Doctoral Dissertations
Date of Award
5-2000
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Major
Education
Major Professor
E. Dale Doak
Committee Members
Carol Tenopir, Mary Jane Connelly, Everett Meyer
Recommended Citation
Sells-Lewallen, Vicki G., "Concerns of Liberal Arts Faculty toward Instructional Technology. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2000.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/1381
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Comments
In this study, the concerns of liberal arts faculty members toward the use of instructional technology were explored. The Concerns-based Adoption Model developed at the University of Texas in Austin provided the methodological framework for determining the concerns and attitudes of liberal arts faculty toward the use of instructional technology. The Stages of Concern Questionnaire, an instrument based on the Concerns-based Adoption Model provided the vehicle for gathering data. The survey, openended questions, and demographic information obtained from respondents at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee formed the basis of this research study.
Findings of this study included the determination of the peak Stage of Concern of faculty at the University of the South. The peak concern for 26% of the faculty respondents was at Stage 3-Management, a task-related concern. Stage 1-Information, a self-concern was the second peak stage with 25% of respondents. Demographic data were examined to determine relationships between the observed and expected distribution of faculty utilizing a Chi-square measurement. Significant relationships were determined to exist between academic rank, age range and peak Stage of Concern. Positive tenure status was determined to relate to the likelihood of peak concern at Stage 3-Management while lack of tenure respondents were more likely to have a peak Stage of Concern at Stage 1-Informational. Level of use information gathered in the survey determined that frequency of use (significant at p= .02) and participation in training (significant at p= .01) as significant predictors of peak stage of concern.
The open-ended question related to the advantages of using instructional technology revealed that visualization and presentation of information, student motivation, and access to increased amounts of information were important factors to liberal arts faculty using instructional technology in teaching. The disadvantages associated with instructional technology were expressed as amount of time required for presentation, hardware and software failures or difficulties, and lack of adequate technical support.
Recommendations and implications of this research included the utility of the Concern-based Adoption Model as a diagnostic tool to detennine concerns of faculty toward instructional technology. The use of the Stages of Concern Questionnaire coupled with demographic and open-ended questions provided a diagnostic tool useful in the preparation and presentation of specific faculty training and technical support. Recommendations for further research included the development of a Stages of Concern Questionnaire related specifically to the innovation of instructional technology, longitudinal studies of the concerns of college faculty toward instructional technology and the utilization of the Stages of Concern process to determine student concerns toward the use of instructional technology.