mckinnon
Using computers in education: A concerns-based
approach to professional development for teachers
David H. McKinnon
Charles Sturt University-Mitchell
Patrick C. J. Nolan
Massey University
During 1987, 1988 and 1989 a secondary schools curriculum research and
development project, called the Freyberg Integrated Studies Project was
conducted in New Zealand. The project progressively developed and field
tested new types of integrated curricula across Grades 8 to 11 as an
alternative to the traditional approach. Within these curricula out of class
activities, integrated curriculum materials and computer applications all
play a key role.
The paper reports on the computer aspect of the professional development
programme. Specific topics include: contextual information regarding
computers and staffing; early professional development endeavours; the
reasons for and the results of applying the Concerns-Based Adoption
Model; factors that inhibit and support innovation adoption, and;
implications and conclusions. Involvement in the Project presented the
teachers with a complexity of demands. The CBAM provided diagnostic
information for the structuring of professional development activities.
Interventions were designed to reduce teachers' Self Concerns so that
higher order Impact Concerns would emerge enabling teachers to develop
and implement practices which would lead to more effective educational
uses of computers. Results indicate that Self Concerns have progressively
diminished and teachers appear willing to investigate and experiment with
computer applications in education. Implications for providers of computer
inservice programmes are discussed.
School based research and development is relatively uncommon in New
Zealand secondary education. This kind of work usually falls between the
responsibilities of the universities, teachers' colleges, the government
department of education and the schools themselves. The Freyberg
114 Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 1989, 5(2)
Integrated Studies Project is one such example of school based curriculum
research and development. The Project is an innovative approach to
teaching core content of the Common Curriculum of New Zealand
secondary schools.
The unique nature of this Project lies in the way that it brings together and
applies educational principles that have been shown by past and
contemporary educational research to enhance the effectiveness of schools
(for examples see Nolan and McKinnon, 1989). The operationalisation of
these principles is being achieved in three ways through: (i) the
incorporation of out-of-class activities as the basis of in-class studies, (ii)
the development of computer applications that support integrated studies
and, (iii) the creation of curriculum activities and exercises that integrate
out-of-class activities and computers with secondary education objectives.
Each of these elements can be viewed as a curriculum entity and as an
innovation in its own right. The Project was designed so that each of the
three elements would be interdependent and interact in mutually
supportive ways.
Involvement in the Project presented the teachers with a complexity of
demands. In particular they were expected to not only implement a new
curriculum approach but develop ways of teaching additional to, and in
some cases quite different from the methods they were accustomed to
using. In particular, the teachers are being asked to:
• learn how to use computers and associated software and apply these as
an integral part of their practice;
• work collaboratively with other teachers in the design and
implementation of the major Project components, e.g., developing
integrated units of work based upon experiences and data collected
during out of class activities and amenable to treatment by computer
applications;
• broaden the conventional range of teaching approaches to include
inquiry methods, peer tutoring, mastery learning, small group and
individualised instruction and develop compatible classroom
management strategies.
The purpose of this paper is to report on the computer aspect of the
professional development programme of the project. Specific topics
covered include: contextual information regarding computers and staffing;
early professional development endeavours; the reasons for and the
results of applying the Concerns-Based Adoption Model in the
development of strategies; factors that inhibit and support innovation
adoption, and; implications and conclusions.
McKinnon and Nolan 115
Context
The Freyberg Integrated Studies Project might best be described as a
'meta-innovation,' comprising three separate innovations with a possible
forth innovation lying in the interaction of the elements each with the
other. Clearly, the demands being placed on teachers by such a 'meta-
innovation' requires that special attention be paid to the professional
development programme. In coming to use computers, teachers'
behaviour in the classroom would be required to change much more than
with the implementation other project components. This was because the
computer introduced a new dimension to teaching whereas the out of
class activities and subject integration, though new, would call upon
accumulated experience and professional knowledge. Anticipated change
was in the direction of teachers becoming primarily co-learners, organisers
and facilitators of learning, rather than the more traditional roles of
instructor and demonstrator.
