Dissemination by state science supervisors of a CD-ROM disc for innovation in curriculum planning

110 Pages·1992·4.1 MB·English

by  Britton, Edward D

DISSEMINATIONBYSTATESCIENCESUPERVISORSOFACD-ROMDISC
FORINNOVATION INCURRICULUMPLANNING
By
EDWARDD.BRITTON
ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL
OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIAL
FULFILLMENTOFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF
DOCTOROFEDUCATION
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA
1992
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDALIBRARIES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Iwishtothankseveralpeoplefortheirhelpandsupportthroughoutthis
study. Dr.MaryBuddRowe,chairpersonofmycommittee,providedinvaluable
encouragement,guidance,andworkingconditionsthatenabledthecompletionof
thisstudy. Dr.RodWebbandDr.PatAshtonwereverygenerouswiththeirtime
providinghelpfuladviceonmanyaspectsofthestudy. Dr.RoyBolducgavewise
counselthatencouragedmetoforgethroughobstacles. Mycadreoffellow
graduatestudentshavealsogivenmeadvice,assistance,andmoralsupport:I
particularlythankHeather,Al,Cindy,andRic.
Severalpeopleprovidedmewiththepersonalcircumstancesneededtocarry
outthiswork. Myparentsandbrother,Doug,havebeenasteadfastsupport. Ialso
wishtothankmyfriend,Bill,andmycoworker,Kay.
Thisstudywaspossiblebecausethestatesciencesupervisorswhoattended
theCD-ROMworkshopinGainesvillelaterrespondedgenerouslytomyrequests
forinformation. Allofthemmadetimetobeinterviewedandmanyofthemspoke
withmeonotheroccasionsandsentadditionaldata.
IacknowledgetheNationalScienceFoundationforitsgrantsthatprovided
myassistantshipsduringthestudy,supportedsomeoftheactivitiesthatwereof
interestinthestudy,andcoveredsomeexpensesofthestudy.
11
TABLEOFCONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ii
TABLEOFCONTENTS
ABSTRACT
v
CHAPTERS
I INTRODUCTION !
RationalefortheStudy 1
StatementoftheProblem 4
Delimitations 4
Limitations 5
DescriptionofScienceHelper 5
DescriptionofStateScienceSupervisors 9
DefinitionofTerms 10
OrganizationoftheStudy 10
II REVIEWOFLITERATURE 12
RoleofScienceSupervisors 12
StateScienceSupervisors 13
UseofDCisDtr-icRtOSMcieinnceEdSuucpaetrivoinsors 1164
GeneralPotentialofCD-ROMinEducation 16
ScienceHelperforCurriculumPlanning 17
DisseminationofEducationalInnovations 18
CharacteristicsofAdopters 19
PerceivedCharacteristicsofInnovations 19
Summary' 21
III DESIGNOFTHESTUDY 23
TheResearchPerspective 23
CaseStudyMethodology 24
Reliability 26
Validity 27
TheStudySample 28
iii
DataCollection 29
DataAnalysis 31
CodingtheData 32
SortingtheData 35
Summary 35
IV RESULTSOFTHESTUDY 38
PreparationforDissemination 38
ObtainingCD-ROMPlayers 39
SettingUpCD-ROMEquipmentandScienceHelper ... 41
DisseminationActivity 43
AmountofDisseminationActivity 44
TypesofClients 47
TypesofDisseminationActivities 47
PatternsofActivity:TypesofActivitiesVersus
TypesofClients 52
SampleDescriptionsofSubjects'Activities 56
Anactivesubject:Apersistentstrategist 57
Averyactivesubject:Anaggressiveapostle .... 59
BeyondDissemination 61
DeterminantsofDissemination 61
WorkingattheDepartmentofEducation 62
PerceivedRoleofStateScienceSupervisors 63
Subjects'JobExperience,Sex,andAge 64
FeaturesofScienceHelper 68
Descriptionofcurricularfeatures 69
Descriptionoftechnicalfeatures 77
Influenceofperceivedcharacteristicsof
ScienceHelperondissemination 81
ReasonsforInactivity 84
Summary 85
V SUMMARY,CONCLUSIONS,IMPLICATIONS 88
Summary 88
Conclusions 91
Implications 92
PolicyRecommendations 92
FurtherResearch 94
APPENDIX INTERVIEWPROTOCOLANDQUESTIONS 97
REFERENCES 98
BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 102
IV
AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool
oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe
RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofEducation
DISSEMINATIONBYSTATESCIENCESUPERVISORSOFACD-ROMDISC
FORINNOVATION INCURRICULUMPLANNING
By
EdwardD.Britton
May,1992
Chairperson:MaryBuddRowe
MajorDepartment:InstructionandCurriculum
Thisstudyidentifiedactivitiesconductedby35statesciencesupervisorsto
disseminateScienceHelper,aCompactDiscwithReadOnlyMemory,CD-ROM.
