Ellen Storey Vasu

Constructivism and Technology Use: Findings from the Impacting Leadership Project

This study used two surveys, the Activities of Instruction 2.0 (AOI 2.0) and the School Technology Needs Assessment (STNA) to assess the relationship between teachers’ level of constructivism and their level of technology use. Results indicate that constructivist practices and beliefs were significant predictors of technology use, after accounting for the contribution of other individual level demographic variables, and school‐level environmental factors. Teachers with more constructivist instructional practices were more likely to report using technology; similarly, teachers who believed more strongly that IT was a useful tool for student‐centered/constructivist teaching were more likely to use technology. Konstruktivismus und Gebrauch von Technologie: ergebnisse des IMPACTing Leadership Projekts Dieser Beitrag verwendete zwei Studien: Activities of Instruction 2.0 (AOI 2.0) und das School Technology Needs Assessment (STNA), um das Verhältnis zwischen dem Kenntnisstand der Lehrer bzgl. Konstruktivismus und ihrem Stand im Technologiegebrauch abschätzen zu können. Die Ergebnisse belegen, dass die konstruktivistischen Praxen und Annahmen signifikante Vorhersagen über den Technologiegebrauch unter Berücksichtigung anderer individueller demographischer Werte und schulspezifischer Faktoren ermöglichen. Lehrer mit größerer konstruktivistischer Unterrichtspraxis haben eher die Nutzung von Technologie angegeben. Ähnlich haben Lehrer, die stärker davon überzeugt waren, dass IT ein nützliches Werkzeug für schülerzentrierten konstruktivistischen Unterricht sind, auch den Gebrauch von Technologie bevorzugt. Constructivisme et usage de la technologie: les résultats du projet IMPACT sur le Leadership Dans cette étude on a utilisé deux enquêtes, les Activités d’Enseignement 2.0 (AOI 2.0) et l’Evaluation des besoins en technologie (STNA) pour mesurer la relation entre le niveau de constructivisme des professeurs et leur niveau d’usage des technologies. Les résultats obtenus indiquent que les pratiques et les croyances constructivistes étaient des indicateurs significatifs de l’usage des technologies, une fois pris en compte l’impact d’autres variables démographiques au niveau individuel ainsi que les facteurs environnementaux au niveau des écoles. Il y avait plus de chances que les enseignants ayant des pratiques éducatives plus constructivistes signalent qu’ils utilisaient la technologie; de la même façon, les enseignants qui croyaient le plus fermement que les TICE représentaient un outil utile pour un enseignement constructiviste centré sur l’étudiant étaient le plus susceptibles d’utiliser la technologie. El constructivismo y el uso de la tecnología: el impacto del proyecto IMPACT sobre el liderazgo La presente investigación está basada en dos encuestas, una Las Actividades de Enseñanza 2.0 (AOI 2.0) y la otra La Evaluación de las Necesidades en tecnología (STNA) para evaluar la relación entre el nivel de de constructivismo de los profesores y su nivel de uso de la tecnología. Los resultados indican que las prácticas y creencias constructivistas eran indicadores significativos de predicción del uso de las tecnologías una vez tomada en cuenta la contribucción de otras variables demográficas a nível individual y de los factores ambientales al nivel de la escuela. La probabilidad es que los profesores con prácticas instructivas más constructivistas eran los que señalaban un uso más frecuente de la tecnología; de la misma manera la probabilidad es que los profesores que pensaban con más fuerza que las TICs eran herramientas útiles para la enseñanza constructivista centrada en el alumno serían los mayores usuarios de la tecnología.

A Model of Statistics Achievement Using Spatial Ability, Feminist Attitudes and Mathematics-Related Variables as Predictors:

Subjects for this study were graduate students enrolled in inferential statistics classes at a midwestern university. The study was conducted to determine the importance of spatial ability, attitudes toward mathematics, mathematical background, masculinity-femininity of interest pattern, attitudes toward feminist issues, student sex, and verbal and mathematical ability as predictors of achievement in applied statistics courses for male and female students. Regression analyses were performed comparing full versus restricted models. The amount of variance in statistics achievement accounted for in the full model which included all the previously mentioned sets of predictor variables was .60. The most important predictor variable set was attitudes toward feminist issues (reduction in R2 = .1861). Sex-related differences were found on all variable sets except verbal and mathematical ability.

