Colombian Pre-Service Physical Education Teachers’ Declarative Knowledge About Teaching Students with Disabilities Before and After a Professional Development Workshop

The purpose of this study was to assess Colombian preservice physical education (PE) teachers’ declarative knowledge of teaching students with disabilities and research approaches in adapted physical activity (APA) before and after participating in an international APA symposium. Pre-service physical educators who attended the symposium (n = 50; 23.0 ± 3.38 years old) completed a 17-item questionnaire consisting of 6 demographic questions and 11 content-specific domains based on workshop topics. There was a significant improvement in overall content knowledge t(49) = 4.01, p < 0.001, with a medium effect size, Cohen’s d = 0.57, 95% CI [0.27, 0.86]. A multiple linear regression revealed that demographic variable did not predict change scores, and a MANOVA test demonstrated no significant overall effect of demographic variables on change score. More research is needed to understand how engaging in ongoing practical experiences with students with disabilities can prepare PE teachers to increase their content knowledge in similar professional development opportunities.