This study investigated the effects of cognitive learning style on academic performance in two university-level computer applications courses offered by the Faculty of Education and the Department of Computer Science at a large urban university. The Gregorc Style Delineator (Gregorc, 1982a) was used to collect learning-style information from a sample of 974 students over a four-year period from 1993 to 1997. The effect of learning style on academic performance was found to be significant in both courses. Results indicated that sequential learners performed significantly better than did random learners in both courses under investigation. Based on the results, a number of recommendations are made for how instructors can accommodate the needs of all learning styles when facilitating computer application courses.
Abstract Research for the use of computers in education continues to gain momentum. By reviewing the research that has been completed, educators and administrators may find solutions to problems and issues for integrating educational technology into their educational settings. Many tenets of educational technology integration are emerging. Committed leadership, staff development, curriculum integration, technical support, and planning for the future are just a few areas worthy of additional research. The research described here looked at these areas within a unique population of educators and administrators: the United States Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program. The purpose of this research was to analyze the perceptions of Senior Army Instructors (SAIs) toward the use of the Internet as a distance learning tool in meeting the stated desired learning outcomes of the JROTC program. The worldwide study was conducted in the 1998–1999 school year, covering 1,363 high school JROTC units. A total of 658 SAIs responded to both closed and open-ended questions regarding their level of knowledge and concern for using the Internet as a distance learning tool. This research indicates that the instructors currently using the Internet as a distance learning tool consistently had more positive perceptions than those instructors who were not using the Internet. In the qualitative portion, 683 comments were coded Common concerns that need to be resolved to fully unleash the potential of the Internet as a distance learning tool in the JROTC program are identified. Recommendations regarding further research and policy considerations are also made.
Abstract Recent growth in distance learning (DL) represents a significant change to management education. Notwithstanding its importance, research on DL is at an early stage of development, particularly in understanding the effect of technology perceptions on students’ receptivity toward DL. This study of 399 students at two universities investigates the role of perceived technology usefulness, technological familiarity and accessibility, reputation, constraints, learning preferences, and demographic factors on prospective receptivity toward DL. The results reveal significant relationships between many of these variables and DL receptivity, suggesting new challenges and opportunities for educators. They also indicate that some traditionally held assumptions, for example those regarding accessibility, reputation, and constraints, may not be valid in the new high-tech DL environment. Implications of the findings are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in the level of young readers' reading comprehension when one group of students read an interactive CD-ROM storybook and another group of students read the same story from a conventionally printed book. A univariate analysis of variance was used to compare scores on oral retellings and comprehension questions. There was no significant difference in mean scores on the retellings between the two groups. There was a significant difference in mean scores on the comprehension questions between the two groups. When comprehension was measured through the use of comprehension questions, students reading the CD-ROM storybook scored higher.
In this exploratory study, we compared characteristics and teaching practices of teachers perceived to be exemplary technology users with descriptions of exemplary users provided in the literature. Using a qualitative case-study design, we examined the pedagogical beliefs and classroom practices of 17 exemplary technology-using teachers. Findings suggest that exemplary technology use, as perceived and practiced by teachers, does not readily match descriptions of best practice provided in the literature. Rather, exemplary use reflects teachers’ personal beliefs about teaching and learning as well as their specific teaching contexts. (
This research uses a case study approach in examining the attitudes and motivations of five teacher educators who used technology in their classroom. It seeks to find out why teacher educators initially chose to get involved with technology and then addresses issues regarding the process by which the technology was implemented. Specifically, the research describes the teacher educators’ pedagogical beliefs, cultural preferences, and instructional strategies that influenced their selection of Smart Classroom technology (a network of six student computer workstations linked to an instructor). Moreover, it identifies and details six common elements of multicultural technology integration and concludes with a general discussion on the need to combine pedagogical methods with a practical vision of technology use and technical support.
Traditionally, higher education institutions have developed orientation programs that are designed to help students make a successful transition to college. Now, considering this flow of virtual students, universities offering distance learning programs have to design orientation programs suited for the students that will take distance courses. This article introduces the issues to be considered in designing an orientation for students in online programs and presents the strategies being used currently in some Internet-based courses. Orientation for online courses serve the same objectives as orientation for college, in the sense that it can facilitate academic and social interactions, increase student involvement, enhance the sense of belonging to a virtual learning community, and help retention.
