Đánh giá tác động của phát triển chuyên môn đến khả năng tiếp cận khóa học trực tuyến cho sinh viên đặc biệt

Abilene Christian University Digital Commons @ ACU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Electronic Theses and Dissertations 11-2020 An Evaluation of the Impact of Professional Development on Accessibility to Online Courses by Students With Special Needs at a Regional Four-Year Public Institution of Higher Education in West Texas Dallas Anne Swafford das17d@acu.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.edu/etd Part of the Accessibility Commons, Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Educational Leadership Commons, Higher Education Administration Commons, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons Recommended Citation Swafford, Dallas Anne, "An Evaluation of the Impact of Professional Development on Accessibility to Online Courses by Students With Special Needs at a Regional Four-Year Public Institution of Higher Education in West Texas" (2020). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at Digital Commons @ ACU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ ACU.

This dissertation, directed and approved by the candidate’s committee, has been accepted by the College of Graduate and Professional Studies of Abilene Christian University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership Dr. Joey Cope, Dean of the College of Graduate and Professional Studies October 22, 2020 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Antonina Lukenchuk, Chair Dr. Scott Self Dr.

Timothy Stafford Abilene Christian University School of Educational Leadership An Evaluation of the Impact of Professional Development on Accessibility to Online Courses by Students With Special Needs at a Regional Four-Year Public Institution of Higher Education in West Texas A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership by Dallas Anne Swafford November 2020 i Dedication Several people have provided support, love, and motivation during this final educational journey as I worked to obtain my doctoral degree. First and foremost, this is a God thing! I am blessed to have you all in my life and dedicate this step of my educational journey to you all. To my husband, Carroll. I cannot express how much I appreciate your unconditional love, unwavering support, and the never-ending encouragement you provide to me always, but particularly when I was struggling with classes or homework, wanted to take a break, or quit.

You listen to me rant, rave, and yes, continuously talk about school or homework over the last couple of years or so. I love you more than I can ever express. To my mother, Reba. I would not be who I am or where I am today without the selfless love, guidance, and ever-present support you and Dad provided to me.

Because of your dedication to raising a hard-headed daughter, I have been able to achieve this goal. I know Daddy would be just as excited as we both are now. I love you and could not have done this without you two! To my Aunt Rita. Thank you for always loving me, being there for me, listening and providing feedback upon request, and reminding me that it is OK to take a break and work on crafts now and then.

Now we can perfect the mallet smash! (Mom, consider yourself warned. We promise to protect the cars!) I love you more, AMM! To Linda. Thank you for being a prayer warrior and friend. Although I have not known you long, I appreciate your friendship with my family and being a tireless prayer warrior with my mom and aunt! I have no doubt that you have played a considerable role in my success as well.

It’s time for another lunch and shopping trip! Thank you so much for your support. ii To the lunch bunch – Marsha, Paula, Elisa, Debbie, and while she was with us, Suzanne. You girls are the best friends a girl could ever ask for! Our relationships have stood the test of time, and I am blessed by your friendship every minute of every day. There are not many people who are lucky enough to have friends like you girls.

If we ever get through this pandemic…GIRL TRIP!! It has been entirely too long! Last and certainly not least – Thanks to my coworkers and colleagues: Bradley, Randall, Nancy, Russ, Wrennah, Lesley, Dara, Rebecca, Carey, Kristen, Audrey, Tara, and Alaric. All of you provided so much support and encouragement even before this journey began, and certainly throughout the entire journey, from the candid conversations, office coverage, and time off, experiences we share working together, and, most importantly, to the friendships we have. I cherish the time we spend together. I am lucky to call you all not only colleagues but friends.

Tara, as you would say, “This is just one big happy panda situation!” iii Acknowledgments I would like to take time to express my appreciation to several individuals who provided vital support, direction, and patience while helping me obtain my doctoral degree. Antonina Lukenchuk, my dissertation chair, pushed me to consider every aspect of research and expand my thinking to finally decide to complete evaluation research. Scott Self supported me from early in my journey when we connected as a professor and student and realized that we both have experiences in the same field. I have never been more excited to learn that I snuck in right under his limit of spaces available for him to serve as a committee member! While I did not know Dr.

Timothy Stafford until he became a committee member, I appreciate the knowledge and feedback he provided to make my study complete and thorough. Dana McMichael not only served on my committee but kept me on track and motivated throughout the program. I appreciate you all. The feedback and direction you all provided played an important role in helping me through the dissertation process and making my study one that I’m very proud of.

Thanks, also, to all of the faculty members who I completed classes with. You all make the process of learning fun, and I am glad I had the opportunity to learn from you. Finally, a special shout out to Courtney Hernandez. We met during the first phone call I received from an admission’s counselor on a Saturday afternoon because “she just happened to be in the office.” I am lucky that you were able to follow me through to the end of my journey when you moved to Student Services.

