Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

12-2025

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph. D.

Department

Special Education, Early Childhood & Prevention Science

Degree Program

Curriculum and Instruction, PhD

Committee Chair

Landrum, Timothy

Committee Member

Cooper, Justin

Committee Member

McClure, Erica

Committee Member

Collins, Laura

Author's Keywords

evidence based practice; special education; dissemination; artificial intelligence

Abstract

The persistent gap between educational research and classroom practice continues to limit teachers’ use of evidence-based practices (EBPs), despite strong empirical support and federal mandates encouraging their implementation. A key barrier to closing this research-to-practice gap is the limited accessibility, usability, and perceived relevance of traditional research dissemination formats. With the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) tools capable of summarizing and restructuring complex information, this study examined whether AI-generated practitioner-oriented descriptions of an EBP would be rated differently from a published practitioner article on the same practice. Using an experimental cross-sectional survey design, 70 in-service teachers were randomly assigned to review either a published practitioner article describing the Good Behavior Game (GBG) or an AI-generated description created from a data-based research article. Participants rated the artifact on trustworthiness, usability, accessibility, and relevance to their daily practice. Mann–Whitney U tests showed no statistically significant differences between the AI-generated and practitioner-written artifacts across trustworthiness, usability, or accessibility, suggesting teachers perceived both formats similarly. Chi-square analyses revealed that perceived relevance of the EBP was significantly associated with higher ratings of trustworthiness and usability, though not accessibility. These findings suggest that AI-generated materials may serve as viable tools to support the translation of research into practice, if content is relevant to educators’ contexts. Implications highlight the potential for AI to enhance dissemination efforts, the need for collaboration between researchers and practitioners to ensure accuracy and contextual fit, and the importance of relevance as a key factor influencing educators’ perceptions of EBPs.

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