Browsing by Author "Potts, Ann D."

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    Teacher learning within a transactional process
    Potts, Ann D. (Virginia Tech, 1996)
    This qualitative case study explored a professional development project designed to support teacher learning. A group of teachers and instructional supervisors met regularly for an academic year to create alternative assessment practices for the elementary classroom. The team of instructional supervisors planned and led meetings that encouraged the development of knowledge through interaction among teachers and reflections on classroom practice. In the study I explored the following questions: a) What were the actions of the instructional supervisors as they planned and worked with teachers? b) How did teachers interact within the environment designed for the social construction of knowledge? c) What actions created ambiguity for the participants and what actions accommodated the ambiguity? d) How does knowledge I constructed through this research enhance my practice as a teacher educator? The theoretical frame for this study was grounded in the work of researchers such as Dewey (1904), Vygotsky (1978, 1981), Lave & Wenger (1991), Rogoff (1990), and Short and Burke (1991) who suggested a social constructive perspective on knowledge. These researchers argued that knowledge is constructed through interactions among individuals. The interaction involves a process that is both dynamic and fluid. Through this process knowledge is constructed and reconstructed. Subsequently, the participants take more control over their thinking and their actions within the practice. Materials that were gathered and interpreted for this study were accumulated over the period of a school year from September 1993 through June 1994. They included fieldnotes from sessions with the teachers, transcriptions of audio recordings of interviews with the teachers, transcriptions of audio recordings of planning meetings with the instructional supervisors, analytical notes on the research process, anda research journal. Analysis of materials was a continuous process that began with the writing of analytical notes during the transcription process. I identified major themes from the collected materials and selected the theme of ambiguity as an important theme for understanding the nature of the environments studied. I wrote descriptions of both the learning environment created for the teachers and the planning sessions conducted by the team of supervisors. I described the role ambiguity played in the project and how the instructional supervisors and the teachers accommodated ambiguity. As a result of my research I developed several meaningful insights; through working with the planning team members I developed an appreciation for the complexity of organizing a transactional process in order to accommodate teachers' inquiry. Within the sessions with the teachers I recognized how the providing of opportunities for conversation enhanced interactions. I came to appreciate the complex nature of ambiguity as I understood how ambiguity is a part of the learning process. However, it is important to develop and then implement processes to accommodate ambiguity before that ambiguity reaches a critical point. If one does so then the participants in the learning environment are not overwhelmed. If the ambiguity is accommodated within the environment then the participants are encouraged to seek out multiple perspectives.
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    Technology Adoption and Integration: A Multiple Case Study of Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation Theory in Kuwait
    Abdelmagid, Randa Fouad Abdelhafiz (Virginia Tech, 2011-03-04)
    The adoption and integration of technology is limited in K-12 contexts worldwide, including in the Middle East. Based on the work of Everett Rogers (1995) and his disciplines, studies in the United States indicate that teachers' perceptions towards the attributes of technology (relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability) reflect the extent by which technology is used. Furthermore, teachers' characteristics and the support environment provided can potentially encourage or inhibit the adoption of technologies. This multiple case study was designed to show the applicability of Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory in Kuwait public school systems. The study was conducted with eight female Kuwaiti teachers in two primary public schools. A qualitative methodology was employed using interviews, participant observations, and physical artifacts for collecting data. The study reveals that Rogers' three attributes relative advantage, compatibility and observability (result demonstrability) contributed to use, while complexity and observability (visibility) limited use. Prior experience and practice, motivational support provided by the school administration and department head, and teachers' voluntary decisions on the type of technologies to use encouraged use. Anxiety from lack of functionality of devices and extra time and effort in preparing materials, centralized decision-making on technology purchases, budget constraint, and limited access to technology and classrooms in which devices are located were factors that limited teachers' use. The study showed that Kuwaiti teachers' acceptance of technology varied along the continuum, where some teachers were early adopters and some were laggards. Support initiatives are needed from the Ministry of Education and school administration, in order to facilitate technology adoption and use in Kuwaiti schools.
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    Why Ask the Question?: A Study of Teacher Questioning during Discussion of Text
    Ball, Brenda Evans (Virginia Tech, 2014-05-08)
    This study examined the effects of professional development in the form of a teacher study group and a particular discussion approach, Collaborative Reasoning (CR) (Anderson, et al., 2001) upon teachers' questioning and students' levels of thinking during discussion of text. The study explored how five middle school teachers achieved a deeper understanding of teachers' authentic questioning and the facilitation of CR discussion. The Formative and Design Experiment (FandDE) framework was used in this investigation. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Teachers coded transcripts of one baseline and four CR discussions for each teacher. Transcripts were coded for teachers' CR instructional moves, CR features incorporated by the students in discussion, and the levels of thinking supporting students' responses. Data indicated that the nature of discussions progressed from recitation to more dialogical discussion patterns. Teachers implemented more authentic questioning, and students were observed to use more higher-order thinking in the responses. Students discourse showed a higher incidence of exploratory talk and uptake. Students used multiple kinds of evidence from personal experience, texts, and knowledge from previous reading/lecture/discussion to support their arguments. The data suggest that the implementation of a specific discussion model may enhance teachers' questioning and encourage students to engage in higher-order thinking and reasoning when discussing text.