Peake, Jason Boone (2004-09). Relationships between student achievement and levels of computer technology integration by Texas agriscience teachers. Doctoral Dissertation.
Thesis
The purpose of this study was to determine if agriscience teacher integration of instructional technology was related to student achievement. Knowledge of these correlations will assist teacher educators in offering more appropriate professional development opportunities for agriscience teachers. This information will also assist secondary schools in making decisions regarding technology purchases for agriscience departments. Instructional technology researchers have worked since the 1960s to gain a better understanding of the role that instructional technology plays in student achievement. Many researchers have found that instructional technology influences student learning. In the early 1980s Richard Clark published controversial findings that media has no influence on student learning. These conflicting findings led to the development of this study. A survey was developed to collect information on the level at which teachers integrate technology into their instruction. The instrument was pilot tested, and a reliability measure of .95 was found for the 42 items measuring the technology skills of teachers. Section three of the instrument had a reliability of .93 for the nine items that were used to measure teacher integration of technolo gy. Teachers' demographics, teachers' technology integration skill levels, teachers' administrative use of technology skill levels, and teachers' technology integration levels were collected from a random sample of 150 agriscience teachers in Texas. Student achievement was measured using the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test. Student data were collected on 10th grade students in classes taught by the 150 teachers selected to participate in the study. The Texas Education Agency provided all TAAS data in a single data file. The primary student variables used in the study to quantify math, reading, and writing achievement were the total number of multiple choice items correct for each of these three subject areas. A low positive correlation was found between student achievement in math and teacher instructional technology integration level (.14). Negligible positive correlations (r < .10) were found between teacher instructional technology integration level and student achievement on the writing portions and reading portions of the TAAS.
