Shirley, M. L.,
Irving, K. E., Sanalan, V. A., Pape, S. J., & Owens, D. T. (2011). The
practicality of implementing connected classroom technology in secondary
mathematics and science classrooms. International Journal of
Science & Mathematics Education, 9(2),
459-481.
Research
Questions
- What
features external to mathematics and science teachers’ class- rooms
demonstrate instrumentality of connected classroom technology (CCT)
implementation?
- What
features of successful mathematics and science teachers’ class- room
practice were congruent with CCT implementation?
- What
relative costs and benefits of CCT implementation are described by mathematics
and science teachers?
Theoretical Perspective
In my opinion, the
theoretical perspective used for this research is social constructivism. “The
goal of [constructivist] research is to rely as much as possible on the
participants’ views of the situation being studied” and “the researcher’s
intent is to make sense of (or interpret) the meanings others have about the world”
(Creswell, 8). Social constructivists also tend to have open ended, qualitative
research questions allowing for this interpretation of the problem being
addressed.
Research Paradigm
This was a mixed
methods study. Quantitative data analyzed posttest achievement between
treatment and control groups. The researchers also
collected and analyzed data from follow-up professional development sessions,
biannual interviews, and annual classroom observations.
Methodology
The data was
collected from 100 math teachers and 20 physical science teachers through two
phone interviews which were recorded and transcribed. Based on successful
implementation of the connected classroom technology, a subset of the original
participants contributed in a 2-day classroom observation and a
post-observation teacher interview (POI). The classroom observations were
videotaped and the POI interviews were recorded and later transcribed verbatim
and analyzed using the NVivo™ software package. The constant comparison method
outlined by Strauss and Corbin (1998) was used for this analysis.
Findings
What features external to
mathematics and science teachers’ class- rooms demonstrate instrumentality
of connected classroom technology (CCT) implementation?
- Teachers experienced
initial challenges in setting up computer equipment
- Lack of familiarity
with the technology sometimes impeded instruction
- Teachers attributed
their success to support from administrative and other teachers
- Flexibility and
creativity was sometimes negatively impacted
What features of
successful mathematics and science teachers’ class- room practice were
congruent with CCT implementation?
- The researchers
defined congruence as how well the innovation matched the participating
teachers’ teaching style
- Classroom discussions
were improved due to the new content delivery method
- CCT was used to support
district- and state-level testing and achieve goals mapped out by the
curriculum
- Teachers were able to
use CCT to track student learning and progress
What relative costs and
benefits of CCT implementation are described by mathematics and science
teachers?
- The majority of the
costs involved time and professional development learning how to use the
technology
- A major benefit of
CCT was the ability of teachers to track and monitor student progress quickly
and efficiently
Conclusions
Based on the
findings, implementing CCT appears to have been successful among the
participating math and science teachers assuming they have support from their
administration and can operate the technology correctly.
Relate
This study relates to
my own research on a number of levels. I plan to focus my study on the
implementation of technology in secondary mathematics classrooms. I am also
leaning towards a mixed methods study because I would like to analyze student
achievement through post testing as well as the teachers’ perceptions of
technology in the classroom.
Impressions
This study focused on one aspect of technology in the
classroom: audience response units. I would have liked to see a broader use of
technology in the classroom. By incorporating interactive whiteboards into the
classroom, a variety of technologies can be utilized in one lesson (audience
response units, videos, audio, webquests, and interactive activities). Also,
the number of participants in the study was far too small. Although they
started with 120 teachers, they eliminated the teachers who were unable to
successfully implement the CCT. I understand that being unable to use the
technology made it impossible to answer the interview questions regarding implementation,
but by eliminating participants, the researches drastically decreased the data
pool.
Additional Resources
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative,
and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Strauss, A. & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (2nd
ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
