Post on 29-Jan-2016
Evaluating the DoD Presidential Technology Initiative:
Innovative Methods to Measure Student Outcomes
Davina C. D. Klein & Christina GlaubkeCRESST/UCLA
Louise YarnallCenter for Technology in Learning, SRI International
Harold F. O’Neil, Jr.CRESST/USC
Paper presented as part of symposium “Quantitative and Qualitative Strategies for Evaluating Technology Use in Classrooms”
AERA New Orleans—April 2000
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PTI Program Background
In 1995 President Clinton set goals: computer access for students and teachers
connectivity to the Internet for classrooms
courseware to support quality curriculum
competent teachers trained in technology
DoDEA’s response was the Presidential Technology Initiative
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PTI Participants
PTI program implemented at 11 selected DoDEA school testbed sites across the world
Selected testbed sites required: Minimum hardware and connectivity configurations
Technology implementation plans
School-wide support (e.g., staff)
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PTI Project Goals
“To develop and implement effective strategies for curriculum and technology integration”
Local site objectives included: Evaluation and alignment of courseware
Development of technology integration plans
Integration of software and PTI courseware tools into the DoDEA curriculum
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Evaluation Steps
Step 1: Identify program goals Specific expectations
Our focus was on PTI students General achievement measures Student attitudinal measures Content-specific performance measures Technology-specific performance measures
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Examining Technology Outcomes
Classroom OutcomesIntegration of technology and curriculum
New instructional practices
System OutcomesComputers, connectivity, courseware
Professional developmentSupport for innovative teaching
Teacher OutcomesSkilled teachers
Student OutcomesIncreased performance
Better attitudes
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Evaluation Steps (cont.)
Step 2: Describe how program plans to achieve goals Theory of Action for PTI program
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Achieving Technology Goals
Systemoutcomes
Systemoutcomes
Student outcomes
Student outcomes
Teacheroutcomes
Teacheroutcomes
Classroom outcomes
Classroom outcomes
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Evaluation Steps (cont.)
Step 3: Measure intended outcomes Students’ attitudes toward technology
Students’ content-specific knowledge (focus on courseware tools)
Students’ Web fluency
Student-perceived classroom practices
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Measurement Instrumentation
Common measures General impact of PTI on all students
Technology Questionnaire On-line Web Expertise Assessment (WEA) Student interviews
Courseware-specific measures Detailed, courseware-by-courseware examination
of tool impact on students Content-specific performance-based assessment PTI courseware usability studies
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Technology Questionnaire
Purpose: Measure students’ attitudes toward technology and perceptions of classroom practices 36-item paper-and-pencil survey
Students rated statements on scale of 1 (“I really don’t agree”) to 5 (“I really agree”)
“I feel comfortable using computers” “In class we use computers to solve problems or answer
questions”
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Web Expertise Assessment
Purpose: Examine effects of Web usage in the classroom Student training, then 20-minute session
Presented students with authentic search tasks
Asked students to navigate and search for relevant information in a closed Web-based environment, then bookmark relevant findings
All measures logged and coded
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WEA Search Task
Imagine you are learning about the U.S. presidents in your history class. Your teacher has asked you to write a report about what presidents said during their speeches when first elected to office. She has asked you to find out which presidents spoke of the importance of an educational system available to all without charge.
Use WEA to find this information for your report.
Find as many useful pages as you can.
Bookmark pages by clicking on the Add Bookmark button near the top of your screen.
You may bookmark as many useful pages as you think necessary.
