Understanding how faculty make return-to-learn decisions for college students

BACKGROUND

College faculty are receiving attention as influential members of the Return-to-Learn (RTL) process for students with concussion. Investigators continue to learn more about how faculty can assist students throughout recovery, yet we must also strive to determine whether such evidence is isolated or is in fact exhibited by faculty elsewhere.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to determine if successive faculty cohorts demonstrate similar perspectives and RTL decision-making profiles as those from initial investigations.

METHODS

Two universities in New York State were recruited to participate in a two-stage cross-sectional study. College faculty with teaching responsibilities were given the opportunity to complete an online Qualtrics survey followed by a private interview discussing their thoughts, perspectives, and/or experiences with managing students with concussion.

RESULTS

Accommodations for students were allowed more often when some form of documentation was present (disability services note = 100%; multiple types of proof = 91%; doctor/medical notes = 90%; and no note = 75%). Three factors consistently scored as influential to faculty RTL decision-making: documentation, teacher-student relationship, and empathy. No significant differences in scoring were seen between male and female faculty participants. Follow-up interviews revealed two themes: legitimacy and empathy. Legitimacy outlines why faculty seek verification of concussion prior to allowing accommodations and includes two subthemes: i) note/documentation, and ii) fairness/protecting integrity. Empathy discusses how and why faculty empathetically assist students with concussion, and includes two subthemes: i) personality, and ii) past experiences/understanding of concussion.

CONCLUSION

Our findings indicate that faculty from different universities display similar RTL decision-making tendencies and perspectives towards students with concussion as those from initial investigations. These data allow RTL stakeholders to better understand and appreciate the potential for faculty to act as facilitators to concussion support. As gatekeepers of the classroom environment, understanding how to produce faculty cooperation will ensure a reproducible and positive outcome for students recovering from concussion.

Educator perspectives on concussion management in the college classroom: a grounded theory introduction to collegiate return-to-learn

OBJECTIVES

To gather the perspectives of collegiate instructors regarding how concussion is managed within the college classroom. To introduce the themes surrounding collegiate return-to-learn (RTL) and the classroom management of students with concussion.

DESIGN

Qualitative grounded theory.

SETTING

Large, public university in the Midwest.

PARTICIPANTS

Twenty-three college instructors participated in a private, semistructured, audio-recorded, one-on-one interview. Participants included 12 males and 11 females. Interview recordings were transcribed verbatim, followed by an iterative process of open-coding and axial-coding, performed by two researchers.

RESULTS

Three themes emerged from the coded data: (1) awareness-external knowledge of concussion and previous experiences, (2) legitimacy-medical note provided and no note provided and (3) accommodating the student-instructor's role and feasibility of the accommodation. Psychosocial factors such as small class sizes, graduate-level students and an instructor's empathy appeared to influence an instructor's decision making when accommodating a student recovering from concussion.

CONCLUSION

These novel data provide foundational evidence regarding how college instructors perceive and subsequently manage concussion within the classroom, while also offering accuracy to aims of subsequent collegiate RTL investigations ARTICLE SUMMARY: RTL is an emerging field within concussion management, yet is grossly underexplored within the college setting. By utilising a grounded theory approach, this article introduces the themes that dictate the landscape of RTL for a college student.