Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/733
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Item Rural school teachers' attitudes toward the use of technology in classroom assessments(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2024) Boateng, Samuel Kwaku Basoah; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Gilbert KalondeThis study explored the attitudes of rural schoolteachers toward integrating technology into classroom assessments. Despite significant investments in educational technology infrastructure, the utilization of instructional devices for assessments in rural schools remains limited. The study employed a sequential explanatory mixed methods to address five key research questions, investigating rural school teachers' attitudes towards technology-based assessments, frequencies of technology use by rural, strategies employed by rural school teachers, challenges faced by rural school teachers in tech-based assessments, and the alignment of quantitative and qualitative data. The study relied on a questionnaire and focus group interviews and opened questions for data collection from 80 teachers randomly selected from the Belgrade School District in Montana. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative thematic analysis. The study revealed a positive attitude among rural teachers toward technology integration in classroom assessments. Teachers were willing to use tools like Google Classroom and digital assessments, aligning with broader trends indicating a growing acceptance of technology in education. The study further indicated that teachers in rural schools employ technology regularly for various assessments, utilizing tools like Google Classroom, forms, checklists, and online quizzes. This aligns with the increasing reliance on technology for formative and summative assessments, allowing for real-time data collection and effective student performance tracking. Teachers reported diverse strategies for integrating technology, including digital assessments, online platforms, and technology tools. These approaches align with previous studies emphasizing technology's role in enhancing assessment practices, promoting student engagement, and supporting differentiated instruction. The study also found that rural teachers face challenges such as unreliable internet connectivity, outdated hardware, and insufficient training, highlighting the need for targeted interventions and support mechanisms. The study recommends four strategies to improve rural education: addressing infrastructure gaps, providing professional development for teachers, establishing collaborative networks, and collaborating with policymakers to ensure equitable access to technology resources. These measures aim to create dynamic learning environments, enhance teachers' capabilities, foster a supportive community, and bridge the rural-urban educational divide. The study concludes by highlighting actionable insights for improving technology integration in rural classrooms, emphasizing tailored professional development and flexible implementation strategies.Item Enhancing students' engineering identities and attitudes towards engineering and technology through place-conscious engineering activities(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2024) Moonga, Miracle; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Rebekah Hammack; Nick Lux (co-chair)Students' engineering identities and attitudes toward engineering are important because they can determine if students will pursue engineering careers. However, a dearth of research focuses on how participating in place-conscious engineering affects students' engineering identities and attitudes towards engineering and technology. This explanatory sequential mixed methods study investigated the effect of engaging elementary students in place-conscious engineering activities on their engineering identities and attitudes towards engineering and technology. Students completed two place-conscious engineering activities: (1) following a local wildfire, students designed and built air filters to prevent smoke from entering the homes of affected families residing in a nearby community, and (2) after the state issued several warnings about eminent floods due to ice-jams on a local river, students designed flood prevention strategies. Quantitative data about students' engineering identities were collected using pre and post surveys of the two subscales of the Engineering Identity Development Scale (EIDS): (1) academic subscale and (2) engineering career subscale. Quantitative data regarding students' attitudes toward engineering and technology were collected using pre and post surveys of the engineering and technology subscale of the Students' Attitudes Toward Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM). Finally, to explain the trends observed in the quantitative data, qualitative data were collected through semi-structured focus group interviews. Findings suggested that students' academic identities and attitudes towards engineering and technology improved as a result of participating in place-conscious engineering activities. The study recommends exposing elementary students to place-conscious engineering activities to improve their engineering identities and attitudes towards engineering and technology.Item K-8 preservice teachers's preparedness for technology integration in mathematics: examining perspectives, anticipated practices, and abilities(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2022) Meyerink, Monte Shane; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Fenqjen Luo; This is a manuscript style paper that includes co-authored chapters.Research on the use of technological resources--such as virtual manipulatives and mathematical games--in kindergarten through eighth-grade mathematics has highlighted numerous benefits to students' achievement in and attitudes toward mathematics. However, studies have also highlighted preservice teachers' lack of preparedness to integrate technology into their future classrooms. Thus, the purpose of this dissertation is to examine kindergarten through eighth-grade preservice teachers' preparedness to integrate technology into mathematics by analyzing their perspectives on technology integration, their anticipated technology integration practices, and their technology integration abilities. In this three-manuscript dissertation, qualitative analyses employed a social constructivist paradigm and utilized an ethnographic approach to examine preservice teachers' preparedness to integrate technology. By using the PICRAT model as a guiding theoretical framework in each study, preservice teachers' perspectives and abilities were examined in relation to how their anticipated uses of technology would impact mathematics instruction in respect to both students' learning and teachers' pedagogical practices. Findings showed that preservice teachers' tended to report a lack of knowledge in relation to technology integration and both ask questions and express concerns related to how to appropriately integrate technology into mathematics. Nevertheless, preservice teachers also reported an intent to integrate technology into their future classrooms at a relatively frequent basis. When examining preservice teachers' abilities to either evaluate an existing geometry activity or create a geometry activity that utilizes a technological resource, preservice teachers tended to evaluate or create activities that integrated technology in a way that both enabled interactive learning on behalf of the students and amplified teachers' pedagogical practices. Activities that used technological resources to either promote students' passive learning or replace teachers' practices were less frequent, and activities that used technology to either foster students' creative learning or transform teachers' practices were rare. Additionally, preservice teachers' activities tended to align with PICRAT levels that are associated with higher degrees of impact on mathematics instruction when preservice teachers evaluated activities rather than created activities. To conclude, implications for teacher education programs and areas of future research are presented and discussed.Item Instructor usage of learning management systems utilizing a technology acceptance model(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2017) Brown, Lisa Ann; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Arthur W. BangertLimited research exists on the factors that influence an instructor's choice to use a learning management system. The purpose of the current study is to explore how task technology fit constructs relate to the other constructs that comprise Davis' Technology Acceptance mode. The technology acceptance model is widely used as an indicator of actual use of a technology system. A sample of 284 instructors completed a survey consisting of demographic questions, open ended questions about their reasons for choosing to choose to utilize a learning management system, and Likert scale questions about six constructs of the research model including task technology fit, ease of use, usefulness, attitude, intent to use, and actual use. The relationships between TAM model constructs and Task Technology Fit were analyzed using a partial least squares structural equation model method with SMART- PLS. The relationship between task technology fit and actual use was mediated by ease of use, usefulness, attitude, and intent to use. To evaluate the constructs in the model, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted and the factor structure for online and face-to-face instructors were different. Two models were developed, one for face-to-face instructors, and one for online instructors to account for this difference. The research models were evaluated for face-to-face instructors and online instructors. The study found significant relationships between all the TAM constructs and Task Technology Fit for face-to-face instructors. The relationship between attitude and intent to use was not significant for online instructors. This research supports the need for more research into the differences between online and face-to-face instructor's perceptions of technology use. The differing instructional needs of face-to-face and online instructors have implications on the training and support an institution should provide to increase usage of learning management systems.Item Impact of PT3 professional development activities on teacher education faculty at Montana State University-Bozeman(Montana State University - Bozeman, 2001) Mentzer, Nathan James; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Scott E. DavisItem Using iconic modeling and technology with American Indian Reservation students(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 1996) Larson, Christine LynneItem Adult awareness of environmental degradation caused by technology : a component of Technological, Environmental and Agricultural Literacy (TEAL)(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 1997) Hester, Gregory Alan