Browsing by Author "Saarinen, Hanna-Maaria"

Objective of the study. This Master’s thesis investigates dyslexic university students and their learning experiences. Previous research has shown that dyslexia is related to learning in a variety of ways. However, previous research is primarily focused on children and adoles-cents. Further academic studies set new types of requirements to learning. Thus, it is neces-sary to explore dyslexic university students in order to find out especially the factors that are impeding and enhancing their studies. Efficient progress and the completion of academic studies are important for the students themselves, but also for the university and the society. This research examines the obstacles that dyslexic students face during their studies, and the variety of means and practices they use to overcome these challenges. Methods. The research material consists of ten semi-structured theme interviews. In the in-terviews the students were asked about their study habits, how dyslexia appears in their studies, which impeding and enhancing factors they could name, and what kind of social support they have received during the studies. The interview data were analysed by using a qualitative abductive content analysis. Finally, four different student profiles were formed based on the analysis. Results and conclusions. Results of the study indicated, that the dyslexic students experi-ence various impeding and enhancing factors in their academic studies. In addition to the factors related directly to dyslexia, study exhaustion was named as a major impeding factor. Self-regulation skills, study engagement, and social support were considered to be the most central factors in overcoming those challenges. Student profiles provide direction for differ-ent measures of support. According to the results, the interventions that are most crucially needed relate to the development of self-regulation skills during the studies, and to recogniz-ing and reducing study exhaustion at their early stages.