Instructional practices of teachers enrolled in educational technology and general education programs

Self-presentation bias in surveys of teachers’ educational technology practices

“…Adams, Soumerai, Lomas, and RossDegnan (1999) found that medical professionals often overestimated their level of adherence to the guidelines for clinical practice and cited socialdesirability bias as a possible explanation of their results. Within the field of educational technology, Bober et al (1998) cited self-presentation bias as a possible cause for their findings that teachers in their study reported significantly greater classroom use of desirable instructional design practices than did the students of these teachers.…”

“…Knowledge of teachers' design beliefs and technology practices is important for informing educational technologists about the potential use of instructional design and technology elements in classroom instruction and establishes a baseline for understanding how to communicate with teachers about instructional and technology practices that they value (Earle, 1996;Reiser, 1994). Self-reported survey data from teachers have led to suggestions for improving teachers' use of instructional design practices (Bober et al, 1998;Earle, 1996), designing teacher education programs Whetstone & Carr-Chellman, 2001), designing technology training for teachers (Niederhauser & Stoddart, 2001;Russell, Bebell, O'Dwyer, & O'Connor, 2003;Yildirim, 2000), and increasing the use of computers by preservice teachers (Whetstone & Carr-Chellman, 2001).…”

“…The government (OTA, 1995;United States National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2000) and researchers (Bober et al, 1998;Niederhauser & Stoddart, 2001;Whetstone & Carr-Chellman, 2001;Yildirim, 2000) have relied on such reports to inform and direct the training of teachers in educational technology practices. Accurate and valid information can better help educational technologists and teacher educators positively influence the design and technology related practices of classroom teachers.…”

“…Educational technology practices were considered to be related to both instructional design and computer use in the classroom, a dual emphasis reflected in recent educational technology literature (Bober, 2002;Bober et al, 1998;ISTE, 2004;Reiser & Dick, 1996). For the purposes of this study, educational technology practices were grouped into six topic areas: Instructional Design, Curriculum Alignment, Assessment, Learner-Centered Instruction, Attitudes about Computers, and Use of Computers with Students.…”

“…Mullens and Kasprzyk (1999) reported that the frequent use of surveys is based on their cost-effectiveness and ease of administration. Recent examples of survey use to collect information regarding teacher practices with instructional design and technology include Bober, Sullivan, Lowther, & Harrison (1998), Niederhauser and Stoddart (2001), Whetstone and Carr-Chellman (2001), and Yildirim (2000).…”