Theinvestigationalsoexploredwhythesupervisorsdisseminatedthisinnovation,
thefirstapplicationofCD-ROMtechnologytoscienceeducation.
Fourresearchquestionswereaddressed:(a)Whatdisseminationactivities
didstatesciencesupervisorsconduct?(b)Howdidworkplaceenvironmentandrole
definitioninfluencetheiractions?(c)Whatdemographicandprofessional
characteristicsofthesupervisorsaffectedtheiractions?(d)Whatcharacteristicsof
ScienceHelperinfluencedthesupervisorstodisseminateit?
Sciencesupervisorswereinterviewed13to21monthsaftertheywere
trainedtousethedisc. Interviewsweretheprimarydataforthisstudy. Other
v
sourcesofdataincludedconversations,electroniccommunications,and
correspondence.
ThirtysupervisorsinvestedtimeandmoneytoacquireCD-ROMreadersto
operateScienceHelper. Manyofthemhadtosurmountbureaucraticandtechnical
difficultiestoacquireandsetupCD-ROMequipment.
Eighty-threepercentofthesupervisorsconducteddisseminationactivities.
Allnewsupervisorsandmostsupervisorswith18ormoreyearsofexperience
disseminatedtheinnovation. Adisproportionatenumberofsupervisorswith8-17
yearsexperiencewereintheleastactivegroupofsupervisors.
Supervisorsreported268disseminationactivitiesconsistingof12typesof
activitiesandinvolving14typesofclients. Themostcommonactivitieswere
providinginformationaboutScienceHelperordemonstratingitatconventionsor
workshops. Themostfrequentclientsweredistrictsciencesupervisorsand
teachers.
Thestrongestinfluenceonthesupervisors’actionswasScienceHelper's
curricularfeatures. SupervisorsvaluedScienceHelper'slessons,praiseditssearch
systemforfindingrelevantlessons,andfoundScienceHelper'sfeaturestobe
compatiblewiththeirbeliefsaboutcurriculum. Supervisorswiththemostpositive
perceptionsofScienceHelper'scurricularpossibilitiesconductedthemost
disseminationactivities.
Generalconclusionswerethatstatesciencesupervisorscanbeenergetic
changeagentswhentheyperceivetheinnovationtohaveadvantages,and
disseminationoftheinnovationisconsistentwiththeirroleascurriculumproviders.
vi
ThesupervisorsperceivedScienceHelpertobeavaluablecurriculartoolproviding
newcapabilitiesforlessonplanning.
CHAPTER
I
INTRODUCTION
RationalefortheStudy
Heightenedfederalattentionisbeingfocusedontheimprovementofscience
education. Leadersinboththeexecutiveandlegislativebranchesofgovernment
havehadagrowinginterestinscienceeducationreformsincethereleaseofNation
atRisk(NationalCommissiononExcellenceinEducation, 1983). ThePresidentof
theUnitedStateshasrecentlyaddedtothemomentumofsearchingforstrategiesto
improvescienceeducation. InthePresidents'sAmerica2000initiative,improved
scienceeducationismentionedintwoofsixgoalsadvancedforeducationreform
(U.S.DepartmentofEducation,1991). Healsohasdirectedcabinetmembersto
identifyandstrengthenscienceeducationprogramsintheirdepartments. Forits
part,theUnitedStatesCongresshasdramaticallyincreasedfundingforscience
educationintheNationalScienceFoundationandtheDepartmentofEducation.