Locus of Control, Self-Esteem, Achievement Motivation, and Problem-Solving Ability: LogoWriter and Simulations in the Fifth-Grade Classroom

AbstractThis study examined the effects of using Logo, or problem-solving–oriented simulation software on locus of control, self-esteem, and achievement motivation for fifth-grade students. The importance of these variables in predicting Logo mastery and far-transfer problem-solving ability was also examined. The study had three groups: Logo, simulation, and comparison. Analyses revealed significant differences for self-esteem. Results did not change after controlling for Logo mastery. The Logo and comparison groups had a significant pretest–posttest change in locus of control, and the simulation group had a significant pretest–posttest change in self-esteem. The most important predictor of far-transfer was math achievement. The most important predictor of Logo mastery was near-transfer. Students with an external locus of control did not master Logo. The importance of affective variables in predicting far-transfer, as well as Logo mastery, needs further investigation.

Integrating Computers into Social Science Curricula: Computer Literacy and Beyond

The decreasing cost and increasing sophistication of microcomputer software have combined to create a proliferation of microcomputer labs in American universities, and a concomitant call for the integration of the microcomputer into social science curricula. Unfortunately, all too often in the chronology of this process, hardware precedes software, and software precedes any thoroughly thought out, curriculum-based objectives. To add to the confusion, the state of the art in hardware seems to be constantly changing. Just as many of the early users of micros in the social sciences became familiar with the capacities and software associated with the Apple II family of computers, the IBM PC emerged with increased memory, speed, sophistication and integration of software. Then came the PC XT with its hard disk. Next came the Macintosh, which gave a whole new meaning to the words &dquo;user-friendly software&dquo;. Before many users could become comfortable with this transition, they were confronted with the IBM PC AT with 3 megabytes of internal memory and the capacity to drive four terminals. Most recently, there has been an announcement of a true 16-bit chip (65816) from the Apple family of chips (6502), priced under

Cost-Income Equilibrium for Electronically Delivered Instruction

100, which has the capacity to address almost 16,000 kB (16 megabytes) of memory,

The limitations of instructional technology

SUMMARY This article presents a basic cost-income model for electronically delivered instruction (EDI) (Jewett, 1999; Karelis, 1999). Systematic elaborations on the basic model are presented that explain the financial problems associated with EDI, and suggest strategies for making EDI financially viable. The basic model presented in the first figure includes dollars, enrollment, and hypothetical delivery systems and start-up costs. The second figure adds income and crossover points. The third figure adds the market share concept. The fourth figure simplifies the third. Seven solutions for moving the crossover to the left of the market share are presented and discussed: Increase income per enrollment, decrease the start-up costs, decrease the marginal cost, improve market share, change mode of delivery, and reduce fixed costs.

Teaching About Nuclear Disarmament: Attitudes of Middle Level Teachers

The authors present five reasons why high technologies have failed to have much impact on education. They are as follows: (1) teaching and learning are inherently human activities with affecting (e.g. attitudinal)-as well as achievement-oriented objectives; high technology substitutes machines for humans; (2) instructional media, like all media, have an affect on the users that transcends the content material. Like the media of television, the effect is thought to be detrimental to intellectual development; (3) the hardware and software have not yet reached the required level of perfection; (4) the use of the technology requires skill, knowledge, coordination, management, and organizational expertise which the educational bureaucracies have been unable or unwilling to commit to this purpose; and (5) sophisticated technology costs too much and part of this cost is the high level of expertise needed to apply it. Although the primary technology discussed is computer-assisted instruction, the limitations described apply to most instructional technologies.<<ETX>>

Measuring knowledge of technology usage and stages of concern about computing: a study of middle school teachers

AbstractA questionnaire was administered to 546 middle level school teachers in one public school system in the southeast. The questions clustered around the following dimensions with respect to nuclear disarmament: significance for humanity, curriculum issues, teacher qualifications, availability of materials, appropriateness of issue for middle grades students, and reaction by community or school system to the teaching of the issue. Over 90% of the systems middle level teachers responded. Chi-square tests of independence were conducted, and a number of significant relationships were found. In general responses varied by subject taught, age, and educational background. Most of the teachers believed that the issue is an important one for humanity. Only a small percentage included it in their teaching, but about half believed that it should be included elsewhere in the curriculum. Most teachers did not think that they had enough background and information to teach about the issue. Recommendations included...