Theory in Practice: Increasing Professional Effectiveness

T w o University of Chicago doctoral students in education, Anania (1982, 1983) and Burke (1984), completed dissertations in which they compared student learning under the following three conditions of instruction: 1. Conventional. Students learn the subject matter in a class with about 30 students per teacher. Tests are given periodically for marking the students. 2. Mastery Learning. Students learn the subject matter in a class with about 30 students per teacher. The instruction is the same as in the conventional class (usually with the same teacher). Formative tests (the same tests used with the conventional group) are given for feedback followed by corrective procedures and parallel formative tests to determine the extent to which the students have mastered the subject matter. 3. Tutoring. Students learn the subject matter with a good tutor for each student (or for two or three students simultaneously). This tutoring instruction is followed periodically by formative tests, feedback-corrective procedures, and parallel formative tests as in the mastery learning classes. It should be pointed out that the need for corrective work under tutoring is very small.

The Search for Methods of Group Instruction as Effective as One-to-One Tutoring.

Persuading users to adopt new information technologies persists as an important problem confronting those responsible for implementing new information systems. In order to better understand and manage the process of new technology adoption, several theoretical models have been proposed, of which the technology acceptance model (TAM) has gained considerable support. Beliefs and attitudes represent significant constructs in TAM. A parallel research stream suggests that individual difference factors are important in information technology acceptance but does not explicate the process by which acceptance is influenced. The objective of this paper is to clarify this process by proposing a theoretical model wherein the relationship between individual differences and IT acceptance is hypothesized to be mediated by the constructs of the technology acceptance model. In essence then, these factors are viewed as influencing an individual's beliefs about an information technology innovation; this relationship is further supported by drawing upon extensive research in learning. The theoretical model was tested in an empirical study of 230 users of an information technology innovation. Results confirm the basic structure of the model, including the mediating role of beliefs. Results also identify several individual difference variables that have significant effects on TAM's beliefs. Theoretical contributions and practical implications that follow are discussed.

Are Individual Differences Germane to the Acceptance of New Information Technologies

The 2 Sigma Problem: The Search for Methods of Group Instruction as Effective as One-to-One Tutoring:

Toward an understanding of the behavioral intention to use mobile banking

This article reports on an exploratory, longitudinal study, which examined six teachers' views on the factors that affect technology use in classrooms. The research examined teachers of grades 4, 5, and 6—for three years, studying the teachers both as a group and as individual case studies. Three case studies were selected for analysis, with the aim of exploring the relation between the changes that occurred in the teach-ers' educational views and practices as a result of their exposure to teaching and learning with the aid of rich technology and their views on factors affecting technology integration. The findings point to two developmental patterns in teach-ers' views on the factors affecting technology use in the classroom: the first is concerned with the source of influence on technology adoption, and focuses mainly on the human factor; the second is concerned with the nature of the influence when using technology in the classroom, ranging from technical to cognitive transformation. The three case studies reveal three different profiles of change and demonstrate the complex relations between teachers' orientations concerning the conditions affecting technology use, and the changes that occur in teachers' views and practices.

/pdf/teachers-views-on-factors-affecting-effective-integration-of-4srdf7ocai.pdf

Teachers’ Views on Factors Affecting Effective Integration of Information Technology in the Classroom: Developmental Scenery

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which gender and prior computer exposure (has a computer at home; participated in a computer course; knows how to work with computers) affect students' attitudes toward computers prior to computer instruction in school. An attitude questionnaire including cognitive and affective attitude scales was administered to 222 Israeli pupils in grades 8 through 10 who study in schools where computers have not yet been introduced. The results showed that prior computer exposure (in particular, having a computer at home), had a stronger effect on attitudes toward computers than sex. Pupils owning computers were more motivated to become familiar with computers; felt a stronger need for computers in their lives and had more positive affective attitudes toward computers than pupils who don't have computers at home. Sex differences in affective and cognitive attitudes were also observed where boys had significantly more positive affective attitudes toward computer...

Effect of Gender and Computer Experience on Attitudes toward Computers.

This paper reports on an exploratory, longitudinal study that analyzes and interprets the evolution of teachers’ beliefs regarding learning teaching and technology, and their instructional practices, in the context of integrating technology-based information-rich tasks in six 4th-6th grade classrooms. The study used multiple research tools, interviews, questionnaires and observations, focusing on both teachers’ beliefs and classroom practices. The findings reveal that following multi-year experiences in technology-based classrooms, teachers’ educational beliefs had changed quite substantively, demonstrating multiple views rather than pure beliefs. The study argues that teachers’ beliefs form a mosaic of complementary visions, even conflicting ones. It also shows that it is easier to change classroom practices than educational beliefs.

/pdf/teachers-beliefs-and-practices-in-technology-based-2njn3g9lrr.pdf

Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices in Technology-based Classrooms: A Developmental View

This study was conducted in the framework of a project that sought to change the school learning and teaching environment and adapt it to current reality through the proactive use of technology in the search for knowledge. It is an exploratory, longitudinal, case study of a single school, in one city in central Israel, which examines changes in educational beliefs, classroom practices, and knowledge restructuring processes of six teachers of grades 4-6, who for three years experienced an approach to teaching and learning focusing on information-rich tasks in an information-rich environment. The main findings show different patterns and rates of change in teacher educational beliefs, knowledge restructuring processes and classroom practices. They also demonstrate that students of teachers whose educational beliefs and classroom practices radically changed and which reflected a constructivist approach to learning regarded learning as a process of engaging with complex, context-related tasks requiring multip...

Changes in Educational Beliefs and Classroom Practices of Teachers and Students in Rich Technology-Based Classrooms

This article explores student views on writing as shown by the metaphors they use when asked to reflect on their own writing-to-learn tasks in the science classroom The study examines the metaphors and metaphoric themes of 97 eighth grade students, discusses how they compare to important theories on writing to learn, and explores how student views on writing are affected by their classroom writing experiences The study shows (1) that the identification of metaphors and clustering them around recurring themes can help to systematize the experiential meanings of writing with reference to four dimensions: cognitive, social, emotional and meta-cognitive; (2) that student views on writing correspond to various theoretical models, but are not identical to them; (3) that metaphor use is strongly affected by student writing experiences and that writing-to-learn tasks, feedback and reflective writing greatly influence student views on writing; and finally, (4) the study found two multidimensional conceptualizations reflected in the student metaphors, corresponding to the constructivist and transmission views of teaching and learning

Tamar Levin

Papers

Teachers’ Views on Factors Affecting Effective Integration of Information Technology in the Classroom: Developmental Scenery

Effect of Gender and Computer Experience on Attitudes toward Computers.

Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices in Technology-based Classrooms: A Developmental View

Changes in Educational Beliefs and Classroom Practices of Teachers and Students in Rich Technology-Based Classrooms

In their Own Words: Understanding Student Conceptions of Writing Through their Spontaneous Metaphors in the Science Classroom