To prepare U. S. preservice teachers for online teaching and reaching diverse learners and to provide English instruction to Taiwanese students, American and Taiwanese university students corresponded by e-mail. U.S. preservice teachers explored theory and practice of online instruction, corresponded as tutors to teach English language and American culture, and reflected on their experiences. Taiwanese students practiced English and exchanged cultural information. This research explores documentation of the online teaching and learning experience to identify benefits and limitations of online teaching and learning, online teaching strategies, and cultural aspects associated with cross-cultural collaboration.
This study explores the opportunities presented by network-based communication to facilitate collaborative critical reflection between teachers. The study took place with 28 elementary and middle school teachers in 10 suburban Chicago schools. These teachers were involved in a two-year technology supported problem-based learning curriculum development effort. Asynchronous network-based communications were featured as teacher communication tools of the project, with the discourse produced by the teachers as the primary data source. The evidence showed that collaboratively produced network-based communication was significantly more reflective than face-to-face discourse between teachers. Face-to-face teacher meetings were highly task structured, while the electronic network was the medium of choice for discussing cause and effect and other contextual factors associated with curriculum development. Several variables, including teacher time, discourse focus, participant composition, and self-efficacy are discussed as influences on network-facilitated reflective conversation.
This paper reports on the introduction of a computer conferencing component into a first year study unit in Technology Management at Deakin University in Geelong, Australia. It was found that significant variations in computer usage were correlated to student study mode, including mean age of respondent, source of computer access, source of Internet access, indicated hours per week computer usage, regular use of e-mail, regular use of the Internet, and number of times the conferencing system was accessed. Off-campus students were less likely to agree that the system was easy to access and easy to use, but were more likely to agree that the system would help them in other units they were studying. Off-campus students were more likely than on-campus students to report using the conferencing system to communicate with other students. At the end of the semester, following exposure to the computer conference, on-campus students were more likely to agree computers could assist their learning, and off-campus students were less likely to agree that learning from computers would be better than classes/lectures.
This study examined the collateral effects of Wiggle Works (1994–1996), an interactive literacy program, in two settings: a cohort study comparing random samples of Grade 1 and 2 students (N = 452) before and after software implementation and a longitudinal sample tracing students from kindergarten to Grade 1 (N = 126). Wiggle Works contributed to greater student use of computers, enhanced computer skills, computer self-efficacy, and (in Grade 1 only) enjoyment of computers. The univariate effects were of small to medium size and were robust across grades and genders. Positive effects were observed regardless of whether the school received new hardware at the time of software delivery or used existing equipment of sufficient power acquired a year earlier. The study suggests that the high cost of adopting interactive literacy software may be warranted if the program has benefits beyond its contributions to reading and writing skills.
Research on organizational behavior has shown that the success or failure of an innovation rests ultimately on the people who implement it. This study was a systematic assessment of faculty needs for the incorporation of Web-based instruction into the teacher education curriculum. The needs assessment model involved defining optimal performance, assessing actual practice, and identifying the gap separating the two. The purpose of the study was to understand the technological and pedagogical requirements necessary to prepare education faculty for the paradigm shift envisioned by leading educators and driven by information technology. It took an in-depth look at exemplary practices in the field, such as the Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, the recipient of 1998 AACTE Best Practice Award in Systemic Change in Technology.
This study investigated how teachers at various levels of technology use and teaching abilities used technology and how technology use related to general teaching practice. Data from case studies of exemplary technology integrators, representing categories of teaching and technology ability, resulted in assertions about the ways these teachers taught with technology, including the existence of teachers' personal definitions of technology integration, distinctive planning habits when planning for technology inclusion, strategies for teaching about technology that matched teacher learning strategies, management of student computer use, and altered perspectives on assessment. Differences observed among technology use were associated with individual levels of teaching expertise.
