Critique I
1. Citation (Use APA style):
Elzarka, S. (2012): Technology Use in Higher Education Instruction, PhD Thesis at Claremont Graduate University, USA.
2. Research questions:
• What are the variables that most impact the use of education technologies for instructional purposes in higher education?
• Sub-research questions include:
o What are the personal use of technology factors leading to professional adoption?
o What learning benefits (as believed by faculty) predict technology adoption?
o What are the self perceptions of performance quality as an instructor (efficacy) and their impacts on technology use?
o What are the impacts of institution policies regarding reward and workload reduction on technology use?
o What is the relationship between technology use and barriers such as training provider and technical problem-solving?
3. Participants and sampling method:
• 203 higher education professionals from the education college department or college.
• Using the membership list from a large professional organization a random number generator was selected 379 people, out of 22,540, who were asked to participate in the survey.
• A limit of two participants per institution.
4. Independent Variable(s):
IVs were organized into the following overarching constructs:
• Barrier to use of education tech (B)
• Institutional policies – rewards and workload management (I)
• Faculty teaching efficacy (E)
• Learning benefits of technology use (L)
• Personal technology use (P)
5. Dependent Variable:
• Rate of technology adoption for professional instructional purposes.
6. Measurement of Variables:
• Each of variables were measured though a series of questions administered as part of an online survey.
• Each of the constructs had multiple questions or variables asked as measures of the construct.
• There were a total of 65 variables were considered which measured the 5 constructs, with a focus on 20 that identified as important based on a review of the literature.
7. Procedure:
• After potential respondents were randomly selected two reminder emails were sent out and they were asked to complete an online survey and open ended questions.
8. Design:
• Diffusion of Innovation theoretical framework (DOI)
9. Statistical Analysis:
Path Analysis
• The path model began with 14 exogenous variables, five intermediate endogenous
variables, and one ultimate endogenous variable
• Measures both direct and indirect relationships between variables.
• Regression coefficients were used to determine which variables impact adoption the most.
• Subgroups based on age, gender, full/part-time status, and tenure status were formed and path diagrams were formed for each.
• Descriptive statistics were calculated for all variables
10. Results:
• The lowest scored variable was efficacy: faculty knows students common misunderstandings and misconceptions.
• The variable that consistently scored high was adopter rate for personal use.
• In the open ended questions participants reported that time to learn and experiment with technology, had access to updated and working equipment, and training that was relevant, effective, and on demand would increase their technology adoption.
11. Conclusion:
• All of the constructs had a significant relationship with adoption rate except institutional policy.
12. Limitations/Threats (Internal and External Validity):
• Sampling selection- use of faculty from only education departments, identification of teaching level, and identification of public and private institutions.
• External validity was diminished because the study was slated toward females then males.
13. Contribution to the Literature:
• The researchers find that personal use of technology has the greatest impact on the use of educational technology in the class room.
Critique II
The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate your grasp of research concepts and issues as you apply them to your evaluation and critique of a contemporary article in your field of study. It is important that you choose for your critique an article that reports on an empirical, quantitative research study. You may choose what type of study to critique (experimental or non-experimental). You should not choose to critique an article for this assignment that simply reports or reviews previous research in a given area or uses qualitative methods of analysis.
Your critique should include the following elements:
1. Critique I: Summarize the nature of the research study: Purpose, methods, and findings reported in the article. Be succinct! (Use at most two pages, single spaced, to do this – less if you can.) (((I already finish the critique I, but you can change/ fixe anything that you see is not correct, and you can find file for the critique I and II on the same attachment)))
2. Critique II: Critique the research study. This is the essential activity of the assignment. Use the knowledge about research issues you have gained from class readings, discussions, and exercises to assess the key strengths and limitations of the article and the warrant for the knowledge claim that the author(s) makes. These strengths and/or limitations may relate to theory, operationalization of variables and/or choice of particular measurement instruments, research design issues, sampling, statistical issues, and interpretation of findings. Integrate your critique around the four types of research validity to identify and discuss what you consider to be strengths and limitations of the study and the warrant for the authors’ knowledge claims based on the relevant aspects of the study. (Because this section is the essence of the assignment, you should spend the most time, effort, and page space with it). How might the researcher(s) have designed the study (as a quantitative study) to yield a stronger warrant for the knowledge claim (stronger research validity)? In other words, if you were to replicate this study, what decisions might you make differently to result in a stronger study, with stronger research validity overall. Please use the “Paper Critique Questions” (on Blackboard) to guide your writing.
CEPSE Preliminary Exam Questions
A. Theoretical Perspective (about 3 pages)
1. Critique the author’s conceptual framework.
2. Comment on the need for this study and its importance.
3. How effectively does the author tie the study to relevant theory and prior research?
4. Evaluate the clarity and appropriateness of the research questions or hypotheses.
B. Research Design and Analysis (about 4 pages)
5. Critique the appropriateness and adequacy of the study’s design in relation to the research questions or hypotheses.
6. Critique the adequacy of the study’s sampling methods (e.g., choice of participants) and their implications for generalizability.
7. Critique the adequacy of the study’s procedures and materials (e.g., interventions, interview protocols, data collection procedures).
8. Critique the appropriateness and quality (e.g., reliability, validity) of the measures used.
9. Critique the adequacy of the study’s data analyses. For example: Have important statistical assumptions been met? Are the analyses appropriate for the study’s design? Are the analyses appropriate for the data collected?
C. Interpretation and Implications of Results (about 3 pages)
10. Critique the author’s discussion of the methodological and/or conceptual limitations of the results.
11. How consistent and comprehensive are the author’s conclusions with the reported results?
12. How well did the author relate the results to the study’s theoretical base?
13. In your view, what is the significance of the study, and what are its primary implications for theory, future research, and practice?