Computers in the Project
At the outset Project initiators had a clear conception of how computers
should be used in the classroom as a tool for learning, as a medium which
invites practical applications, and as a vehicle for the integration of
subjects. There was therefore, a view that computers in classrooms would
be used in a manner similar to the way in which calculators are now used.
They were less clear on the specific strategies to be used in bringing
teachers to implement this conception of computer use as a routine part of
their everyday educational practice. What became apparent was that
teachers and researchers would need to negotiate configurations
satisfactory to both.
Equipment
Early in 1987, 32 IBM JX computers (an updated IBM PC Junior), 10 IBM
PC Convertibles and 10 Proprinters, donated to the Project by IBM, were
delivered to the school. The JXs were all stand alone machines, running
under DOS 2.1. Software adopted for use included the Enable 1.1
integrated package and other assorted educational applications.
Additional computers were to be provided as the number of students in
the Project increased over the three years in order to maintain a ratio of
three students per computer earlier demonstrated in a pilot project to be
the minimum ratio necessary for the development of student competency
and sustained student access. By the beginning of 1988, 15 IBM PS/2
Model 30 computers equipped with colour monitors and 20 Megabytes of
hard disk, two IBM ATs and networking hardware had also been
acquired, making a total of 57 computer systems to meet the needs of the
project.
116 Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 1989, 5(2)
Hardware Configurations
Over the life of the Project the computer configuration within the
classrooms has changed a number of times in response to teacher needs,
operational difficulties experienced with hardware and software, and a
developing conception of how they might be best used.
In 1987, JX computers were placed in two classrooms in the ratio of one
computer per three students. The remaining computers were used by the
project teachers and the research staff. The PC Convertibles were used by
the grade 11 Environmental Studies students and by teachers.
Three major difficulties with this configuration during 1987 necessitated a
revision. These were: persistent disk failure due to the need for frequent
changing of the Enable program disks; teacher problems both in managing
the large number of disks and perhaps more importantly, in adopting new
classroom management strategies necessary to cope with the novel
environment; and, lower levels of student competency than might have
been reasonably expected given the 1 to 3 ratio.
Initially, in order to reduce the number of program disks, a decision was
made to upgrade the JXs to DOS 3.2. Due to supply difficulties, a further
three months passed before the new disk operating system arrived. Even
then, disk failures continued to be common and mitigation of the other
problems was minimal.
In an attempt to resolve all of the problems simultaneously, a decision was
made to network 30 JXs to two IBM ATs in a two cluster configuration.
The networking was completed in January 1988 ready for the new school
year. Meanwhile, the 15 PS/2 systems were distributed amongst the other
three specialist Integrated Studies rooms. The PC Convertibles were
available for borrowing by teachers and students.
The network dramatically reduced the amount of downtime previously
experienced, the teachers became much happier teaching in the laboratory
environment which more nearly resembles a "conventional" classroom
and, overall student competency began to rise in response to the sustained
one on one access.
However, operation of the JX network created new problems associated
with the distribution of components of the integrated software package.
While networking provides a workable solution it has created barriers to
the effective use of the data management program as an educational tool.
Teachers find that the solution to this problem is cumbersome and difficult
to implement.
In 1989 the JX laboratory was shifted to a larger room and the PS/2s and
Convertibles located in a laboratory next door. This was in response to less
McKinnon and Nolan 117
than optimal use of the PS/2s by teachers in 1988, a large number of
students wanting regular access to the computer rooms, and emerging
school policy covering supervision, security and school-wide use of
computers.
Project Personnel: Teachers and Researchers
Personnel involved in the Project included both school staff and university
researchers.
In 1987, a senior teacher was appointed as coordinator of the Integrated
Studies programme and six teachers elected to work in the Project. The
number of teachers was increased each year as the Project has expanded.
By 1989, 12 teachers were centrally involved with the Project along with a
further eight who were associated with integrated studies classes. Two of
the original seven teachers have left the project, one to a teaching position
elsewhere and the other was counselled to withdraw.
