University professors and the inclusion of students with special educational needs in higher education: proposal and validation of a measurement scale

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we describe the construction and validation process of a new measurement scale, the APTD questionnaire (Accessibility, Processes, Training, Demand), which consists of four factors related to the evaluation of the accessibility of university campus, the inclusive educational actions and processes carried out by university professors in class, the degree of permanent training in attention to diversity and, finally, the training demanded by professors in attention to diversity. To the best of our knowledge, we are not aware of any instruments that measure the response of university professors to the inclusion of students with special educational needs, taking into account these dimensions. The sample was made up of a total of 580 professors from different Faculties of Education of public universities of Andalusia (Spain). The results obtained show agreement among the judges/experts in relation to the clarity, coherence and relevance of the scale of measurement. On the other hand, the validation process carried out concludes that it is a valid and reliable instrument to measure the degree of inclusion of students with special educational needs in universities through the response of university professors.

KEYWORDS:

• Higher education
• inclusive professors
• barriers
• validation
• questionnaire

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the professors of the Faculties of Education in public Universities in Andalusia for their collaboration in the study and their suggestions for improvement.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Students with special educational needs (SEN) require specific educational supports due to different grades and types of abilities of a physical, mental, cognitive, or sensory nature or serious conduct disorders.

Additional information

Funding

This research has been funded, in part, by the Ministry of Universities through the University Teacher Training Program, Spain [grant number FPU2019]. The support of the Ministry of Universities does not imply acceptance of its contents, which is the sole responsibility of the authors.

Notes on contributors

Nuria González Castellano

Nuria González Castellano received her Degree in Early Childhood Teacher in 2016 and a Master’s in Teachers of Compulsory Secondary Education and Baccalaureate, Vocational Training and Language Teaching in 2017, both from the University of Jaén, Spain. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Didactic innovation and teacher training at the Department of Pedagogy of the University of Jaén and she is a member of the IDEO Research Group. Her research interests include inclusive education, diversity teacher training, educational adaptations in inclusive settings and educational guidance.

Eulogio Cordón Pozo

Eulogio Cordón Pozo is a Senior Lecturer of the Department of Business Organization II of the University of Granada, Spain. His research interests are related to innovation, environmental strategy and human resources management. He is currently head of the department at University of Granada, Granada, Spain.

María-Jesús Colmenero Ruiz

María-Jesús Colmenero Ruiz is a Senior Lecturer of the Department of Pedagogy of the University of Jaén, Spain. She is member of the IDEO Research Group. Her research interests focus on inclusion issues, teacher training in diversity care, inclusive education at the university, educational orientation.