Harris, C. (2024). Faculty beliefs toward academic accommodations for prelicensure nursing students with disabilities (Publication No. 31240747) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Northern Colorado]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. https://www.proquest.com/docview/3054377900

University of Northern Colorado (Greeley, CO)

Assessment accommodations were not specified; the focus was on faculty perceptions regarding providing accommodations for students with disabilities in undergraduate life sciences courses. Testing accommodations were discussed in the context of faculty perceptions.

Thirteen nurse educators from all regions of the United States participated in semi-structured interviews for this study. Nearly 70% of participants held doctoral degrees while the remaining 30% had master's degrees in nursing. Most participants were over 50 years of age, with only one educator under 50, and the majority had extensive teaching experience with nine participants reporting 11 or more years of experience.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted via an online video platform. Researchers analyzed faculty motivation to provide accommodations through coding interview transcripts for themes related to expectation of success, attainment value, utility value, intrinsic value, and perceived costs. Nurse educators described their experiences providing academic accommodations to students with physical, sensory, learning, emotional/mental health, and medical disabilities in clinical, lab, and didactic learning environments.

Faculty mentioned challenges with managing different testing accommodations, particularly extended time. Some faculty described automated systems that made test accommodations manageable, while others mentioned difficulties with manually tracking different time allocations for students. One faculty member specifically mentioned adopting take-home exams with 24-hour windows for all students to avoid having to manage different time accommodations for different students. Some faculty also expressed concerns about the trade-offs students faced when using testing accommodations, such as potentially missing instruction time to take exams in separate locations.