The Project Director, who initiated the Project, was released from
university teaching duties to work in the school three quarter time in 1987
and 1988, and half time in 1989. A research officer, seconded from the
university on a 0.8 basis for two years, had responsibilities in professional
development, technical support and research assistance. A third person
was appointed for a minimum of one year from July 1987, to work full
time in the areas of: the design, development and implementation of the
research programme; the inservice training of teachers, and; curriculum
development. With the departure of the latter two staff from the Project in
November and July 1988, respectively, two full time replacement staff
were appointed to continue the research and development work, refine
research instruments, and commence the analysis of research data.
Early Professional Development Endeavours
From the outset there was a recognition by the research and development
team that professional development was a crucial factor for successful
implementation of each of the key components of the Project.
In the original Project Proposal a request was made for substantial teacher
release time to conduct inservice activities (108 teacher release days in
1987, 144 in 1988 and 180 in 1989). In reality very little time has been
allocated by the Department of Education - 30 days for seven teachers in
1987, 20 days for 10 teachers in 1988, and 20 days for 20 teachers in 1989.
The form of early professional development endeavours was therefore
dictated by the amount of non-contact time available to the teachers. With
the exception of the coordinator, who received an allocation of six pupil
free periods per week out of a total of 25, the remaining teachers had to
118 Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 1989, 5(2)
teach between 20 and 23 periods each. Given this situation, professional
development took the form of research staff working cooperatively with
teachers in the classroom and during out of school hours. The work
involved designing instructional programs, team teaching and giving
demonstration lessons providing technical support and individualised
instruction on request, developing out of class activities and
accompanying teachers on the trips away.
Design and development of field trips and integrated sequences of work
proved to be the least problematic in the early stages since they drew on
curriculum areas in which teachers were confident and experienced. With
computers, the reverse was the case. The coordinator of the program was
the only teacher who had any prior experience in using computers in the
classroom.
Professional development with computers during 1987 and 1988 occurred
in the context of a changing computer environment and the consequent
need for teachers to learn new procedures in response to changing
circumstances. In summary, there were four major changes: 1) the upgrade
from DOS 2.1 to DOS 3.2 with associated delays; 2) the change from stand
alone JX systems to a networked JX laboratory; 3) the introduction of the
PS/2 hard drives; and, 4) the relocation of computers from classrooms to
laboratories.
Despite the obstacles, many gains were made. All integrated studies
classes were using word processing in most aspects of their work. All
classes had applied the database and the spreadsheet to a variety of
studies generated as result of issues and topics investigated in their
integrated programs. Many students were using such applications such as
DRAFIX, a computer aided design program, Dr HALO, a graphics
program, BYLINE, a desk top publishing program, and others as a result
of their introduction in integrated studies. There was a high level of
enthusiasm amongst the students for working with computers.
In contrast, the teachers were diverse in their appreciation of how the
computer might be used, diverse in their levels of competency and
confidence m using the various applications and diverse in their attitudes
and valuations of the computer itself as an educational tool. It was
recognised that if a higher minimum level of teacher competence and
confidence was to be achieved then a different approach to professional
development was required. The Concerns Based Adoption Model
developed by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin (Hall,
George and Rutherford, 1973) was selected for two reasons. First, it
provided a conceptual framework for examining the process of innovation
adoption, and second, it provided an empirically validated process for the
collection of research data and for the design and delivery of professional
development programmes.
McKinnon and Nolan 119
The Concerns-based adoption model (CBAM)
Development of the CBAM (Hall, Wallace & Dosset, 1973) was based on
extensive experience with educational innovation in school and college
settings in the USA. The model has many important implications for the
introduction and management of innovation and change in educational
settings. The following assumptions establish the model's perspective on
innovation adoption.
1. In educational institutions change is a process, not a singular event.
2. The individual must be regarded as the most important target of any
interventions which are designed to facilitate change in the classroom.
3. Change is a highly personal and potentially threatening experience.
4. The change process is not a continuous one.
5. Staff development can be best facilitated by the use of a client centred
diagnostic/prescriptive approach.
