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Teaching All Students: Faculty Perceptions and their Impact on Cognitive Disability Inclusion in Higher Education

Capstone
2025

Repository

Description

The purpose of this mixed methods study is to investigate how faculty perceptions of students with cognitive disabilities influence the use of inclusive instructional practices among college faculty at a small liberal arts institution. For the utility of this study, the concept of faculty perceptions will be generally defined as the attitudes, beliefs, and assumptions that faculty hold regarding students with cognitive disabilities and how those beliefs inform classroom decisions, instructional support, and student engagement. The theory guiding this study is the social model of disability, as it supports the examination of how social and environmental barriers rather than individual impairments contribute to educational inequities for students with disabilities. This study will be conducted using a mixed methods design, combining a faculty survey with semistructured interviews and analysis of written documentation. The primary research question guiding this inquiry is: How do faculty perceptions of disability influence the education of students with cognitive disabilities in higher education? The research setting will be a private liberal arts college in the Midwest, and the sample will consist of full-time faculty members across academic departments, as well as support staff from the comprehensive transition postsecondary program. Quantitative data will be gathered through Likert-scale survey responses, while qualitative data will be collected through interviews and a review of existing paraprofessional documentation. Data analysis procedures will include descriptive statistics for survey responses and thematic coding for interview transcripts and written records. The study may help identify institutional trends and professional development needs to support more inclusive instructional practices and guide policy changes in higher education.
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Record Data:

Program :
  • Doctor of Education
Location :
  • CBE
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