The effects of augmentative and alternative communication (aac) in-service training program on teaching efficacy, AAC knowledge and application ability of the special education teachers

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of AAC training for the teachers of the public special school in Seoul on the knowledge and ability to appy AAC to the students as well as the teaching efficacy of the teachers. Method: This study used a one-group pretest-posttest design due to the limitation of school context. The in-service teacher training consisted of 8 sessions which include basic AAC knowledge and application to classroom instruction. Various formats such as lecture, case discussion and feedback were used. Researcher-developed questionnaire for AAC knowledge and application ability was used, and teaching efficacy test was also implemented. Results and Conclusion: The results showed that both teaching efficacy and AAC knowledge and application ability of the teachers has been significantly increased. The characteristics of on-site in-service program which reflected the local school's specific context as well as its focus on classroom application seems to contribute to this positive result. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.