6. Staff developers need to work in an adaptive yet systematic way,
staying in touch with the progress of individuals within the
organisation. (Hall & Loucks, 1978, pp 3-5)
The Model is comprised of the basic concepts of Stages of Concern, Levels
of Use and Innovation Configuration. The Stages of Concern about an
innovation is the developmental hierarchy of concerns in seven stages
which individuals typically experience over time as they come to use the
elements of the innovation. The seven stages range from Awareness about
the innovation and the self concerns of Informational and Personal,
through the task concern of Management, to the impact concerns of
Consequence, Collaboration and, Refocussing. The Levels of Use of the
innovation is an eight level developmental hierarchy of behaviours which
describes the type of behaviours individuals exhibit over time in relation
to the innovation. The eight levels range from non-use, orientation
towards and preparation to use the innovation, through mechanical and
routine uses, to refinement, integration and renewal where the user
evaluates the quality of use of the innovation and examines new
developments in the field with a view to setting new goals. The Innovation
Configuration is the operational pattern of the innovation that results from
user selection and use of different innovation components. It provides a
description of the various adaptations the innovation has made within the
user system.
The CBAM Instruments
Each of the major dimensions of the CBAM, Concerns, Use and Innovation
Configuration has an associated instrument which will provide diagnostic
information to the staff developer.
120 Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 1989, 5(2)
Teachers' concerns may be elicited in a variety of ways: through
conversation; through a written responses to open questions, and; through
responses to the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (Hall, George &
Rutherford, 1979). The questionnaire produces the most rigorous data of
the three. Responses to the questions allow a "Concern's Profile" to be
constructed which displays the relative intensity of each of the seven
concerns. Interpretation of the profiles is fully described in Hall et al.,
1979.
The level at which the teacher is using the innovation is elicited using a
focussed interview technique. Teacher responses to questions related to
their knowledge about the innovation, planning, sharing, assessing,
performing and acquiring information allow an assessment of the teacher's
Level of Use of the innovation. The Levels of Use dimension and interview
technique and interpretation are described in Loucks, Newlove and Hall,
1975.
The pattern of implementation of the innovation is derived from an
Innovation Configuration Checklist. The checklist is constructed in a five
step process where the components of the innovation are identified, put
together to form an innovation description, and variations for each
component are identified from ideal to unacceptable. The checklist thus
constructed is then piloted and reviewed before being administered (Heck
et al 1981).
All of the above instruments are being used to collect data related to the
project.
Figure 1: Group Concerns February 1988 and February 1989.
McKinnon and Nolan 121
CBAM Results, Interpretations and Interventions
The Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) was first administered to
project teachers in February 1988. Concerns profiles were generated for
each of the teachers. The average concerns profile shown in Figure 1
below, indicates that teachers at this time had relatively high personal
concerns. Moreover, the Stage 2 -Personal Concerns were higher than the
Stage 1 - Information seeking concerns. In many respects, this is an
undesirable situation because it signifies that the teachers were more
concerned with feelings about their personal adequacy than they were
with finding out more about the use of computers in integrated studies.
Early in February 1989 a second SoCQ was administered. The data
revealed that there had been little or no change in the concerns profiles of
the teachers. Both the February 1988 and 1989 profiles are shown in Figure
1 above.
Although an averaged profile of this nature tells relatively little about
individual concerns, it indicates the relatively high Personal Concerns
being expressed by the group as a whole. It also serves to illustrate that the
Self Concerns have precluded the development of genuine Impact Level
concerns. This is indicated by the tailing up at stages 5 and 6 and by the
low level of concern being expressed at the Consequence (Stage 4) level. In
this case, the users had concerns about what others were doing and, more
importantly, ideas about how to do things better. These ideas, when
evident in the new user, are usually detrimental to innovation adoption.
This is because such ideas commonly involve opposition to the innovation.
This outcome is not altogether surprising given the difficulties that had
been encountered with disk failures, the introduction of new computers
and a network at the start of 1988 and, the paucity of inservice time.
