Article Review 1
Article Review 1
Article Review 1
INTRODUCTION
Research Questions (if research questions are not specifically mentioned, what
is the theoretical background or overarching theme):
(a) What are principals perceptions of the
importance of technology?
METHODOLOGY
What is the methodology for the research or approach used to understand the
issue? Provide information regarding the following:
Participants:
A convenience sample of 310 principals from a large metropolitan area in the
southwest region of the United States responded to a cognitive interview questionnaire
that asked principals about their perceptions regarding the importance of technology
for their schools. The sample consisted of 126 males and 184 females. A range of years
of experience was present with 104 participants having 0-3 years of experience, 82
participants having 4-7 years, 55 participants having 8-11 years,
32 participants having 12-15 years, and 31 participants having greater than 15 years of
experience.
Procedures:
A questionnaire was administrated to the principles. The questionnaire was
administered by graduate students in the Educational Leadership program at a major,
urban doctoral-granting university located in the south-central region of the U.S. As
part of the principals certification course requirements, students were trained on how
to administer the instrument and required to interview a specific number of current
public-school principals. The survey instrument was designed specifically for this
purpose and included both qualitative and quantitative questions.
Data Analysis:
Analysis of the interview data began with a process of data reduction. The participants
responses were read several times to become familiar with the data. The data was then
coded into meaningful categories. Once the categories were established, another
researcher independently coded a 10% sample of responses to determine the
consistency of the coding. The inter-coder reliability results revealed a high level of
agreement (Cohens kappa = .94).
RESULTS
DISCUSSIONS
Conclusions/Implications (for your profession):
This research concludes that principles have a positive perception of technology.
Principles view technology as a tool that helps things like communicating,
teaching, data sharing, and managing the school, run efficiently. Even though
principles view technology in a positive way, they view the major functions of
technology in different ways depending on their gender and years of experience.
REFLECTIONS