While simulators can be used in place of hands-on hardware, there was not a significant body of quantitative research supporting the use of simulators for college and career success at the secondary level in information technology (IT). The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental study was to determine if there was a significant difference in college and career readiness of New York state high school students in approved IT content cluster high school programs, between those who use simulations and those who use hands-on hardware. Kolb's theory of experiential learning was the theoretical foundation for this research. The research questions examined whether there was a significant difference in the written exam grades, the hands-on exam grades, and the certification pass rates of students, based on the percentage of simulation used in their coursework. A survey was used to collect data on 60 students. A one-way Welch ANOVA indicated no significant difference in written grades between groups. A Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA showed statistical significance between groups using all simulated labs and less than 50% simulated labs, as well as between all simulated labs and 50% or greater simulated labs for hands-on grades. Fisher's Exact Test indicated that the proportion of students in the less than 50% simulated labs group who earned industry-level certifications was statistically significantly higher than the 50% or greater simulated labs group or the all simulated labs group. Implications for social change are that workers with entry-level IT skills can fill jobs in the growing IT field that offers well-paying jobs with more promising futures.

Practically speaking, a well-conducted review of literature is central to a scholar’s ability to pose pertinent and timely questions within their field. As part of the culminating written assessment of a Ph.D. candidate, the dissertation literature review provides a unique vantage point to explore future scholars’ preparation. In spite of its central role within the research process, research about how future scholars are taught the doctoral competencies necessary to conduct a review of the literature for the dissertation or how the dissertation literature reviews are assessed is limited. In two separate studies, this research uses the Boote and Beile’s Literature Review Scoring Rubric as a framework to explore the textbooks used in the early stages of doctoral education and the quality of dissertation literature reviews from a field of education research. In the first study, seven of the top selling education research methods textbooks from 2010 were analyzed to determine how well they cover the 12 performance criteria on the rubric. While the results were varied, the majority of textbooks were not adequate in their coverage of the performance criteria identified by Boote and Beile. In short, the materials used to prepare doctoral students may not be equal to conveying critical components of the literature review. Efforts were then devoted to a replication study of exploring the end results of doctoral training and preparation. In the second study, the Literature Review Scoring Rubric was used to assess the quality of 30 randomly selected dissertation literature reviews from Instructional Technology. The scores of the dissertation literature reviews were also varied. While some dissertation literature reviews in this study were of high quality and scored well, the majority of them were of a lower quality.

This project was intended to demonstrate how teachers can tailor classroom instruction to save time, increase student participation, enhance learning outcome, and build student self-esteem using a multimedia approach.

Students who are raised in poverty and are not adapted to technology use have less positive learning experiences with technology usage than other students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore students' perceptions of blended learning among gifted students who are enrolled in the free and reduced lunch program in a public high school district in the southeastern United States. Davis's version of the technology acceptance model was used as the conceptual framework. The research questions explored the perceptions of these gifted students when they are taught using blended learning in terms of their attitudes, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and behavioral intentions. For this exploratory case study, interviews were conducted with 10 gifted high school students. After manual and digital coding, the emergent themes were an overall positive perception of blended learning. The participants had a positive attitude toward educational technology and also an overwhelmingly positive outlook on behavioral intentions of using education technology. The participants also felt that the perceived usefulness and the perceived ease of use of blended learning platforms were attainable for them. This research may encourage positive social change by providing a needed resource for teachers, parents, and technology coordinators who work in low socioeconomic areas because there is very little research on gifted students in poverty and their use of blended learning. The results of this study indicate that students in poverty could use blended learning for gifted programs and advanced courses that might not be available at their local school in a low-income area.

Whether the activity of creating digital art influences high school students' attitudes toward science is unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine if the creation of artistic digital chemoscans by high school students influences their attitudes toward science. In this study, ninth grade high school students' attitudes toward science were examined after participating in the creation of chemoscans in their science classroom. The theory of affective domain helped explain the process that leads to a person's behavior toward a certain phenomenon in the educational setting. The research questions concerned the use of chemoscan creation in the physical science classroom and if and whether implementation effected a change in students' attitudes toward science. Archival pre- and posttest data from the Test of Science Related Attitude was used to measure high school students' attitudes toward science in 7 categories. Archived student pre- and posttest data were treated with multiple regression for analysis. Key findings of this study showed that creation of artistic digital chemoscans (a) impacted one of the seven subscales of science attitude from the Test of Science related Attitude entitled attitude toward the normality of scientists, (b) did not have an impact on the any of the other six subscales from the TOSRA and (c) was influenced by teacher effect. This study may contribute to social change by providing improved training for science teachers who implement digital art activities, which may lead to some students enjoying science more and then possibly going into science careers.

Blended learning technology integration by teachers can be influenced by a number of factors and is not simply a matter of following the dictate of an administrator or supervisor. A lack of knowledge exists as to what extent a high school teacher’s perception of blended learning influences his or her implementation decision. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of high school teachers regarding their decision to implement blended learning pedagogy in their classroom. Social cognitive theory and the technology acceptance model were used as the conceptual framework for this study. The key research questions were used to examine the perceived ease of use and the perceived usefulness of technology and their effect on the decision to implement blended learning pedagogy. Participants were 11 teachers with access to blended learning pedagogy from 4 different school sites. Data sources were semistructured interviews. Data were analyzed using a multistage, open coding approach, identifying themes of positive and negative influencers of perceptions of blended learning pedagogy. Results indicated that teachers have a high regard for classroom technology use and recognize the potential value of blended learning with the ability to individualize instruction as the strongest positive aspect. The results also indicated that the key negative influences on perception were lack of professional development and technology resource support, i.e., Internet availability and computer access. This study creates positive social change by providing all high school education stakeholders knowledge of the influencers of teacher perceptions of blended learning to address potentially negative influences, increase the likelihood of classroom adoption, and reduce wasted resources.

