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Comparing levels of school performance to science teachers' reports on knowledge/skills, instructional use and student use of computers

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Date Issued:
2013
Summary:
The purpose of this descriptive quantitative and basic qualitative study was to examine fifth and eighth grade science teachers' responses, perceptions of the role of technology in the classroom, and how they felt that computer applications, tools, and the Internet influence student understanding. The purposeful sample included survey and interview responses from fifth grade and eighth grade general and physical science teachers. Even though they may not be generalizable to other teachers or classrooms due to a low response rate, findings from this study indicated teachers with fewer years of teaching science had a higher level of computer use but less computer access, especially for students, in the classroom. Furthermore, teachers' choice of professional development moderated the relationship between the level of school performance and teachers' knowledge/skills, with the most positive relationship being with workshops that occurred outside of the school. Eighteen interviews revealed that teachers perceived the role of technology in classroom instruction mainly as teacher-centered and supplemental, rather than student-centered activities.
Title: Comparing levels of school performance to science teachers' reports on knowledge/skills, instructional use and student use of computers.
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Name(s): Kerr, Rebecca.
College of Education
Department of Curriculum, Culture, and Educational Inquiry
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2013
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Physical Form: electronic
Extent: xiv, 198 p. : ill.
Language(s): English
Summary: The purpose of this descriptive quantitative and basic qualitative study was to examine fifth and eighth grade science teachers' responses, perceptions of the role of technology in the classroom, and how they felt that computer applications, tools, and the Internet influence student understanding. The purposeful sample included survey and interview responses from fifth grade and eighth grade general and physical science teachers. Even though they may not be generalizable to other teachers or classrooms due to a low response rate, findings from this study indicated teachers with fewer years of teaching science had a higher level of computer use but less computer access, especially for students, in the classroom. Furthermore, teachers' choice of professional development moderated the relationship between the level of school performance and teachers' knowledge/skills, with the most positive relationship being with workshops that occurred outside of the school. Eighteen interviews revealed that teachers perceived the role of technology in classroom instruction mainly as teacher-centered and supplemental, rather than student-centered activities.
Identifier: 851187425 (oclc), 3360802 (digitool), FADT3360802 (IID), fau:4108 (fedora)
Note(s): by Rebecca Kerr.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013.
Includes bibliography.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
System requirements: Adobe Reader.
Subject(s): Science -- Study and teaching (Middle school)
School management and organization
Computer-assisted instruction
Academic achievement -- Evaluation
High technology and education
Held by: FBoU FAUER
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3360802
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU