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Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) to Identify Elements, Constructs, and Items for Designing And Developing Contents for Pre-Braille
Skills Module
Alya Qasdina Ng Ai Lee1*, Kway Eng Hock1
1 Fakulti Pembangunan Manusia, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Perak, Malaysia
* Corresponding Author: [email protected] Accepted: 15 March 2023 | Published: 31 March 2023
DOI:https://doi.org/10.55057/ijares.2023.5.1.11
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Abstract: On the basis of the discrepancy model, a need analysis questionnaire was distributed to 92 randomly selected special education teachers in Malaysia to determine if they required a specialised module for early braille learning lessons. The results of the survey indicate that teachers strongly agree that they need a guided module with detailed instructions and video demonstrations in teaching early braille lessons. Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) was chosen to determine the elements, constructs, and items required to design and develop the contents for Pre-Braille Skills Module. The Content Assessment of the Pre-Braille Skills Module questionnaire is used to collect data from seven authorised subject matter experts. The chosen elements, constructs, and items must satisfy three criteria of triangular fuzzy numbers:
threshold value (d) ≤ 0.2, percentage of experts in agreement > 75%, and fuzzy score with a minimum value of 0.5. The data analysis was conducted using an Excel template, called FDM 2.0. As a result, Tactile Perception, Basic Braille Literacy, Early Braille Reading, and the most of the proposed constructs and items have been incorporated into the Pre-Braille Skills Module. In phase 2, items that did not meet the aforementioned criteria were amended and evaluated. This research has produced a prototype for the Pre-Braille Skills Module and Teaching Aid Kit. In the meanwhile, it offered teachers fresh perspective, especially those of us whose pupils were learning braille for the first time. Before proceeding on to more advanced braille lessons, these teachers must ensure that their pupils acquire tactile readiness.
Keywords: early braille learning, tactile reading, visually impaired, Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM), tactile perception
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1. Introduction
Recent statistics indicate a considerable decline in braille literacy (Monks, 2019). The percentage of literacy for blind people in industrialised countries such as the United Kingdom is a very worrisome 4%. (Quallen, 2020). Being the world's most rapidly expanding country in this regard, Malaysia likewise confronts the challenge of braille literacy among pupils with visual impairments (Mohd Anwar Patho Rohman, et al., 2018; Ahmad Yunus Mohd Noor, 2016). Previous research found that visually impaired (VI) pupils who read using tactile perception read slower than their peers who read using visual perception (Herzberg , Roseblum,
& Robbins, 2017). This limitation becomes more difficult for pupils enrolled in the Inclusive Education Programs (Siti Fatimah Salleh & Mustafar Che Omar, 2018).
118 Pre-braille skills are the basis for braille literacy acquisition (Chen & Dote-Kwan, 2018). Yet, these essential skills are not emphasised clearly in the Malaysian curriculum and textbooks. For this reason, the Pre-Braille Skills Module Development Needs Analysis Instrument was developed based on the Discrepancy Model (McKillip, 1987) to collect information from special education teachers in Malaysia who engage with VI pupils. Randomly assigned Google Form surveys were sent to 92 teachers of Special Education Programs (PPK). According to an analysis of the data, 97% of special education teachers indicate they need a Pre-braille Skills Module with demonstration videos and implementation instructions as pedagogical support materials for early braille learning, as the concurret references emphasise memorization of braille codes and regulations rather than intervention to improve tactile perception.
2. Methodology
The Pre-braille Skills Module's elements, constructs, and items were determined using the Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM). Seven professionals reviewed the content of the Pre-braille Skills Module using the Pre-braille Skills Module Content Evaluation Instrument. These experts in the subject of VI are all practitioners of instructional practises. After the expert consensus is accomplished, the design phase will continue based on content development that meets the requirements of the Mangold technique, the ABKL technique, and the KGBK technique. The selected Pre-braille Skill Module elements, constructs and items must meet the three criteria of the Triangular Fuzzy Number: Threshold value (d) < 0.2 (Cheng & Lin, 2002), expert consensus percentage > 75%, and the Defuzzification process, which determines the fuzzy score value is based on a cut value equivalent to an α value of 0.5 or more (Tang & Wu, 2010; Bodjonava, 2006). For this reason, an FDM 2.0 template created in Microsoft Excel was utilised to process the questionnaire data.
