Abstract
Background & Objectives: Special learning disorder is one of the most common childhood neurodevelopmental disorders that has severely affected the lives of many children around the world. A problem primarily related to learning disorders from an anthropological perspective is the ability to learn, and the need of students to acquire the ability to learn with the aim of learning is called self–perception. Several studies have also shown that the self–perception score of students with learning disabilities is lower than the normal group. Several therapeutic and educational techniques have been investigated to improve the symptoms and problems of students with special learning disabilities. Brain–based learning is one of these interventions based on the neurological principles of learning and education. So, the present study aims to determine the effectiveness of brain–based learning training in improving the self–perception of students with disabilities.
Methods: This quasi–experimental research employed a pretest–posttest design with a control group. The statistical population of the study included 5800 male students with learning disabilities in the elementary schools of Rasht City in the academic year 2022–2023. Of them, 30 were selected by available sampling after meeting the inclusion criteria. They were assigned to two groups of 15 students: experimental and control. The tools used in this research were the Colorado Learning Difficulties Questionnaire (CLDQ) (Willcutt et al., 2011) and the Self–perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985). The brain–based learning training package (Caine et al., 2005) was implemented during 8 sessions of 60 minutes only for the experimental group. The data analysis was done at two levels: descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential (univariate analysis of covariance). The level of significance in statistical tests was considered to be 0.05.
Results: The results showed that the effect of training on the self–perception of the experimental group was significant after removing the pretest effect (p<0.001). Effect size showed that 40.9% of self–perception changes in the posttest stage were due to receiving training.
Conclusion: Based on the research findings, with brain–based learning training, self–perception improves in students with special learning disabilities. Therefore, it is recommended that brain–based learning be used in schools and specialized clinics for exceptional children.