SPED102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Automatic Writing, Statistical Significance, Apraxia
8 May 2018
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SPED102 Lecture
Week 9
IX: Education Related Pseudoscience
So, what is a theory in science?
• Term is used very loosely
• The term theory is often (but not exclusively) used to refer to an explanation for observations
that has been extensively tested, found to be valid, and has wide acceptance
• Theories are tested by making predictions (ideally, exclusively consistent with the theory) and
then testing these predictions
• If an explanation reaches the status of a theory we can
• Provisionally assume that it is true
• Use it as a provisional framework to analyse future data or solve practical problems
• If it fails to meet this standard
• Efforts should be directed at testing the explanation to confirm or refute it
• We cannot assume it is true or use it as a provisional framework to analyse future
data or solve practical problems
Why educational “theories” often aren't
• Educational practice is usually claimed to be “theoretically driven”
• Often represent no more than speculation about processes that are not tested or testable by
evidence
• Often post-hoc (after the fact) explanations rather than generating testable hypotheses
Examples of Pseudoscience and Questionable Practices in Education
• Arrowsmith program
• Auditory integration training
• Authentic assessment
• Behavioural optometry
• Braingym
• Etc
Facilitation Communication
• Involves a facilitator assisting a person to type or select letters from a board to produce
“communication”
• Typically, support is provided at the hand, elbow or shoulder
• Developed by Rosemary Crossley in the 1970s in Victoria
• Claimed 12 children with developmental disabilities and cerebral palsy could communicate
and had near normal intelligence
• Book “Annie’s Coming Out” in 1984
Background
• Has been used for a wide variety of disabilities - intellectual disability, severe autism, brain
injury
• Individuals are typically non-verbal or have minimal speech
• Douglas Biklen, an American academic, promoted facilitated communication in the early
1990s, particularly for individuals with autism
• Recently renamed “assisted typing”
Claims
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