2.1 Experts Profile
Table 1 displays specialist demographic information. The majority of the specialists had at least ten years of experience in VI rehabilitation programmes and in providing VI education. These stakeholders include specialists in braille literacy, textbook writing, curriculum planning, the assistant director of instruction for VI, special education teacher and tertiary education lecturers who deal with VI pupils.
Table 1: Experts Demographic Information
Panel Expertise Profession Experience in teaching
Early Braille Literacy
1 Special Education Lecturer more than 20 years
2 VI Rehabilitation (Braille)
Malaysia Association of Blind
(MAB) Braille Traning Officer More than 10 years 3 Special Education (VI) Pre school teacher- teaching VI
pupils more than 10 years
4 Special Education (VI) Braille Code Teacher more than 25 years
5 Instructional of VI MOE officer more than 10 years
6 Special Education (VI) Special Education Teacher-primary more tan 10 years 7 Special Education KAIKUP Textbook writer more than 10 years
2.2 Instrument
The Pre-Braille Skills Module Content Assessment Instrument is used to ensure that the module developed is optimal in terms of the relevance of elements, constructs, and items appropriate for designing and developing Pre-Braille Skills Module contents.
119 This instrument consists of three parts: Part A provides the respondent's background, Part B covers the respondent's feedback, and Part C comprises the respondent's opinions on the content relevance of the Pre-Braille Skills Module. Lastly, a summary of the whole Pre-Braille Skills Module by the respondents.
This instrument adapts Amurugam's (2020) instrument to meet the context of the study. The S- CVI for the Content Evaluation Instrument by Experts and Practioners both obtained
1.00 based on expert input, whereas the S-FVI Experts and Practitioners obtained S 0.90. This conclusion surpassed the cut off point for S-CVI at least >.83 when more than 6 experts were selected (Polit & Beck (2006), Polit et al., (2007); S-FVI at least 10 experts, with a cut off point of at least 0.83 (Marzuki et al., 2018). The Pre-Braille Skills Module Content Assessment Instrument for Experts passed the reliability test with a score of .994, indicating that it is suitable for use in the actual experiment.
3. Results
3.1 Findings of Pre-Braille Skills Module Content Assessment Instrument
According to FDM's results, the designated experts acknowledged and reached a consensus on Element 1: Tactile Perception, Element 2: Introducing the Alphabet in ABKL, and Element 3:
Tactile Reading in Early Braille Reading using the KGBK Method. Based on the data shown in Table 2, all suggested elements have achieved expert consensus on the value of Threshold (d) 0.2 (Cheng & Lin, 2002), with 85.7% of experts in agreement and fuzzy score values ranging from 0.862 to 0.929. (Tang & Wu, 2010; Bodjonava, 2006). The experts also agreed on the sequencing of the Pre-braille Skills Module's elements.
Table 2: Elements of Pre-Braille Skills Module
Elements
Triangular Fuzzy
Numbers Criterias Fuzzy Evaluation Process
Expert Consensu
Element Acceptance d
Value
Consensus
% m1 m2 m3 Fuzzy
Score (A) Tactile
Perception 0.096 85.7% 0.843 0.957 0.986 0.929 Accepted 0.929 Basic Braille 0.111 85.7% 0.814 0.943 0.986 0.914 Accepted 0.914
Early
Braille Reading 0.218 85.7% 0.757 0.886 0.943 0.862 Accepted 0.862
A threshold value of 0.814 to 1.00, or at the "very appropriate level," was also present for the constructs that attained the expert consensus. The threshold value for two constructs,
"understanding the meaning of basic words" and "knowing the weight relationship," was not met in the first phase. The words used for both structures are clarified. The construct has passed the 0.90 criterion in the second round. In conclusion, all of the Pre-braille Skills Module's constructions have high internal consistency values and may be used as module content.
