Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Franz, Dana P.

Committee Member

Miller, Nicole C.

Committee Member

Ivy, Jessica T.

Committee Member

Xu, Jianzhong

Date of Degree

12-11-2015

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

Major

Curriculum and Instruction

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

College

College of Education

Department

Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education

Abstract

Low-income students and blacks make up nearly half of public school students, and on nearly every indicator of educational access, particularly technology, these students have less access than white affluent students (Darling-Hammond, Zielezinski, and Goldman, 2014). The National Center for Education Statistics (2005) reported that teacher quality and missed opportunities to learn accounted for 93% of African Americans, and 87% of Hispanics performing below proficiency in mathematics. Students that do not master mathematics standards by the end of compulsory education are less likely to complete general mathematics courses in upper secondary school and beyond successfully (Levpušček, Zupančič, & Sočan, 2013). Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) can support student engagement, interest and possibly increased achievement in mathematics if used effectively. The purposes of this study were to (a) examine the perspectives of secondary mathematics teachers with regard to the use of IWBs for teaching, (b) determine how secondary mathematics teachers in one school district use the IWB to guide students toward mathematical proficiency, and (c) consider how secondary mathematics teachers’ perspectives in one school district were influenced by 1st order and 2nd order barriers to technology integration. The following factors were considered when examining the context needed to better understand the complexities using IWBs effectively in mathematics: (a) Niess et al. (2009) Mathematics Teachers’ TPACK Development Model, (b) Miller and Glover (2005) stages of IWB use, and (c) Ertmer (1999) first-order and second-order barriers to technology integration. The data revealed that at each stage of IWB use (a) supported didactic, (b)interactive, and (c) enhanced interactivity, teachers faced a unique combination of first-order and second-order barriers to IWB integration that affected how IWBs were used for teaching mathematics. The results of the data suggest that as barriers are resolved at each stage of IWB use, the likelihood mathematics teachers will effectively use IWBs to teach mathematics will increase. Suggestions including administrator support and modifying professional development practices are included to provide educators and policy makers the practical knowledge needed to inform sustainable plans for integrating IWBs effectively.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/20405

Comments

Rural education||Interactive whiteboards||secondary mathematics||TPACK||First-order barriers||Second-order barriers||Technology Integration||Teacher Quality||NVivo

Download

Share

COinS