*
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WWW Background Questionnaire
Purpose: Evaluate students’ background knowledge regarding the World Wide Web 7-item paper-and-pencil survey
Students rated statements on scale of 1 (“I really don’t agree”) to 5 (“I really agree”)
“The information on the World Wide Web is not very useful”
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Student Interviews
Purpose: To obtain further information about students’ attitudes toward technology and their perceptions of classroom practices Brief 5- to 10-minute interviews
Three students interviewed per class
Qualitative data supplements quantitative findings
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Evaluation Participants
6 schools at 2 DoDEA sites 3 elementary schools
2 middle schools
1 middle/high school
21 classrooms
181 students participated in both pre- and posttest sessions
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Pre-Post Comparisons
Data aggregated to PTI program intervention level (classroom)
N = 14 classrooms 4 of 21 classrooms not included because they
completed modified questionnaire due to the young age of the students
3 additional classrooms dropped because of lack of overlap between pretest and posttest samples
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Results: Technology Questionnaire
140 students completed TQs
Two scales created Attitudes toward technology
19 items = .92
Student perceptions of classroom practices 8 items = .79
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Attitudes Toward Technology
In general, positive attitudes held (pre/post; 1-5 scale): Students agreed it is fun figuring out how things work on a
computer (4.1/3.9)
Students agreed/strongly agreed they feel comfortable using computers (4.3/4.4)
Students disagreed/strongly disagreed schoolwork on computer is waste of time (1.5/1.6)
Students agreed/strongly agreed it would be helpful to learn how to use WWW (4.4/4.4)
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Reported Classroom Practices
In general, limited computer use reported
High use (pre/post; 1-5 scale) Used presentations, essays, portfolios (4.1/3.7)
Typed reports on computer after writing (3.8/3.6)
Worked in small groups (3.6/3.4)
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Classroom Practices (cont.)
Moderate use (pre/post; 1-5 scale) Computers used for different assignments
(3.3/3.5)
Computers used to explore things (3.2/3.2)
Low use (pre/post; 1-5 scale) Computers used to practice basics (3.0/2.9)
Computers used to solve problems (3.2/3.0)
Many computer programs used (3.0/2.9)
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TQ Pre-Post Comparisons
No significant differences found from fall to spring in: Attitudes toward technology
(t(13) = -0.92, p = .37)
Reported classroom practices(t(13) = -1.3, p = .21)
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Results: WEA
142 students completed WEA
Four scales created Students’ background Web knowledge
4 items, =.77
Students’ finding ability 3 items, =.88
Students’ searching expertise 3 items, =.68
Students’ navigational strategies 2 items, =.72
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Background Web Knowledge
In general, students familiar with Web
Students were neutral/agreed that information on WWW is accurate (3.6/3.3)
Students disagreed/strongly disagreed that information on WWW is not useful (1.6/1.8)
Students disagreed that there is not a lot of detailed or in-depth information on WWW (2.0/2.1)
Students agreed/strongly agreed that WWW is helpful in finding information (4.5/4.3)
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Finding Ability
In general, students able to find info
Average bookmark peripherally relevant to task (2.2/2.0 on 0-3 scale)
Quality of bookmark response set was good (2.2/2.0 on 0-3 scale)
About one third of pages bookmarked appropriately (efficiency of .31/.32)
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Searching Expertise
In general, students had difficulty searching (consistent with literature)
Quality of keyword searching set rather poor (1.6/1.6 on 0-3 scale)
Number of good searches low (3.0/1.7)
Students redirected searches, browsing search output before selection (2.2/2.2)
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Navigational Strategies
In general, students navigated well
Students revisited over half the information pages visited, orienting themselves in the Web space (7/6)
Students completed more steps, a sign of better searching (86/113)
[Use of back missing]
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WEA Pre-Post Comparisons
No significant differences found from fall to spring in: Students’ Web knowledge (t(13) = 0.61, p = .55)
Students’ finding ability (t(13) = 0.43, p = .68)
Students’ searching expertise (t(13) = 0.54, p = .60)
Students’ navigational strategies (t(13) = 0.15, p = .88)
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Evaluation Steps (con’t.)
Step 4: Review implementation of plans If antecedents don’t occur, expected
outcomes won’t occur
With technology, pay close attention to: Hardware/software Measures of use or exposure Technology integration
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PTI Implementation
Only 9 evaluation teachers planned to use courseware Of these 9, only 5 used courseware
Courseware usage for these 5 was sparse
Teacher training/support was an issue
Student-reported classroom technology integration was weak
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Evaluation Steps (con’t.)
Step 5: Evaluate progress toward goals No progress yet...
Not surprising that we found no student effects of the PTI program, as teacher- and classroom-level effects were not evident
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Conclusions
Need to find sensitive, innovative measures to reveal best use of technology to instruct, assess, evaluate WEA and TQ are sample approaches
Our general approach involves: Defining where benefits are expected based on
particular high-technology environment Creating/finding innovative measures that will be
sensitive to changes within given area Ensuring that expectations required “below” or before
goal levels are being met
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For More Information
Visit our Web site at: http://www.cse.ucla.edu/CRESST/pages/aera00.htm
Available: Overheads of this presentation
Full paper
And much, much more...