Table 3 displays the information acquired from the Pre-Braille Skills Module Content Assessment Instrument to identify the module's constructs and their arrangement. There are fifteen constructs that meet the criteria of Triangular Fuzzy Number, which are Threshold value (d) 0.2, the expert consensus percentage exceeding 85.71 percent, and the Defuzzification process being the determination of the fuzzy score value based on the cut value exceeding the value of 0.83. According to the procedure outlined in Essential Concepts of Early Braille Skills ((Lydon & McGraw, 1973) and the Mangold Method, the arrangement of constructs is improved (Mangold, 2019). Ultimately, all parts of the construct have reached an elevated
120 threshold value between 0.852 and 0.952. Expert agreement has been obtained on the suggested items, and their internal consistency is consistent. The expert consensus for the full item is more than 85.71 percent, the threshold value is less than 0.2, and the -cut is greater than 0.5. While FDM 2.0 recommends ordering (ranking) based on expert consensus, Lydon & McGraw (1973) found that acquiring pre-braille skills should relate to a list of early braille principles in an advanced manner.
Table 3: First Phase:Constructs of Tactile Perception Element in Pre-Braille Skills Module
Table 4 presents the findings of the Pre-Braille Skills Module Content Assessment Instrument, which was used to design and develop the Element of Basic Braille Literacy using the ABKL method. The constructs presented in Basic Braille Literacy Skills fulfil the three criterias of the Triangular Fuzzy Number when the percentage of agreement among the expert group reaches 100% with a threshold d value of 0.037 and a fuzzy score of 0.952.
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Table 4: Experts' Consensus on Constructs of Basic Braille Literacy
The findings of the Pre-Braille Skills Module Content Assessment Instrument for Early Braille Reading Elements for which an expert consensus has been reached are shown in Table 5. The constructs proposed for Early Braille Reading fulfil all three conditions of the Triangular Fuzzy Number, which is when the percentage of expert group agreement above 85 percent with a threshold value (d) of 0.2 and the fuzzy score is larger than 0.862. While this technique employs a protocol designed for Early Braille Reading Skills implementation, it is important to revise the recommended ranking based on KGBK protocol (Isahak Haron, 2013). In contrast to the FDM 2.0 template, which recommends a ranking based on expert consensus, this study requires that the elements, constructs, and items in the Pre-Braille Skills Module be ordered according to the essential principles of early braille skills and the preferred braille literacy approach (Lydon & McGraw, 1973).
Table 5: Expert consensus about Early Braille Reading Elements constructs.
122 Elements, constructs, and items on which experts have reached consensus will be incorporated into learning units beginning with interventions focusing on pre-braille skills, touch, wrist, finger dexterity, finger isolation, finger strength control, tactile discrimination, tracking skills, basic braille letters, and early braille reading. The contents of the Pre-braille Skills Module are shown in Table 6 as a list of elements and constructs that have been validated by experts.
Table 6: Contents of Pre-Braille Skills Module
3.2 Pre-Braille Skills Module
In the first stage of the ADDIE model, 92 randomly selected special education teachers were surveyed to determine their needs. The chosen teachers are professionals who deal with VI pupils in all settings of Malaysia's special education programme. According to the findings of a survey, 97% of teachers need a comprehensive module with learning objectives, step-by-step instructions, and video demonstrations to conduct early braille lessons. Consequently, a Pre- Braille Skills Module, a Tracking Book and a Learning Kit for VI pupils were produced.
Figures 1 and 2 depict the front page of the Pre-Braille Skills Module and the poster demonstrating the module's video demonstrations accessible through QR codes.
No. Elements Constructs Lesson Units- Items
Recognizes Spatial Relationships Recognizes Numeric Relationships
1. Tactile Perception
2. Basic Braille
3. Early Braille Reading
Recognizes Time Concepts Recognizes Basic Shapes Recognize different textures Recognizes Weight Relationships
Recognizes Sounds Language/Listening Skills
Recognizes And Interprets Tactile Stimuli Recognizes movement
and object properties via tactile perception
Writing Skills Book Skills
Left-handed braille codes (titik 1, 2, dan 3)
Right-handed braille codes (Titik 4, 5 dan 6)
vowel letters sound
Identify consonant letter sounds by combining ABKL with KGBK methods.
