Publication Date

2008

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Lockard, James A.

Degree Name

Ed.D. (Doctor of Education)

Legacy Department

Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment

LCSH

Teachers--Attitudes; Educational technology--United States--Public opinion

Abstract

Today's global economy requires a new set of skills that workers must master to compete in the world. In addition, the information era has brought many challenges that impact the teaching profession greatly. Critical thinking skills have been identified as necessary for effective and efficient performance in daily activities. This study looked at the association between technology integration and critical thinking skills based on teaching practices among middle school math classrooms (6th–8th grades) in Illinois. Thirty-six middle school math teachers (6th–8 th grades) responded online to three surveys: (1) Survey of Enacted Curriculum (SEC), (2) California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST), and (3) Educational Technology Survey (ETS). A series of statistical tests were used: discriminant function analysis, Mann-Whitney U test, exploratory factor analysis, correlations, and multiple regression analysis were performed on the datasets to answer the research questions leading this study. The findings produced positive and negative correlations between educational technology and critical thinking skills. These correlations may be indicators that middle school math teachers prefer traditional methods, such as memorization and repetition instead of using technology to achieve learning goals. The second finding demonstrated that technology integration (interactive problem solving) can be predicted by using performance expectations of the SEC instrument and induction from the CCTST.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references (pages [111]-121).

Extent

viii, 172 pages (some color pages)

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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