K-8 preservice teachers's preparedness for technology integration in mathematics: examining perspectives, anticipated practices, and abilities

Abstract

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.