
Purpose
◦ 1. Identify student attitudes, beliefs, about
people with disabilities (biases, stereotypes,
terminology, ADA)
 Do volunteer hours change someone’s attitude toward
people with disabilities?
 Does the intensity (time commitment) of the activity
change or influence attitudes?
 Does group activity versus individual activity impact
attitude differently?
 Does structured activity versus unstructured activity
impact attitude differently?
 Does the severity of a disability affect attitude change
differently?
2. Validate the positive effects service-learning has on
student development
◦ What is Service-learning?
 A method of teaching, learning and reflecting that
combines academic classroom curriculum with meaningful
service
 Some benefits of :





Enhanced problem-solving skills, critical thinking
Integration of theory and practice
Clarify career goals
Meet real community needs
Cultivate connections between the organization and the
university
3. Two part study - Reporting on qualitative analysis
•
Several Researchers
• Campbell, J., Gilmore, L., & Cuskelly, M., 2003; McDougall, J.,
DeWit, D. J., King, G., Millter, L. T. & Killip, S., 2004;
Stavrianopoulous, K., 2008; Robinson, and McPheeSmith, Valerie.,
2003; and Mayhew, J., 2000
•
Summary of findings
• Service Learning did make a difference-High school students had
more positive attitudes toward people with disabilities
• “foster students’ personal and moral growth, increased their
empathy and responsibility toward other members of society”
• Helped students form relationships and change their perceived
notions about disabilities in society
• Service learning can help students see more then the value of
service in the community
Participants
Data Collection


Choose from 6 experiences & Complete 15
hours
◦






AA
HHH
PEC Schools
Individual
PP
Camp
◦ Instrument – MAS, 2007
Journals
◦
Guiding questions


How do you feel before, during, and after the
experience
 Open-ended Statements
 Affective
 Cognitive
 Behavioral
Common broad themes.
External audit
A Research & Design Class
coded major themes across
the case studies.
Our Study
Researchers found
major themes across
the case studies
Pairs of researchers re-read
student journals to find
specific themes to each case
study based upon the
common broad themes.


Five common themes
Negative feelings
“I was really creeped out that I had to drive over to a
stranger’s house at 8 in the morning to work with a kid I
barely knew.”
“I was scared that if I didn’t remember everything from
the training session I might mess up in a lesson and it
could be very dangerous to the client, the horse and even
me.”

Individuals with disabilities are more than their
disabilities
“One thing that I learned about children with disabilities is
that they are people also that just want to be able to do
things and have fun like every other person in the world.”
“No matter if someone has a disorder or not, these adults
and children were extremely inspiring and proved that
anything is possible.”

Adaptations and modifications to participate
“…never knew that activities such as horseback riding
could be altered for those with disabilities by using
adaptive saddles”.
“I always thought if you couldn’t walk on land you couldn’t
walk in the water”.
“Although Jeffrey can’t physically talk, he can still
communicate to me by using a communicative device”.

Learning experiences
“No classroom experience or assignment could have
provided me with knowledge gained from the field
experience.”
“I learned that people with disabilities are the type of
people I love to work with!”

Positive feelings
“I really enjoyed working with Jeffrey. Seeing how much
he has improved really gives me a great feeling of
accomplishment”

Original question

Do volunteer hours change someone’s
attitude toward people with disabilities?
 Negative to Positive
“I realized that I want to be that patient person in
someone’s life who will listen and try to really help
instead of just getting aggravated about the difficulty
communicating.”
“I can’t believe that I was so close minded to working with
older adults. The participants of arthritis aquatics have
taught me so much during my time participating in the
class. I never knew I could learn in so little time.”

Service learning


Will the common themes of the Qualitative
be supported by the Quantitative?
◦ Remaining Questions to be answered
Currently analyzing quantitative data