Relationship of Teacher Epistemic Beliefs, Perceived Barriers to Technology Use, and Integration of Educational Technology

Author

Rodney J. Greer, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleFollow

Date of Award

12-1-2014

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Educational Psychology

First Advisor

White, Lyle

Abstract

Teacher beliefs about the nature of the teaching and learning process help teachers frame or define the teaching task at hand, so in order to understand teaching and teacher decision-making from a teacher's perspective we need to understand the beliefs used to frame how they teach. This is true for teaching methods that integrate educational technology into the learning process. The specific purposes of this study were two-fold. The first purpose was to explore the relationship between teacher epistemic beliefs and how those beliefs affect teachers' implementation of educational technology. A second purpose was to explore the relationship between teacher epistemic beliefs and teacher perceived obstacles in their implementation of educational technology. The sample included 1,248 in-service teachers from all content areas in grades K through 12. The sample population was drawn from 31 school districts throughout Alabama that are representative of the school districts across the state. Data was collected on teacher epistemic beliefs, perceived barriers to the integration of educational technology in the classroom and implementation of educational technology in instruction. Structural equation modeling was used to determine whether epistemic beliefs have a direct effect on teachers' implementation of educational technology.