Becausesuchattentionisonscienceeducationreformitisprudentforthe
scienceeducationcommunityandpolicyleadersinthegovernmenttoconsider
everyavenuethatmaycontributetoimprovement. Thisstudyaidsthattaskby
examiningstatesciencesupervisors'disseminationofaninnovation,thefirst
applicationofCD-ROMtechnologytolessonplanning,andinvestigating
supervisors'perceptionsoftheinnovationthatinfluencedthemtodisseminateit.
1
Statesciencesupervisorsareaseldomexploredroutefordisseminationof
innovations. Thedisseminationofinnovationsisanimportantaspectofany
nationalstrategytoimplementinnovationsinscienceeducation. Routesfor
spreadinginnovationsneedtobefound,andstatesciencesupervisorsarerarely
consideredeventhoughtheyarechangeagentswhohavepotentiallyinfluential
positions.
Statesciencesupervisorsareemployeesofstatedepartmentsofeducation
withresponsibilitiestosupportandmonitorscienceeducationintheschooldistricts
intheirstates. Thestatesciencesupervisors'effortstopromotechangeshavea
notableimpactintheirstates,andthoseeffortsalsohavenationalimpactwhen
takencumulatively. Statesciencesupervisorscanalsoactcollectivelytoencourage
nationalchangesinscienceeducation. Onlytwopreviouslyreportedstudieshave
examinedstatesciencesupervisors(Dowling&Yager, 1983;Trueblood,Szabo,&
Nippes,1979).
Asecondfocusofthisstudyisthefirstapplicationofanewtechnologyto
scienceeducation. Thisinnovation,ScienceHelper,isaCompactDiscwithRead-
OnlyMemory,CD-ROM,onwhichapproximately17,000pagesofsciencelessons
arestored. Thediscmakespossibleamodeofcurriculumplanningthathasnot
beenfeasibleinthepast,namely,rapidaccesstomultiplelessonsthatcouldservea
user-selectedpurpose.
Athirdfocusofthisstudyistoproducefurtherunderstandingof
dissemination,namely,thedisseminationactivitiesofthestatesciencesupervisors
inrelationtothenewCD-ROMtechnologyandtheScienceHelperdisc. Few
3
researchersstudyingthedisseminationofinnovationshaveexploredindetailthe
determinantsofdisseminationofaspecificinnovation. Datawerecollectedto
examinethedeterminantsofthestatesciencesupervisors'actions(i.e.,whythey
disseminatedScienceHelper).
Asubstantialfederalinvestmentwasmadeinresearchonchangeduringthe
early1980sresultinginlarge-scalestudies(Berman&McLaughlin,1978;
Crandall,1982). Sincethen,fewnationalresourceshavebeencommittedtofurther
understandingofthechangeprocessinmorerecentcontexts. Therenewed
emphasisonscienceeducationisresultinginnewinnovations. Itwouldbehelpful
tolearnmoreaboutthefactorsthatinfluencedisseminationofatechnological
productinscienceeducation.
Findingsfromthisstudycanassistpolicymakersasattempttotoimprove
scienceeducationinthreeways. First,thestudyilluminatesthedissemination
activitiesofstatesciencesupervisors,influentialchangeagentsatthestatelevel
aboutwhomlittleisknown. Second,thestudyyieldsinformationaboutfactors
thataffectedtheextentandkindofdisseminationactivitiesinwhichstatescience
supervisorsengaged. Third,thefeaturesofScienceHelperandCD-ROM
technologythatrelatedtothefunctionsofstatesciencesupervisorsandtheirclients'
needswerealsoexamined.
Priortothisstudy,statesciencesupervisorsreceivedhands-ontrainingin
theuseofScienceHelper. The35supervisorsinthisstudyattendeda3-day
workshopfundedbytheNationalScienceFoundationandheldattheUniversityof
FloridainSeptember1988. TheylearnedtouseScienceHelper,discussedpossible