Combining vowels and consonants to form syllables
Understands The Meaning Of Basic Words Combining syllables to form words Comprehend the meaning Combining words to create concise phrases or sentences Formation of short texts using
Unit 1: Essential Concept in acquiring Pre-Braille Skills
Unit 2: Touch Sensitivity Unit 3:
Hand Strength Unit 4: Wrist Strength Unit 5: Finger Dexterity Unit 6: Finger Isolation Unit 7: Finger Strength Control & Light Finger Touch Unit 8: Tactile Discrimination Unit 9: Tracking Skilll Unit 10: Acquire Braille letters and numbers via ABKL Method.
Unit 11: Combining letter sounds Method (KGBK)
123
Figure 1: Cover Page of Pre-Braille Skills Module
Figure 2: Poster of the Pre-Braille Skills Module that included a video demonstration and a QR code.
4. Discussion And Implications
By using FDM, researchers identified the elements, constructs, and items about which experts had accepted. The experts agreed that early braille learning should begin with tactile perceptions, followed by letter recognition and tactile braille reading.
In Tactile Perceptions Element, the constructions are organised in accordance with the essential premise of early braille learning, including shoulder stability, arm and wrist strength, and light finger touch. At the end of the interventions, students with visual impairments will be able to distinguish braille cells and then braille dots. Thus, a module with step-by-step instructions and video demonstrations is required to serve as pedagogical guidance for early braille learning.
VI students will learn braille letters and 17 Malay contractions as a result of using the ABKL technique to learn braille codes after acquiring tactile readiness. Hence, the arrangement of elements, structures, and items must adhere to the protocol of the chosen approach. Using the
124 ABKL approach, visually impaired students will learn braille codes from the left side, followed by braille codes from the right side. Pre-Braille Skills Module is thus not relevant to the proposed rank in FDM 2.0, which prioritised arrangements of material based on expert consensus rank. Early braille learning, according to Lydon and McGraw (1973), must adhere to the key principles of early braille skills and the recommended braille literacy strategy.
(Lydon & McGraw, 1973).
KGBK was used in this Module as an early braille reading teaching strategy. KGBK is an early reading method that combines the consonant and vowel sounds to generate Malay Language Syllables. The frequently occurring syllables were then concatenated to make words, phrases, and finally short text. Pre-Braille Skills Module might aid VI students in adopting the practise of tactile reading to get access to additional physical reading resources by utilising KGBK techniques.
Meanwhile, the experts also proposed using mobile-compatible text, video, picture, and audio formats for multimedia in module design and development. It has been shown that the incorporation of multimedia components in a mobile learning environment increases learning attractiveness, memory retention, and passion (Huffman & Hahn, 2015). (Wieman & Perkins 2005). Doyle (2007) and Yahaya (2009) acknowledged these aspects when they said that multimedia learning is more efficient and applicable to all academic areas. It is also a straightforward method of communicating academic content. The experts also stressed the need of using appropriate and plain terminology. According to Che Hassan and Abd Rahman (2011), the language used in the teaching and learning process must be suitable for the level of the students in order to have an impact.
5. Conclusion
As the conclusion, this research has produced a prototype for the Pre-Braille Skills Module and Teaching Aid Kit..Elements, constructs and items have been specifically chosen to design and develop the contents for Pre-Braille Skills Module with comply to requirements stated in FDM.
Pre-Braille Skills Module is a comprehensive programme that combines a number of tactile readiness-focused exercises. The multisensory method will prepare visually impaired students
for greater engagement and pleasure in early braille learning. With proper hands-on activities and technological implementation, users will have a greater knowledge of the objective and how to accomplish it. To successfully transmit information or skills to students utilising teaching approaches, tactics, methods, and procedures based on teaching and learning theory, educators must possess subject matter expertise and teaching skills that involve planning, managing, delivering, directing, and evaluating activities. In the meanwhile, it offered teachers fresh perspective, especially those of us whose pupils were learning braille for the first time.
Before proceeding on to more advanced braille lessons, these teachers must ensure that their pupils acquire tactile readiness
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