Research Briefs

Faculty Perceptions of Technology Projects

Background Description

Administrators at Brigham Young University wanted to learn how the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) could better serve faculty and students—particularly how they could best use the funds allocated to teaching and learning with technology. They decided to examine the impact of small-scale (under 50 hours of work) vs. large-scale (over 50 hours) technology projects—projects that use computers, electronics, CDs, etc.—to improve student learning.

The Study

The study focused on 600 BYU faculty who had worked with the CTL between 2003 and 2006. Subjects were sorted by seven project types and further subdivided into three discipline-related groups. A stratified random sample was drawn, selecting three faculty members from each of the 27 subgroups for in-depth interviews.

Results

The results were measured in three categories: (1) value, satisfaction, and time savings perceived by faculty completing a project; (2) frequency with which faculty use their projects; and (3) ways faculty evaluate the impact of the projects on student learning.

Faculty perceived greater value from large-scale projects, and their overall satisfaction was about 10 percent higher than that of faculty in charge of small-scale projects.

It was found that those who worked on large-scale projects had a tendency to use their projects more frequently than those who completed small-scale projects.

Faculty who completed small-scale projects were less likely than those working on large-scale projects to conduct evaluations and were unsure of their projects’ impact on student learning.

Citation: Whitney Ransom, Charles Graham, and Jon Mott, “Faculty Perceptions of Technology Projects,” EDUCAUSE Quarterly 30, no. 4 (2007): 22–28.

Principal Leadership: Trust as the Fulcrum for School Improvement

Background Description

The objective of this qualitative study was to analyze the leadership behaviors and actions that facilitated a culture of trust in schools. It was prompted by three schools that failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the requirements of No Child Left Behind. It was observed that each of the schools had received a new principal in that year. This research examined how the three new principals did or did not establish trust in their schools.

The Study

Data were collected through interviews with focus groups, parents, and patrons from each school. Three separate interviews were also conducted with each principal. Questions were asked regarding the principals’ actions toward building trust and how effective or ineffective such actions were perceived. Responses were recorded and coded into themes and key linkages as they emerged from the data.

Conclusion

The data were then validated with a conceptual model developed by Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (2000). In that study, five facets of trust were found to be important aspects of trust relations in schools. They included honesty, reliability, competence, benevolence, and openness. In the current study, four subgroups were found to exist under each of the five facets of trust. Data gathered from interviews were analyzed and organized according to the corresponding facet and subgroup. Definite patterns were found linking specific actions to building trust in schools. It was found that those schools (two of the three) that cultivated high levels of trust did indeed raise levels of academic achievement and qualified for AYP in subsequent years.

Citations: Megan Tschannen-Moran, Wayne K. Hoy (winter, 2000). A Multidisciplinary Analysis of the Nature, Meaning, and Measurement of Trust, Review of Educational Research.