏好和表现之间的这些差异的含义。包括自我报告的更多参与和自我报告的更好理解，在异步讨论后，他们在概念理解评估方面的表现略好。讨论了偏好和表现之间的这些差异的含义。