A Mixed Methods Study to Investigate Student Attitudes and the Effect of Person-Centered Videos Intervention on Students’ Attitudes towards individuals with Disabilities
Primary Author: Amira Albagshi
Faculty Sponsor: Susan Banks
Primary College/Unit: College of Education
Category: Arts and Education Sciences
Negative attitudes towards individuals with disabilities in inclusive education affect the success of inclusion (Werner, Peretz, & Roth, 2015). Students’ negative attitudes lead to decreases in students’ with disabilities academic performance and social outcomes and increase teachers’ frustration in teaching and managing their classrooms. The Mere Exposure Effects (Zajonc, 1968) and Parasocial Contact Hypothesis (Allport, 1954) have been combined in this study by using the person-centered video intervention. The intervention provided 3rd-8th grade students an indirect exposure by showing examples of individuals with disabilities in doing daily activities.
Mixed methods design was conducted by using the Chedoke-McMaster Attitudes toward Children with Handicaps (CATCH) scale and by conducting a focus group interview with students. ANOVA and t-test were used to analyze the pre and post-survey to measure all three attitude components (affective, behavioral, and cognitive). Results showed that the intervention had different impacts on each attitude component in terms of gender and grade level.
Results showed that viewing person-centered videos helped some of the typically developing students to recognize the strengths and positive aspects of individuals with disabilities instead of focusing on their challenges.
The findings would support the idea of teaching a disability curriculum for students to understand some challenges that affect students with special needs. Showing students videos of individuals with disabilities in their daily life activities can change the negative notion about people with disabilities as being needy and hopeless. Disability curriculum will help in creating more positive and supportive learning environments to all students in inclusive classrooms.