Transcript
Hi, everyone. My name is Julia Riches, and I’m the research officer on “Learning with FASD”. Before I begin, I’d like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, water, and culture. I’m on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. I pay my respects to their Eldens past and present.
Today, I’ll be speaking about the evaluation of “Learning with FASD”, a national initiative to disseminate evidence-based resources on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder for primary school teaching and support staff. So we know that early diagnosis and appropriate intervention can greatly reduce the risk of difficulties associated with FASD, such as disrupted education or mental ill health. And primary school teaching and support staff can play a really vital role in recognising neuro-developmental concerns, connecting families and health services, and implementing supports in schools.
But, to ensure the effectiveness of “Learning with FASD”, we conducted an evaluation with Australian primary school teaching and support staff to assess the acceptability and utility of the website. So the online survey covered topics, including performance on key website attributes, homepage design, website useability, and preferred resource topics and types. Seventy-four educators completed the survey, including individuals living in metropolitan, regional and remote areas. So the sample covered a diverse range of participant roles, including teachers, education assistance, school counsellors, psychologists, principals and youth workers. So, “Learning with FASD” was really well received by educators. The website scored highly on key attributes, including clarity, relevance, the evidence base of the content, the usefulness of the website and resources, and the overall appearance and style. Participants felt really positively about the homepage design. And 88% of respondents indicated they had a positive experience browsing the website and considered it to be very useful. Participants also completed a standardised system useability scale, and the website was found to have good useability.
We also asked participants what topics and types of resources they wanted to access. So the majority of respondents indicated they were most likely to use resources on classroom strategies. But almost a third reported they are most likely to access resources to help them understand FASD. And finally, 16% preferred resources that would assist them to support and work with families of children with FASD. Preferred resource types were fact sheets, webinars, and a guide to understanding the impact of FASD in the school environment. So the evaluation revealed “Learning with FASD” was a really effective method of disseminating evidence-based FASD resources and is a useful tool to build capacity in educators to ensure children with FASD are supported in their ongoing education. Thanks so much for listening, and please do get in touch with us if you have any questions about “Learning with FASD”.
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You can access the “Learning with FASD” resources on this page of the NOFASD website which also provides a wide range of other resources designed to assist educators to become more FASD-informed and confident in using strategies that can assist students who have FASD: https://www.nofasd.org.au/service-providers/education/