User-centered design proponents advocate the proactive role of the user in the software development process. This study describes how novice software designers interpreted usability sessions and how these designers responded to their users' reactions to their respective prototypes. Qualitative analysis of class projects, usability sessions, and interviews with three groups of graduate students took place. A follow-up session involved written protocols from another group of graduate students. Overall, these usability sessions had minimal effect on these students' prototypes and essentially did not yield any valuable information. In an effort to remedy this current situation, this study proposes recommendations on how to improve the training of educational software developers.
At-risk high school students working in a Web-based beginning composition course interacted for seven weeks with an online teacher in one of four different styles of interaction. Students received e-mails enhanced with motivation-building content and/or caring/personal-investment content. Students were observed as they worked in the course, and four variables—including ratings of electronic communication between teacher and student—were analyzed to determine student engagement in course content. Results indicate that enhancing motivation-building and personal-investment content in teacher communications increases at-risk student engage-ment in Web-based courses. Advantages of motivation-building enhancements over personal-investment enhancements and the importance of teacher interaction with at-risk students in Web-based environments are discussed. Educators are increasingly turning to computer-based learning experiences to enhance instruction for their students. Proponents of technology typically cite such features as rapid access to information, increased capacity for authentic ex-periences, and enhanced opportunity to communicate. These potential benefits fit well with current sociocognitive views of learning. There is a growing worry, however, that an increasingly technologically based education system may not benefit all learners equally. Of particular concern are students who are at risk for academic failure for a variety of reasons, ranging from low socioeconomic status and learning disabilities to substance abuse and gang-related activities. The pos-sibility of a widening gap—a “Digital Divide” between the technology “haves” and “have-nots”—appears to be a serious possibility (National Telecommunica-tions and Information Administration, 1999), with limited access to technology standing as a barrier to student participation (Gladieux & Swail, 1999).Arguments citing both advantages and disadvantages of technology-based approaches to teaching at-risk students can be readily constructed. Advantages include increased attention to relevant instructional material (Means, 1997), access to instruction outside the school setting for working students, and de-creased potential for conflicted teacher–student relationships (Birch & Ladd, 1996). On the other hand, technology can make establishing productive teach-er-student relationships very difficult. Though technology-based instruction seems likely to reduce the conflicts often present in teacher interactions with at-risk students, it would seem to have two distinct disadvantages.1. Because of the technology, students are likely to have less access to the teacher’s scaffolding of unfamiliar material.
This study examined student attitudes toward the introduction of a Web component into a general biology course for undergraduate nonmajors at a midsized rural university. The Web component primarily allowed asynchronous learning outside the classroom and increased student-to-student interaction. Students could use the Web site to access chapter outlines, grades, critical-thinking and problem-solving questions, self-grading quizzes, and the course syllabus. It was found that the Web component had a highly positive effect on student learning, problem-solving skills, and critical-thinking skills. The effects of the Web-enhancement tool were assessed using essays, short answer and multiple choice questions, and in-class discussion. The attitude of females in the course toward Web-based learning was found to be significantly more positive than that of males. Furthermore, females in the class were found to use the Web more often than males. Student use of the Web was found to be independent of age, racelethnicity, year in school, computer experience, and learning style. The fact that there was no relationship between attitude and learning style indicated that the materials posted were suitable for all types of learners. Most students used the Web to take quizzes, post to the bulletin board, access their grades, and download chapter outlines and critical-thinking and problem-solving questions. All of these facilities allowed for asynchronous learning. The chat room was the least used Web component, possibly because it required the students to log on at specific times (synchronous learning). However, the majority of the students did access the logs of each of the chat sessions that were posted on the Web. Findings from this study suggest that instructors should use the Web for the posting of course syllabi, grades, quizzes, questions, and materials that encourage student-to-student and student-to-faculty interaction. The materials posted to the Web should address the different learning styles of the students and be diverse and interesting enough to encourage student participation.Keywords: student attitudesWeb-enhanced instruction
The widely held conception based on previous studies is that differences exist between gender and racial groups in their attitudes toward and their usage of computer technology. This study used a survey with many open-ended questions to investigate possible differences between high school males and females and racial groups in coeducational and same-sex schools in Nebraska in their attitudes, use, and career interest in technology. Results indicate some areas of difference and some commonalities between gender and racial groups. Hispanics showed a significantly higher interest in computer careers than any other racial group. Implications for educators are discussed.
