The effects of the FACTS workshop on faculty attitudes toward community college students with learning disabilities

Author

Rob Stewart

Date of Award

12-2003

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Major

Educational Administration

Major Professor

Norma T. Mertz

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of the FACTS workshop on faculty attitudes toward community college students with learning disabilities. The Attitudes Toward Students with Leaming Disabilities Survey was used to measure faculty attitudes toward LD students before and after the FACTS workshop, a researcherdesigned training intervention. The study examined responses from 264 faculty members from 7 different community colleges in western North Carolina using an experimental group (n = 214) and a control group (n = 50). The study was guided by two hypotheses. Hypothesis 1 (HO1) was that there would be no significant differences between the mean gain scores of faculty attitudes before and after the FACTS workshop. To address this hypothesis, a paired-samples t-test was completed comparing the mean pretest and posttest scores of participants. Hypothesis 2 (HO2) was that there would be no significant differences in attitudes and participants' years of teaching experience, their amount of contact with LD students, the number of LD students in their classes, their gender or academic fields. To address this hypothesis, a non-directional Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was done. HO1 was rejected since there were significant differences in the pre-and post-test scores of the experimental group. HO2 was not rejected for years of teaching experience, gender or academic field, but was rejected for the amount of contact with LD students and the number of LD students in participants' classes. Significant differences were found between faculty members' attitudes and the amount of contact they had with LD students and with the number of students they typically taught each semester. The more LD students the faculty had had, and the greater their contact with LD students, the more positive their attitudes toward LD students. The results of the study confirm that the FACTS workshop significantly improved faculty attitudes toward LD students. Further, the study identified two factors that were positively related to faculty attitudes toward LD students: the number of LD students faculty typically had in their classes and the amount of experience they had working with LD students.

Recommended Citation

Stewart, Rob, "The effects of the FACTS workshop on faculty attitudes toward community college students with learning disabilities. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2003.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/5191