An analysis of changes to the hardware configuration combined with data
from the February 1989 SoC profiles suggested a number of specific
interventions to reduce teachers' Personal Concerns. These were: making
sure that the teachers were absolutely successful with any new tasks in
which they engaged; making sure that the technology actually worked;
designing simple instructional sequences on how to use the computer to
perform a particular task using annotated screen dumps, e.g., graphing;
and, paying more attention to the teachers' concerns than to the
technology.
Early in 1989, professional development began with the implementation of
a consultative systematic approach. The senior project researcher
developed a combination of stand alone and integrated packages in
consultation with teachers. There were ten packages in all involving
122 Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 1989, 5(2)
aspects of Physics, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Biology,
Mathematics, Geography, English and Genetics and the application of data
base, spreadsheet, graphing and word processing programs. The teachers
made time to familiarise themselves with the packages and the various
computer applications. A researcher was present in the classroom when
the teacher took the class, "just in case". Teacher participation in the design
process varied from intense involvement to simply trying out the
computer component and suggesting changes to the sequence. An
important outcome was that teachers' expressed a commitment to working
with computers and commented on the potential for their respective
subject areas.
A further SoCQ was administered close to the end of Term 1. The resultant
profiles revealed that some change in the type and level of the teachers'
concerns had occurred. Although not significant in the statistical sense,
these changes provided some evidence that the intervention strategies
were beginning to work. Figure 2 below displays comparative data on the
pattern of average teacher concerns encompassing the three surveys.
Figure 2: Group concerns for May 1989 contrasted
with previous group concerns.
Figure 2 reveals a number of differences between the May 1989 profile and
the previous two. The first difference is that there is a difference! Secondly
and more importantly, Personal Concerns have fallen and Information
seeking concerns (Stage 1) are now higher. A reduction in the former has
removed a barrier preventing teachers from seeking further information
McKinnon and Nolan 123
about using computers in the classroom. The small increase in
Management Concerns (Stage 3) suggests that the teachers are beginning
to think about the need for more time to deal with computer related
developments.
The reduction in the Stage 6 - Refocussing concerns is also a positive
development. This indicated that teachers' potentially negative ideas about
how to do things better had been replaced with a desire to investigate
computer education possibilities.
Thus far, average profiles have been used to provide summary data to
illustrate group changes. Individual profiles show more marked changes
than averaged profiles. The following profile (Figure 3) illustrates the
change in concerns of a teaching head of department. The February 1989
survey revealed high Personal Concerns combined with potentially
negative ideas about using computers (high Stage 6). By May 1989
Personal Concerns had fallen and been replaced by higher Information
and Management Concerns. The peak at the Collaboration level indicates a
concern for finding out what other teachers are doing with computers. The
latter two peaks are not surprising given the role of this teacher.
Figure 3: An individual teacher's profile showing change.
A detailed analysis of the individual profiles revealed that the majority of
teachers were expressing higher concerns at the Stage 1 and 3 levels. The
interventions suggested from these data were: provision of suitable short
124 Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 1989, 5(2)
courses so that teachers' questions might be answered; release from face to
face teaching so that teachers might more profitably work on aspects of the
Project involving computers, and; strategies for time management be
addressed.
Levels of Use data collected late in Term 1 of 1989, revealed the depth and
extent to which computers were being used by teachers centrally involved
in the project. These data are summarised in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Levels of Use of computers, May 1989 (N=12)
Level of Use Number of Teachers
0 Non use
I Orientation
II Preparation
III Mechanical Use
0
1
2
4
IVA Routine Use
IVB Refinement
V Integration
VI Renewal
3
1
1
0
These data indicate that the majority of teachers (7) were using computers
at Levels which would be unable to be sustained in the event of no further
professional development (McKinnon & Sinclair, 1988), i.e., the teachers
who were at Level III, or lower, would not develop a Routine level of
using computers in their classrooms. It has been further suggested that
unless 75% of individuals involved in adopting an innovation are
operating at Level IVA or higher, then the innovation will not be able to be
sustained if professional development support is removed.
