Supporting neurodiversity in online education: a systematic review
Creators: name: Le Cunff, Anne-Laure
name: Dommett, Eleanor
name: Giampietro, Vincent
Publisher: name: Open Science Framework
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Online and Distance Education
subject: Cognitive Neuroscience
subject: Educational Psychology
subject: Disability and Equity in Education
subject: Life Sciences
subject: Education
subject: Neuroscience and Neurobiology
subject: Social and Behavioral Sciences

description: Review questions: (1) What is the impact of online educational practices on the learning experience of neurotypical and neurodivergent students? (2) What is the effectiveness of online educational practices designed to improve educational outcomes, including retention, engagement markers from virtual learning environments, ease of use, as well as measures of focus, distraction, and course satisfaction? (3) Is the current evidence sufficient to inform practice when designing online learning for neurodivergent students? Searches: A comprehensive, electronic search for relevant literature will be performed on Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), PubMed Central, Psychological Information Database (PsycInfo), The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, Scopus, and the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), focusing on neurodiversity, specifically ADHD, ASD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, and Tourette syndrome (Clouder et al., 2020). Variations of these search terms will also be included. Studies published between January 1990 and the date the searches are run will be sought. Domain being studied: Neurodiversity in online education Population: This systematic review focuses on neurodiverse students over 16 years of age, including students with ADHD, ASD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, and Tourette syndrome. There will be no limits on study participants in terms of gender or ethnicity. Intervention(s)/exposure(s): To be included in the review, studies must evaluate an online learning practice in neurodiverse populations. Comparator(s)/control: Neurotypical students are a potential control, but uncontrolled studies will be included. Types of study to be included initially: All empirical studies pertinent to supporting neurodiversity in online education and written in English will be included. Outcomes: Primary outcome measures will include any objective measure or self-reported measure relevant to educational outcomes. These may include retention, engagement markers from virtual learning environments, ease of use, as well as measures of focus, distraction, and course satisfaction. Screening and data extraction: After removal of duplicates using EndNote, the initial identification will be based on article titles and keywords. Screening will be based on abstracts. Following an initial screening, full texts will be assessed against inclusion criteria. A standardised form will be used to extract data from the included studies. Extracted information will include: study setting, study population, details of the intervention and control, study methodology, outcomes; information for the assessment of risk of bias. Risk of bias assessment: The risk of bias in included studies will be assessed by considering the following characteristics: completeness of data, internal data consistency, blinding, pattern of randomisation, censoring pattern, conflict of interest, and other sources of bias. Each study will be categorised either as “low risk”, “high risk”, or “unclear risk”, with the last category indicating lack of information to assess the risk of bias. Strategy for data synthesis: As we anticipate that there will be limited scope for meta-analysis because of the paucity of research exploring neurodiversity in online education and the diversity in study design, population characteristics, interventions and outcomes, we will provide a narrative synthesis of the findings from the included studies, structured around the target population characteristics, type of intervention, and type of outcome. However, in the event our search returns enough studies with the same type of intervention, comparator, and outcome measures, we will perform a meta-analysis. If the studies are assumed to share a common effect size, a fixed-effect analysis will be used; otherwise, a random-effects analysis will be adopted. Analysis of subgroups or subsets: If the necessary data are available, subgroup analyses will be done for neurodiverse students with ADHD, ASD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, and Tourette syndrome separately. While subgroup analyses may be undertaken, it is not possible to specify the groups in advance. Review team members: Anne-Laure Le Cunff, Eleanor Dommett, Vincent Giampietro Organisational affiliation of the review: Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology &amp; Neuroscience - King’s College London Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that they have no known conflicts of interest.