Designing, Developing, and Evaluation of a Germane Load-Based Cognitive Rehabilitation Program for Students with Specific Learning Disabilities

Objectives: The current study aimed to design, develop, and evaluate a germane load-based cognitive rehabilitation program designed for students with special learning disabilities. Methods: The exploratory, descriptive method was used for designing the program. Thematic analysis (Sterling (2001)) was used to estimate the germane load themes. Based on the previous studies, 85 specific germane load codes were identified and evaluated. According to the results, the Multimedia Principle in germane load, Multi-personalization principle, and the Feedback principle consisted of 16, 17, 12 basic themes, respectively. Besides, the Reflection principle, as the most important learning principle in germane load, contained 17 basic themes, and the Guided Activity principle consisted of 8 basic themes. The content validity method was used to validate the program, both quantitatively and qualitatively, with a panel of 10 experts as well as two relative content validity coefficients (CVR) and content validity index (CVI). Results: The minimum and maximum content validity index (CVI) for each article or program component are 0.8 and 1, respectively, and the minimum and maximum content validity index (CVR) for each article or program component are 0.7 and 1, respectively. Conclusions: The results showed that the germane load-based cognitive rehabilitation program for students with special learning disabilities has appropriate content validity as well as the necessary validity for educational, clinical, and research purposes.