The primary aim of the professional development programme for the
second term therefore, was to bring a larger proportion of the teachers to
at least the Routine Level of Use which would more likely ensure the
continued and developing use of computers. At the same time, any
interventions would have to be designed to meet the individual concerns
of the teachers. For example, by using the teacher release days (TRDs),
teachers' Stage 3 Concerns would be accommodated and, simultaneously,
time could be devoted to meeting some other expressed need such as
information provision, or how to improve student outcomes using
computers in, say, Mathematics.
Short professional development courses of two to three hours duration
were conducted, using six of the 20 TRDs allocated by the Department of
Education, for the teachers of Integrated Studies, Mathematics, and
Science. Subject teachers were grouped using both Concerns data and
expressed interest in a particular topic. For example, in Integrated Studies
McKinnon and Nolan 125
the common topic was the construction and use of a database to analyse
the change in a community from 1870 to the present day. The level at
which this topic was treated varied from Stage 1 - how to go about
building the database, and how the database could be used in class, to
Stages 4 and 5 -sharing information on how to structure activities so that
students would understand that a variety of factors were important in the
development of communities. Various topics were covered in
Mathematics. These ranged from how to use a graphing program (Stage 1)
through to two teachers preparing a third form programme for 1990 using
an integrated approach (Stages 4 and 5). In Science, minicourses were
primarily aimed at the provision of information on a number of
approaches using integrated software, interface equipment, and
simulation packages.
A third SoCQ was administered in the final week of Term 2. Teachers who
had participated in the professional development courses were surveyed.
Data from teachers whose profiles had contributed to the May 1989
averaged profile were used to construct the averaged profile for August
1989. Both profiles are shown below in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Group concerns for May and August
It was encouraging to note that there was no deterioration in the August
profile. Indeed, there were some encouraging trends. The Stage 6
Concerns continued to decrease in relation to the Stage 5 Concerns
indicating that the overall negative attitudes towards the use of computers
126 Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 1989, 5(2)
in education were diminishing. These concerns were now less intense than
the Stage 5 Collaboration Concerns. A second important trend is apparent
from the fact that the Stage 2 Personal Concerns continued to be less
intense than the Stage 1 Information Concerns. An analysis of the
individual profiles revealed that no teachers had their most intense
concerns at Stage 2. The third trend was the continuing increase in the
Stage 3 Management Concerns. These were now the most intense concerns
for 7 of the 12 teachers. To date, their have been no inservice minicourses
directed at time management. With the majority of teachers expressing
concern at the Stage 3 level such a course needs to be organised and run in
the near future.
Levels of Use data collected late in Term 2 revealed the extent to which the
teachers' patterns of use had changed. These data are summarised in Table
2 below.
Table 2: Levels of Use of computers, August 1989 (N=12)
Level of Use Number of Teachers
0 Non use
I Orientation
II Preparation
III Mechanical Use
0
0
2
3
IVA Routine Use
IVB Refinement
V Integration
VI Renewal
5
1
1
0
Analysis of these data indicated that three teachers had changed their
pattern of use. One had moved from Orientation to Preparation while two
had moved from Preparation to Routine Use. The teacher whose Level of
Use had moved from Orientation to Preparation also showed a dramatic
change in the Stages of Concern profile. The Personal Concerns expressed
by this teacher dropped from being the most intense to the second least
intense and this was accompanied by a rise in the Management Concern
indicating that a decision had been made about getting involved but that
this was accompanied by a concurrent concern about the amount of time
that it would take to become familiar with using the computer in the
classroom. The majority of teachers (7) were operating at a Level of Use
which could be regarded as self sustaining. There were however,
insufficient numbers of teachers operating at this level to allow the
maintenance and development of the innovation within the school. A
continuing goal of the program was to bring at least 75% of teachers to at
least the Routine Level of Use.
McKinnon and Nolan 127
During the third term, a number of TRDs were used to release teachers for
short periods of time to further explore computer applications in
Integrated Studies, and to allow planning time for the 1990 academic year.
