NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
ERIC Number: ED577600
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 153
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 978-0-3550-9794-8
ISSN: EISSN-
EISSN: N/A
A Qualitative Examination of Community College Instructors' Strategies for Engaging Students with Physical Disabilities
Kusek, Thomas A.
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Capella University
Community colleges continually experience increasing enrollment of students with physical disabilities. This basic qualitative study implemented face-to-face interviews of 10 community college faculty members that have a variety of academic and disciplines and have assisted students with disabilities. Participants were asked questions developed from the research question, "How have community college instructors promoted engagement and learning for students with physical disabilities?" and additional sub-questions. This qualitative research study uncovered and illuminated community college instructors' strategies, techniques, and processes for working successfully with students with physical disabilities. Understanding and identifying instructor strategies that administrators, students, and individual instructors view as successful will delineate best practices and improvement opportunities, and ultimately, the outcomes in meeting student success. Participants presented positive feelings and willingness to provide reasonable accommodations for all who qualified for services. Despite a few barriers and challenges, participant willingness and gaining knowledge of reasonable accommodations and requirements was apparent and accepted by instructors in this study. Themes emerged throughout the interviews that included creating a friendly environment, general use of accommodations, strategies or techniques found not to be successful, use of learning materials, ample seating space, obstacles encountered while attempting to promote engagement and learning, attempts to overcome obstacles, promoting engagement with support from faculty and instructional organizations, and lesson plans. Other sub-themes that emerged in the interviews were instructors themselves taking positive steps in overcoming obstacles. These steps included learning about laws and regulations, the use of private testing centers, and providing a syllabus with a clear disability statement introducing Disability Resource and Services information. The importance of learning from other students and educational professionals to minimize conflicts and ensure overall communications was also a theme that emerged. Participants offered the incorporation of universal design, a concept that proposes spaces are planned and accommodations are just different notations. Theoretical implications are presented in this study to understand the accommodation process for students with physical disabilities enrolled in a community college with specific reference to the strategies, techniques, and processes used by community college instructors who successfully work with this student population. For students with physical disabilities, it is imperative for instructors to ensure that students are accommodated and connected interdependently and can work together in solving classroom problems, promote learning for each other, contribute to discussions in a group, share resources, and accept responsibility for the student decisions made in the class group. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Tel: 800-521-0600; Web site: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml
Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A