Faculty Members Perception

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors are important areas of study in todays higher education system. These areas of study are considered critical to various areas of the nations economy including healthcare and manufacturing sectors. Over the past few decades, students enrolment in STEM majors has become an important area of focus in higher education settings. As higher education institutions seek to enhance the number of students enrolling for these majors, a significant portion of these students are those with learning disability. Kreider et al. (2015) defines learning disability as a group of disorders that have negative effects on learning, listening, reading, thinking, speaking, computing, and writing skills. Therefore, students with learning disabilities face significant challenges in understanding concepts and learning materials in STEM majors. Love et al. (2014) states that students with learning disabilities face typical problems in their pursuit of STEM degrees as well as additional systemic barriers that affect their learning outcomes. Given these struggles, these students deal with misunderstanding and negative perceptions from different individuals including faculty. This paper proposes a study to examine how faculty members perceive having students with learning disability in STEM majors.

Background of the Problem

STEM fields and degrees have emerged as crucial factors in the economic growth of the nation since they make significant contributions to a wide range of issues including healthcare and the environment (Love et al., 2014). These fields/courses have received considerable attention in recent years since they are rooted in problem-solving skills that are akin to real-life situations that students are likely to experience in the future careers. As a result, there has been national focus and increased demand for STEM majors in todays society. However, the number of American college students pursuing STEM degrees continues to be few in comparison to those pursuing other fields or courses. The increased focus on these fields has entailed encouraging students to enroll...…extensively documented in existing literature. Current literature is yet to comprehensively examine how faculty members perceive having students with learning disability in STEM majors.

This issue is an important topic of study in order to help enhance the learning outcomes of students with learning disability in STEM majors. Faculty member perceptions affect teaching strategies and practices as well as students self-perception, which in turn influences their learning outcomes. Therefore, examining this issue provides a suitable opportunity for higher learning institutions to identify ways for enhancing the experiences and perceptions of students with learning disability in STEM majors.

The study will also promote the establishment of suitable learning environments for all students in these courses. By improving understanding on faculty members perception, the study will help ensure that students with learning disability pursuing STEM degrees receive proper accommodations and help from faculty. This will also ensure that these students are accorded equal educational opportunities like other students and treated fairly in the…