No minicourses were run on time management techniques for teachers.
This was primarily due to the gradual withdrawal of the research team in
order to allow an increasing sense of ownership to develop. The computer
systems were formally handed over to the school by Massey University at
a formal ceremony early in November 1989. The final teacher
questionnaires were administered shortly thereafter covering Concerns,
the Innovation Configuration, Organisational Climate and interviews
conducted to ascertain Levels of Use. The Concerns and Levels of Use data
are summarised below.
Figure 5: Group concerns for May, August and November 1989.
Figure 5 shows the Integrated Studies teachers' averaged concerns profile
for May, August and November. It is noticeable that in the November
profile the expressed level of concern at all stages has reduced. Whether
this is related to the professional development programme or the
proximity of the end of the year is problematic.
It was encouraging to note however, that the intensity of the Stage 2
Personal Concern had diminished markedly in relation to the Stage 1
Information Concern. This reduction is probably more indicative of the
effects that the professional development programme has had on the
teachers rather than the overall reduction in expressed levels of concern.
128 Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 1989, 5(2)
A second observation is that the Stage 3 Management Concerns continue
to be relatively high emphasising the need for some form of time
management workshop for the teachers. This will, in all probability,
continue to be a major concern for the teachers since they are expected to
teach rather than spend time in professional development activities.
Levels of Use data collected late in Term 3 revealed the extent to which the
teachers' pasterns of use had changed. These data are summarised in Table
3 below.
Table 3: Levels of Use of computers, November 1989 (N=12).
Level of Use Number of Teachers
0 Non use
I Orientation
II Preparation
III Mechanical Use
0
0
1
1
IVA Routine Use
IVB Refinement
V Integration
VI Renewal
7
2
1
0
Analysis of these data indicated that five teachers had changed their
pattern of use. One had moved from Preparation to Mechanical Use, Three
had moved from Mechanical to Routine Use, and one had moved from
Routine to Refinement. The teacher, who had indicated at the end of the
second term that they were going to take a computer home during the
vacation, had still not actually begun using a computer either for personal
purposes or in the classroom when these data were collected. This may
indicate that additional factors have to be taken into account when
professional development programmes are structured for school staff. It is
probable that this teacher experiences anxiety, a different construct to that
of a concern, when confronted with the technology.
An Innovation Configuration Description for the whole project has been
constructed from the original Project Proposal, documents related to the
initial developments and, discussions with the Director of the Project. An
Innovation Configuration Checklist, comprising 47 items, has been
constructed and is to be administered in the near future. Information
about the patterns of adoption will be available to plan overall strategy for
the professional development programme, and results reported at a later
date.
McKinnon and Nolan 129
Discussion
Professional development is a key factor in the process of successful
innovation adoption. Within the Concerns-Based Adoption Model this
process is dialectical in character involving constituent processes of
feeling, action and choice. Initially individuals feel a sense of concern
related to a specific aspect. Once identified the concern must be addressed
in terms of specific actions aimed at resolution of the concern. Resolution
in its turn involves conscious choices about further involvement which in
its turn gives rise to new and different concerns.
Experiences in the project exemplified the dialectic in action. In some
instances teacher adoption of computers was relatively unproblematic. In
these cases, the teachers came into the project with a commitment to
master the computer and to apply it in the classroom. For example, one
teacher took a computer home during the long Christmas vacation and
returned in the new school year fired with enthusiasm to apply his new
found skills. In contrast, other teachers showed little enthusiasm for the
project and were reluctant to spend time in learning how to use
computers. With these teachers, there was a mismatch between their
concerns and those of the initiators and consequently professional
development activities failed to meet their needs. Eager to make progress
but lacking insight into the dialectical nature of the problem, the initiators
constructed early professional development activities to meet their own
concerns rather than those of the teachers.
