The Change of Chinese University Students with Hearing Impairment in Thinking Styles: Implications for Inclusive/Mainstreaming Higher Education

This study explored how thinking styles changed among hearing-impaired students from the art and design academic discipline. Within the duration of one academic year, the Thinking Styles Inventory-Revised II was administered twice to 129 first-year and 127 second-year hearing-impaired students. Results showed that students with hearing impairment demonstrated an increase in the use of both Type I thinking styles (more creativity-generating, less structured, and complex) and Type II thinking styles (more norm-favouring, more structured, and simplistic). Moreover, style changes differed across university class levels and gender. In addition, the follow-up interview confirmed that hearing-impaired students modified their styles due to the influence of acculturation. Contributions, limitations, and implications of the present research for inclusive/mainstreaming higher education are discussed.