Toward a Theory of STEM Instructor Commitment to Supporting Students with Disabilities

There has been tremendous growth in U.S. colleges and universities in the number of students with nonapparent disabilities including learning disabilities such as dyslexia and auditory processing disorder; ADHD; and psychiatric conditions. There is not much research about how professors can best support these students. In transitioning from high school to college, disabled students must become more proactive self-advocates to navigate the rules and systems for accommodation, which include talking with each instructor each semester about what they need.

Misinformed STEM faculty have little empathy for students with nonapparent disabilities. STEM professors tend to be less willing to accommodate and less approachable than those in other disciplines, which discourages students. These instructors learn slowly and inefficiently, student by student, both the importance of and strategies for supporting students with disabilities.

By studying what students with disabilities say works and doesn’t work, and then comparing that with key experiences that help professors improve their teaching of disabled students, this project can inform interventions to improve STEM undergraduate learning environments for students with nonapparent disabilities.

This project will combine theoretical perspectives from faculty change and disability studies in education to build theory of STEM faculty readiness and commitment to supporting students with nonapparent disabilities. The PI will use journey mapping methodology to interview targeted STEM instructors about events and influences that increased their knowledge and ability to support students with nonapparent disabilities.

Student research assistants will use a parallel journey mapping protocol to interview STEM undergraduates with nonapparent disabilities. The research will combine disparate bodies of knowledge on disability studies and undergraduate instructional change. It applies novel research approaches including journey mapping, longitudinal and change-focused studies of faculty, and combining student and faculty perspectives on accessible teaching.

The PI will be mentored by an experienced disability researcher, and the project will develop and document strategies for mentoring disabled student coresearchers. Besides being published in archival journals, the results will also be integrated into future faculty coursework, keynote addresses, and faculty development workshops presented by the PI.

The project is supported by NSF’s EDU Core Research Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR: BCSER) program, which is designed to build investigators’ capacity to carry out high-quality STEM education research.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.