Taiwanese university students with hearing impairment: A case study of their experiences and of factors contributing to persistence in their studies

This study examines the experiences of students with hearing impairment (HI) in a post-secondary institution in Taiwan. The special education law and regulations passed in Taiwan in 1984 concerning the education of students with disabilities led to an increase in the number of students with HI enrolled in post-secondary institutions. Although students with hearing impairment now have greater opportunities to enrol in colleges and universities, and are provided with support services and counselling, they continue to have problems in their academic and social campus life and often eventually drop out (Hsiao, Hsu & Wu, 2(01). However, despite their difficulties, some students with hearing impairment do persist in their studies and graduate. At this point, there is no information on the reasons for these students' success. The purpose of this study is to explore their learning experiences, how they have overcome obstacles, and the factors that led to their persistence in their studies. This study is one of the first qualitative studies to examine the post-secondary experiences of Taiwanese post-secondary students who have hearing impairment. The conceptual model underpinning this study was a revised version of Tinto's 1993 and 1997 Student Integration Model (SIM). The participants were seven students with hearing impairment who were in their third and fourth year of university, their learning partners, four professors, and two personnel for the Centre for Counselling Services. Data collection procedures included individual interviews, focus group interviews, observations, and a self-reflective journal. The interviews were the most important source of data. Profiles of the participants with HI were developed and a cross case analysis was done. The findings identified three factors contributing to persistence: individual characteristics, academic integration and the support services. In terms of academic integration, personal effort in learning was the most important factor, and in terms of the support services, the provision of the learning partners contributed to persistence. Both of these elements helped the students earn higher grades and contributed to persistence. The goal-orientation to graduate and obtain a well-paying, stable job with good benefits was also found to play a vital role in the students' persistence. It also became clear that the students with HI in this study were not well integrated into the social life of the university, and so Tinto's identification of social integration as a factor in persistence was not supported by this study. Therefore, only partial support for Tinto's SIM was found