Research has been conducted on the effectiveness of mobile devices in education; however, few scholars have addressed how faculty members perceive the use of mobile devices in the classroom. Mobile devices in higher education have the potential to support innovative teaching modalities. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore faculty perceptions of using the mobile device as an instructional aid in a higher educational institution in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The conceptual framework was Zhao and Frank's metaphorical use of ecology and the ecosystem. Three research questions focused on faculty members' perceptions of uses, challenges, and cultural effects of integrating mobile devices into teaching. A purposeful sampling method was used to find participants for the study. Criterion based logic, semistructured, face-to-face interviews were conducted to collect data from 8 full-time, expatriate faculty members (4 from the federal university and 4 from the private university of UAE) teaching in UAE for at least 2 years who were avid users of mobile technology for classroom instruction. Interviews were transcribed, and the data were coded to identify patterns and major themes. The results showed that faculty used mobile devices for instructional purposes, increasing engagement, improving collaboration and pedagogical practices, and promoting UAE culture. Faculty also reported challenges with mobile technology such as distraction and cheating. The results of the study can lead to a positive social change by guiding higher education faculty on how to improve the status quo and assist in planning pedagogy and facilitating mobile-enhanced learning environments.

The use of educational technologies is a key component of education reform. In its current national technology plan, Future Ready Learning: Reimagining the Role of Technology in Education, the U.S. Department of Education asserts that educational technologies can transform student learning. Successful integration of educational technology could increase student achievement and transform the setting to bring about positive social change. The purpose of this study was to provide a group of expert panelists an opportunity to identify strategies and guidelines to create an effective educational technology plan. Data were gathered using a modified Delphi technique from 7 teachers, 8 administrators, and 7 policymakers. All had expertise in educational technologies and experience with past state technology implementations, and all used a Delphi instrument to rate statements from current research. Their recommendations confirmed the importance of each stage of Rogers' 5 stages of the innovation-decision process; the panelists also reached consensus about the role of the state and its responsibility to provide support and guidance to districts and schools when implementing educational technology plans. The results showed that an individualized approach to implementation of an educational technology innovation, rather than an organizational approach, may improve the rate of diffusion and adoption of educational technology innovations in this state's K-12 public schools. This shift in how implementations are managed could produce a more efficient and effective way to integrate educational technology innovations in U.S. K-12 schools.

Technology engages and increases academic achievement for K-5 students, but teachers face attitudinal, social/cultural, and pedagogical barriers when they integrate technology for student learning. Although some teachers overcome these barriers, it remains unclear how they do so. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to analyze the attitudes and behaviors of 3 groups to determine how some teachers successfully overcame barriers to technology integration. The conceptual framework included Bandura's social cognitive theory and Ertmer's theory on second order barriers to technology integration. Participants were drawn from each of 3 schools in the northeastern United States. Data included interviews from 3 groups of 2-3 classroom teachers, 1 administrator, and 1 technology integration person. Data were analyzed using open coding to identify rich themes and patterns. The findings showed that a triadic force of administrators, technology support, and teachers worked together to positively influence technology integration. Strategies included providing appropriate professional development, building collegial support and sharing among teachers, training teachers to locate relevant technological resources, and establishing value and support for the use of technology for learning. The present study may contribute to positive social change by increasing the knowledge of barriers preventing integration of technology into K-5 classrooms, and by providing information that will allow teachers, administrators, and technology integration personnel to implement strategies that reduce and overcome these barriers.

Application of clearly defined feedback types, which have been correlated with improved student performance, has great potential for maximizing instructor use of feedback and its effect on a learner's self-regulatory learning (SRL) for optimized learning. Within SRL, where learner performance is influenced by a recursive internal process, instructional feedback plays a critical role. Yet, the characteristics of external feedback that influence SRL to improve performance are unclear in the literature. Within a theoretical framework where feedback catalyzes self-regulation, this quantitative study sought to integrate feedback type research to expand the SRL model. Data were graded assignments from 23 undergraduate level and 8 graduate level online university courses randomly selected from a pool of 86 possible courses. Applying non-experimental logistic regression and using descriptive statistics, feedback was categorized to determine the quantity of each of the 5 feedback types [task correctness (FC), task elaboration (TE), task process (FP), self-regulation (FR), and personal or self-related (FS)], as well as how they correlated with improved performance. The results indicate that the feedback types were not normally distributed, FS was statistically not present and FE was most used, and the logistical regression indicated that the presence of FC and FR was minimally associated with improved performance. Additional experimentation is needed to normalize the type distribution and test the strength of the FC and FR effect. This study initiated a clarification in understanding the external component of feedback in the SRL model, which is necessary to harness feedback to create positive change in the self-regulatory processes of learners.