Analysis related to each of the research questions is described below. Question 1. What effect did the InTech Project have on teachers’ level of technology implementation as demonstrated by the number of times and the amount of time per week students use computer technology? This question was assessed through the pre- and posttest administrations of the Teacher Questionnaire. Items 5 and 6 on the Teacher Questionnaire provided the data to determine if there was a significant difference in the number of times and the amount of time students use computers for instructional purposes. Question 2. What effect did the InTech Project have on teachers’ level of technology implementation as demonstrated by the number of instructional purposes and the number of different types of software programs used? This question was assessed through the pre- and posttest administrations of the Teacher Questionnaire. Items 3 and 4 on the Teacher Questionnaire provided the data to determine if there was a significant difference in the number of instructional purposes and types of software programs used. Question 3. What effect did the InTech Project have on teachers’ level of technology implementation as demonstrated by the number of subject areas for which technology is used? This question was assessed through the pre- and posttest administrations of the Teacher Questionnaire. Item 11 on the Teacher Questionnaire provided the data to determine if there was a significant difference in the number of subject areas for which technology is used for instructional purposes. Question 4. What effect did the InTech Project have on teachers’ level of technology implementation as demonstrated by their placement on the LoTi framework (Moersch, 1995)? In this framework, teachers progress through seven discrete implementation levels ranging from Nonuse (Level 0) to Refinement (Level 6). Item 12 on the Teacher Questionnaire asked participants to indicate their current level of technology implementation. Pre- and posttest measurements of this item provided the data to determine if there was a significant difference in the level of technology implementation for the participants. Question 5. What effect did the InTech Project have on participating teachers' professional use of technology as demonstrated by the number of minutes spent planning and preparing for its use in the classroom and by the number of minutes spent utilizing computing technology for professional purposes? This question was assessed through the pre- and posttest administrations of the Teacher Questionnaire. Items 9 and 10 on the Teacher Questionnaire provided the data to determine if there was a significant difference in the number of minutes spent planning and preparing for the use of technology in the classroom and in the number of minutes spent actually utilizing computing technology for professional purposes. Question 6. What effect did the InTech Project have on teachers’ self-reported skill level with computers and related technologies? This question was assessed through pre- and posttest administrations of the Skills Survey. Seventeen skill statements were developed and divided into three subsets: hardware, software, and integration. After reading each skill statement, the participants rated their skill level by choosing one of five Likert-scale response choices ranging from 1 (low skill) to 5 (high skill). A skill score for each subset was calculated. The results were statistically compared to determine if there was a significant difference in the reported skill level on any of the three subsets of the Skills Survey. Question 7. What effect did the InTech Project have on teachers' efficacy beliefs about using computers in the classroom? This question was assessed through pre- and posttest administrations of the Microcomputer Utilization Teacher Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (MUTEBI). The MUTEBI contains two subsets: outcome expectancy and personal self-efficacy. A score for each subset was calculated. The results were statistically compared to determine if there was a significant difference in the reported efficacy level on either of the two subsets of the MUTEBI. Question 8. What effect did the implementation of technology have on the overall teaching and learning process? Educational technology affords the opportunity for shifts to occur in the teaching and learning process. Therefore, on the posttest version of the teacher questionnaire, Item 13 was added giving teachers the opportunity to indicate to what degree certain shifts, specified by Collins (1990), occurred in their classrooms over the following school year. A five-point Likert scale was used with responses ranging from 1 (low shift) to 5 (high shift). Frequency distributions for all three groups on each shift were developed from the responses. In addition, mean scores were calculated and graphed for each group on each shift. Question 9. What components of the InTech Project were viewed by participating teachers as being the most useful in helping them integrate technology into the curriculum? This question was assessed through the administration of the InTech Project Summative Evaluation instrument as a form of posttest. Nine components of the InTech Project were included on the InTech Project Summative Evaluation instrument. Participants were asked to rate each component on its degree of usefulness in helping them integrate technology into the curriculum by choosing one of five Likert-scale response choices ranging from 1 (low usefulness) to 5 (high usefulness). Frequency distributions for all three groups on each component were developed from the responses. In addition, mean scores were calculated and graphed for each group on each component. Participants were also asked to describe any changes they would recommend to improve the InTech Project. General comments about the project were also solicited. Tables listing the suggestions for improvement and general comments were generated and reported. |
