Joe L. Byers

Conditions for Classroom Technology Innovations

This article reports on a study of the complex and messy process of classroom technology integration. The main purpose of the study was to empirically address the large question of “why don’t teachers innovate when they are given computers?” rather than whether computers can improve student learning. Specifically, we were interested in understanding the conditions under which technology innovation can take place in classrooms. For a year, we followed a group of K–12 teachers who attempted to carry out technology-rich projects in their classrooms. These teachers were selected from more than 100 recipients of a technology grant program for teachers. The study found 11 salient factors that significantly impact the degree of success of classroom technology innovations. Some of these factors have been commonly mentioned in the literature, but our study found new dimensions to them. Others have not been identified in the literature. Each factor can be placed in one of three interactive domains, the teacher, the innovation, and the context. The article discusses the 11 factors in detail and proposes a model of the relationship among the different factors and their domains.

An Attributional Analysis of Teachers’ Affective Reactions to Student Success and Failure:

This study builds on previously established attribution-affect linkages in an effort to better understand teachers’ evaluative reactions to student success and failure. In the scenarios presented to teachers, students who differed in ability and in the amount of effort they expended were described as doing well or poorly on important tests. An additional manipulation related to the consistency of effort expended by students. It was thought that teachers would assume more responsibility for outcomes tied to dramatic, recent shifts in student motivation. Teacher ratings of 10 key affects (e.g., pride, guilt, anger) were used as dependent variables. As predicted, the affective reactions of teachers indicate that they are more willing to accept personal responsibility for certain kinds of student outcomes than others. Results bear out the notion that teacher affect provides valuable insight into teacher attributional thinking.

What Do They Know? A Comprehensive Portrait of Exemplary Technology-Using Teachers

Abstract This article reports on a survey of an exemplary group of teachers who use (or plan to use) technology in their classrooms. The 93 (out of 118) teachers included in this study were selected to receive a state technology grant through a competition that asked them to offer project ideas for technology integration. Each of these teachers has, at the very least, proposed an innovative project that exemplifies effective and appropriate uses of technology in education. In this article, we attempt to paint a comprehensive portrait of this group in terms of their knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs. We hope this article will serve two purposes: (1) to provide some beginning baseline information to help conceptualize what teachers should know to take advantage of modern technologies; and (2) to help develop professional development programs in technology that are more connected to practice and reality.

The effects of strategy instructions and memory on concept attainment

One hundred twenty S s attained three conjunctive concepts under varying conditions of strategy instructions and memory aids. The hypothesis under test was: the conservative focusing strategy facilitates concept attainment performance by reducing the strain on the S s memory. This hypothesis was tested in a factorial design with independent groups in which two variables were manipulated: strategy instructions, present or absent; and memory aid, present or absent. Support for the hypothesis was evidenced by an interaction. Strategy instructions were related to performance only when there was no memory aid.

Attitude Development in American and Venezuelan Schoolchildren

Summary Three widely used attitudinal instruments were administered to samples of American (N = 347) and Venezuelan (N = 294) schoolchildren in grades 4 through 11. Important cultural differences in attitudes relating to academic achievement motivation and internal-external locus of control were revealed; no cultural differences in self-esteem were obtained. Results of the study lend support to the “child-rearing practices” explanation of cultural differences.

Altitudinal Differences between Students in General Mathematics and Algebra Classes

AbstractAttitudinal differences between ninth grade general mathematics and algebra students were examined using two kinds of measures. The first assessed a number of individually linked status variables, such as self-esteem in a pre-, posttest design. The second, administered only at posttest, assessed students’ attitudes toward the classroom learning environment. Results reveal, overall, a great deal of similarity between lower- and upper-track students according to individually linked measures, even though these measures were responsive to sex, SES, and time of testing effects. Lower- and upper-track students expressed clearly divergent views regarding the adequacy of the classroom learning environment. This seeming discrepancy in the two sets of attitudes is discussed.

Effect of Test Items and Degree of Similarity upon Interference in Learning from Prose Materials

An experiment was performed to assess the effect of retroactive interference upon learning from prose materials. A test-no test variable was incorporated into a 2 × 2 design along with two levels of organizational similarity. Immediate and delayed tests were used to measure the retention of information stated directly in the passage and that which was based upon inference. Including the test after the original learning passage significantly affected retention. Within the no-test condition, subjects who read an interpolated passage which was highly similar to the original passage had significantly fewer correct responses when tested immediately on information that was stated directly in the original passage.

The effect of syntactical violation upon the recall of form class

The recall of form class was investigated by having Ss learn word lists as sentences and anagrams. Although nouns had the highest recall and adverbs the lowest for both types of word lists, differences between adjacent form classes at the point of transition from the noun phrase to the verb phrase decreased with practice for sentences but not for anagrams. Recall of form class was found to depend to some extent upon the verbal context of the word list.

The effects of syntactical violation and practice on the free recall of verbal materials in children

The objective of this experiment was to determine whether free recall differs when sentences of varying degrees of syntactical violation were presented to fifth grade and college students. Three levels of syntactical violation were employed. The Ss were asked, after each of the six presentations of the stimulus materials, to recall as many stimulus words as possible. Syntactical violation was found to significantly affect recall; however, words totally lacking in grammaticalness were recalled significantly better than words from the semi-grammatical condition.