Abstract

Children with disabilities experience barriers to meaningful engagement in science, technology, mathematics, and engineering (STEM) learning activities and course options. While inclusion is widely professed, general education teachers report being uncomfortable in adapting coursework or including children with disabilities. However, informal professional development opportunities could potentially impact general education teachers' attitudes and dispositions towards including children with disabilities. The UCF Go Baby Go Kids Building for Kids workshops offers a one-time informal professional development experience that incorporates STEM content along with concepts of disability awareness and social justice. Little to no research exists on the impact of this type of informal program on the attitudes and disposition of general education teachers on children with disabilities. The researcher employed a mixed methods design to examine the attitudes and dispositions of eight general education middle school teachers before and after a UCF Go Baby Go Kids Building for Kids Workshop. Quantitative instruments included the Educator Attitudes Towards Disability Scale (EADS) and the Teacher Attitudes Toward Inclusion Scale (TATIS), and qualitative methods included semi-structured interviews and the researcher's informal observations of the procedures, process, and outcomes. Results of this study did not produce statistically significant differences in pre and post workshop scores on the EADS and TATIS. However, the qualitative data and informal observations offered additional insights into teachers' perspectives on this informal and novel professional development opportunity. Triangulation of the data from this study shows positive trends on the attitudes and dispositions of teachers towards students with disabilities and inclusion.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2023

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Dieker, Lisa

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Community Innovation and Education

Department

School of Teacher Education

Degree Program

Education; Exceptional Education

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0009622; DP0027651

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0027651

Language

English

Release Date

May 2023

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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