You are next, my friend, and I hope to be there to celebrate with you when you get to this same spot! iv © Copyright by Dallas Swafford (2020) All Rights Reserved v Abstract Evaluation research, including qualitative and quantitative data, was used in this study to determine the impact of professional development on online courses’ accessibility by students with disabilities. The study focused on online courses and course content. Data collection took place in phases and included self-paced, online professional development and one-on-one support sessions, a pre- and postsurvey, and a focus group interview. The study took place at a regional 4-year public institution of higher education in West Texas.

Change theory emerged as the primary theoretical lens guiding the research as the study unfolded. Keywords: Evaluation research, qualitative, quantitative, professional development, online, focus group, higher education, change theory vi Table of Contents Dedication. v List of Tables. viii List of Figures.

ix Chapter 1: Introduction. 1 Statement of the Problem. 2 Research Purposes and Questions. 4 Chapter 2: Literature Review.

7 Universal Design for Learning. 8 Best Practices Regarding Accessibility and Course Design. 9 Leadership Theories and Professional Development. 11 Adult Learning Theory.

12 Summary of Literature Review. 16 Site and Participants. 17 Sources of Data and Strategies of Data Collection. 19 Professional Development and Evaluation: Implementation and Analysis.

21 Chapter 4: Data Analysis. 23 The Role of the Student Disability Services Office in Accessibility. 24 Staffing and Budgetary Resources. 26 Standards of Evaluation Research.

32 Data Analysis Process. 33 Participants’ Initial Knowledge of Accessibility. 35 Training: Required or Nonexistent?. 36 Online Learning for Students with Disabilities: How Accessible Is It?.

37 Initial Perceptions of Existing Courses. 37 Access to Information and Learning. 38 Training: “If You Build It, They Will Come!”. 39 Self-Paced, Online Training Modules.

40 One-on-One Accessibility Support Sessions – One Step Further. 41 Using Ally to Review Course Content Accessibility. 43 Individual Responses Through Focus Group Interview. 43 Responses to Ally Through Surveys.

45 Professional Development: Does It Work?. 51 Initial Perceptions of Course Content and Accessibility. 52 Perceptions After Professional Development. 55 Overall Experiences With the Training.

59 Summary of the Findings. 63 Chapter 5: Discussion, Conclusions, and Reflections. 66 Best Practices in Online Education. 67 Accessibility of Online Course Content.

73 Recommendations for a Campus Community. 75 Recommendations for Practice and Future Research. 77 Limitations of the Study. 83 Appendix A: Pretest Accessibility Awareness Survey for Faculty.

94 Appendix B: Posttest Accessibility Awareness Survey for Faculty. 97 Appendix C: IRB Approval Letter. 100 viii List of Tables Table 1. Confidence Level With Content Remediation .58 ix List of Figures Figure 1.

Snapshot of Institutional Organization Chart. Participant Representation by Academic Category. Years of Teaching Experience at the College Level. Snapshot of the One-on-One Accessibility Support Session Agenda.

Source of Ally Instruction .47 1 Chapter 1: Introduction Over the last several years, while I have been a disability services provider for students enrolling in higher education classes, it has become evident that all courses the university offers should be accessible to all students, including those with disabilities. Ideally, course content, particularly in the online environment, should be accessible at the point of course creation. Two years ago, a student with a hearing impairment submitted an application for disability accommodations. She was pursuing an online program and was completing a course with the requirement to view multiple videos and participate in discussions about the video content, among other tasks.

The semester was well underway, and the student had been “managing” to hear the video content with the assistance of family members. She needed to view closed captions for the videos, but none were available at the time. The student registered with Student Disability Services approximately halfway through the semester because she needed immediate assistance to complete the course requirements and remain on track for the remainder of the term. Staff members in Student Disability Services and the Department of eLearning immediately began listening to the videos and typing transcripts to meet minimum accessibility requirements and to allow the student to remain on track and complete the current semester with no problems.

The task was time-consuming, but necessary in order to meet the requirements for institutions of higher education mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act and the consequent Amendment Act. Staff members worked to fulfill the student’s immediate needs for access to the course material and to address her request for accommodations. After accomplishing this task, the team worked with the student’s academic advisor to begin reviewing future courses in which the student needed to enroll and complete to make progress toward her 2 degree completion. The employees began working to ensure the courses were accessible from the beginning of the term.

Because of the experiences and results of working with this particular student, the faculty in the College of Education requested to continue working with Student Disability Services to examine other online courses in other programs offered through the college. The two areas worked together to review the course content in all the online classes in their college to ensure an accessible format for all students. The updates first included closed captioning all videos, and transcripts for audio recordings.