Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-1997

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Education

Major Professor

E. Dale Doak

Committee Members

Donald Dessart, Gerald Ubben, Bruce MacLennan

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which a semester- long required course in Instructional Technology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville affected the levels of technophobia among preservice teachers with different computer backgrounds and different instructors. Technophobia was defined as the variable measured by the Lloyd and Gressard Computer Attitude Scale.

The sample for the study consisted of 135 K-12 preservice teachers who participated in this study at the beginning and ending of the Spring 1997 semester. There were a total of seven sections taught by five different instructors in a laboratory classroom of 24 computers.

The course was found to reduce technophobia and help teachers develop more positive attitudes toward technology. The subscales of anxiety, confidence. and liking all saw significant changes with anxiety showing the most improvement. No significant difference was found for the perceived usefulness of the personal computer following the course.

Students were classified into one of three experience groups relative to the rest of the sample based on the number of items they checked off on a prior experience inventory. A total of 17.0% of the sample made up the least experience category with either no experience or experience with just one item on the list. Students with least and some experience showed significant changes in their attitudes while those with the most experience did not.

The quality of course instruction in the different sections was measured using twelve items dealing with instructor effectiveness from the University of Tennessee Campus Teaching Evaluation Program. A significant difference was found between the teaching quality of the five instructors. A correlational analysis between the quality of instruction and changes in computer attitudes revealed a strong positive correlation. The most significant difference in computer attitudes was found among the students of an instructor who scored high relative to the other in- structors in the areas of availability of extra help, explanations, and interest in whether students learned. The teaching quality of this instructor was found to be significantly different from all others.

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