A further example illustrates both the initial mismatch and the dialectic in
action as the dissonance was resolved. At the inception small numbers of
computers were placed in the integrated studies classrooms. Researchers
were concerned, however, that students were not developing levels of
competency and skill commensurate with their ability and the enthusiasm
they displayed for working with computers. Moreover, progress in this
environment was unlikely to occur unless associated problems of disk
failure, student access and teacher management were also addressed and
resolved. The researchers deemed it necessary to move the computers into
a laboratory. In the laboratory, teachers were secure in the knowledge that
they could resort to tried and true whole class instruction and discipline
methods. The physical set up of computers in the laboratory permitted the
teacher, standing at the front of the class, to maintain surveillance over the
whole class.
While this environment appears to encourage progress on a common
front, students inevitably progress at different rates. As the teacher
responds to an individual's needs others must either wait or seek help
elsewhere. Typically, peer tutoring begins to occur and the teacher has
little choice but to accept this as a workable basis for conduct of the class.
130 Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 1989, 5(2)
This pattern becomes established and management methods are adapted.
In response teachers cannot but change or adapt their methods and
strategies to meet the demands of the new situation.
Just as the implementation of the Project was daunting for the teachers, the
researchers were also faced with the equally daunting task of learning new
roles working with and along side teachers in the process of innovation
adoption. Moreover, being the initiators of the Project, they had to learn to
downplay their concerns for the Project in order to develop and maintain
teacher commitment to an enthusiasm for the Project goals and
approaches.
Decisions were made in 1989 to offer the Integrated Studies course to all
students entering the high school in 1990. Changes are being made to the
Innovation Configuration for the sake of administrative expediency. In
1990, for example, Integrated Studies will not be taught by just one
teacher. The barriers between subjects in the secondary curriculum are
being re-erected. The implications related to bringing all grade 8 teachers
into the programme are significant given that the school will be
attempting further major change equipped with reduced resources in this
time of major change to the structure of education in New Zealand.
The CBAM, however, provides a useful framework within which to
analyse the ongoing dialectic of change. The CBAM instruments provide
important diagnostic information for staff developers. This permits the
selection of appropriate intervention strategies and tactics to facilitate
innovation adoption and use while minimising the trauma of change.
References
Hall, G. E., Archie, G. A. & Rutherford, W. L. (1979). Measuring Stages of
Concern About Innovation: A Manual for the use of the SoC Questionnaire.
The University of Texas, Austin, Texas.
Hall, G. E., Wallace, R. C. & Dosset, W. A. (1973). A Developmental
Conceptualization of the Adoption Process with Educational Institutions. The
University of Texas, Austin, Texas.
Hall, G. E. & Loucks S. F. (1978). Teacher Concerns as a Basis for
Facilitating and Personalizing Staff Development. Teachers College
Record, 80, 1.
Heck, S., Stiegelbauer, S. M., Hall, G. E. & Loucks, S. F. (1981). Measuring
lnnovation Configurations: Procedures and Applications. The University of
Texas, Austin, Texas.
Loucks, S. F., Newlove, B. W. and Hall, G. E. (1975). Measuring Levels of Use
of the Innovation: A Manual for Trainers, Interviewers and Raters. The
University of Texas, Austin, Texas.
McKinnon and Nolan 131
McKinnon, D. H. & Sinclair K. (1988). Teachers Teaching Teachers: A
Concerns Based Approach to Computer Inservice Education. Australian
Educational Research, June.
Nolan C. J. P. and McKinnon D. H. (1989). The Freyberg Integrated Studies
Project: Rationale, Research and Results. Paper presentation for the
NZARE conference, Wellington, New Zealand. A copy of this paper
may be obtained by writing to D. H. McKinnon at: School of Teacher
Education, Charles Sturt University - Mitchell, BATHURST 2795,
Australia.
Authors: David McKinnon can be contacted at Charles Sturt University-
Mitchell, Panorama Avenue, Bathurst NSW.
Please cite as: McKinnon, D. H. and Nolan, P. C. J. (1989). Using computers
in education: A concerns-based approach to professional development for
teachers. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 5(2), 113-131.
http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet5/mckinnon.html