Assessing the impact of working memory training on ADHD teenagers in a secondary school

Thesis

This practitioner sought to assess the impact of a working memory training intervention on students presenting or diagnosed with ADHD symptoms. This intervention took place in a small group and 1:1 setting. The aims were to:

1. Identify common deficits in academic attainment owing to the impairments of ADHD symptoms.

2. Assess the efficacy of a working memory training intervention on addressing these impairments.

3. Observe the extent to which far-transfer effects from this training was noticeable in the classroom.

4. Explore the possibility of a school-wide working memory training intervention programme being implemented long term by staff.

The selection criteria for students involved in this pilot intervention was limited to students who acutely presented or were already diagnosed with ADHD symptoms. The selection criteria was narrow to select students whose academic attainment was observed to be affected by ADHD symptomatology. Questionnaires were completed before and after by teachers to identify possible candidates in the former and to assess impact in the latter. Comprehension tests and examination data of participating students was collected prior to and following the intervention. Through partnerships with colleagues and parents the implemented intervention was an 11-week self-devised Working Memory Training (WMT) program that challenged attentional and memory function. Each pupil received 2 hours 15 minutes of working memory training per week split between a 1hr 1:1 once a week, and five 15-minute sessions per school day. The WMT training program devised combined sustained reading as a group in the 15-minute daily sessions and WMT training games played individually in a 1 hour 1:1.

Authors: Wells, L

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-xq4ove2xz
• Type of award: MSc taught course
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: MLT 2022; MLT
• Subjects: Education