Abstracts

Teachers[rsquo] understanding of and attitudes toward epilepsy have the potential to affect students[rsquo] success in school as well as the student[rsquo]s success and achievement after leaving school. Despite evidence suggesting the important impact of teachers[apos] attitudes and knowledge on student-life, there has been little recent research among teachers in the United States examining their attitudes and knowledge about epilepsy. The present study examined (1) the knowledge and attitudes of teachers and students in teacher education programs, and (2) the extent to which teacher education programs provide teachers with information about epilepsy and whether teachers take advantage of other resources to locate such information, such as the Epilepsy Foundation.
A questionnaire that included the Scale of Attitudes Toward Persons with Epilepsy (ATPE) was used to assess teacher and student-teacher knowledge about epilepsy and attitudes toward persons with epilepsy. In addition, the questionnaire requested demographic information, information about professional preparation, and information about how knowledgeable participants were about a number of additional chronic illnesses and conditions. The questionnaire was administered to students in teacher education programs at colleges and universities with such programs.
Preliminary results from data analysis from approximately 100 respondents this ongoing study will be presented.The research questions addressed in these results include: (1) To what extent do teachers and student-teachers have accurate knowledge about epilepsy[rArr] (2) What are teachers and student-teachers attitudes about epilepsy[rArr] (3) To what extent are teachers and student-teachers knowledge and attitude scores related to demographic and professional preparation variables, and (4) How knowledgeable do teachers and student-teachers feel they are about epilepsy as compared with other chronic illnesses and conditions. Also, the results provide important information concerning the way teachers and teacher education students find information about epilepsy and what they feel are the most effective methods of distributing information about epilepsy to teachers.
The impact of the elementary and middle school educational experience on future academic, social, and vocational experiences is not currently well understood. Neither are the relationships between teacher attitudes and teacher demographic and experiential variables. This study represents an effort to increase and expand the current understanding so that effective teacher training and educational programs may be developed.
At the end of this activity, participants will be aware of the current level of knowledge about epilepsy and attitudes toward epilepsy among teachers and students in teacher education programs. Such understanding contributes to efforts to increase knowledge and improve attitudes among teachers, and identifies the most effective interventions toward this goal.
[Supported by: University of Kentucky Research Foundation]