Dissertation
Download my dissertation manuscript
Background
I was part of a team from Digital Learning Sciences that investigated science teachers' adoption of the Curriculum Customization Service (CCS) by teachers in the Denver Public Schools district during the 2009-2010 academic year. The CCS’s three key features were:
Findings
I found that teachers reported three major reasons for adopting the CCS:
The CCS also impacted both teachers’ instructional planning and classroom teaching: teachers reported that the CCS helped them integrate digital resources into their teaching practices with greater confidence, frequency, and effectiveness.
My study made two significant contributions to the literature on technology adoption: a new case study describing how and why teachers adopted CCS and a novel conceptual framework that characterized technology adoption according to four perspectives: quantitative, qualitative, mixed-method, and longitudinal.
Acknowledgments
My advisors, Ben Kirsher and Tammy Sumner, have been outstanding mentors during my oft-turbulent journey through my doctoral program. Our society has made the phrase ‘I couldn’t have done it without you’ a trite platitude, but in the case of Ben and Tammy, it’s the plain truth.
Thanks to the rest of my committee – Erin Furtak, Leysia Palen, and David Webb – for their participation in this process. The nascent study proposed in my prospectus was much-improved after your thoughtful feedback and suggestions.
My fellow grad students have given me (as needed) advice, criticism, a shoulder to cry upon, and/or a kick in a certain place when I was on the verge of falling off track. I couldn’t have done it without you, either:
From Tammy’s lab: my homeboy-for-life Keith Maull, Ifeyinwa Okoye, James Foster, Chih How Bong, Ogheneovo Dibie, Philipp Wetzler, Lee Becker, and Heather Leary.
From the School of Education: Sara Rabin, Tanya Rose, Suzanne Eyerman, Holly Yettick, Sue Hopewell, Eric Snow, and everybody else from the 2005 and 2006 cohorts.
Many researchers at Digital Learning Sciences and UCAR/NCAR directly and indirectly contributed to my study in some shape or form, and also deserve many thanks: Holly Devaul (proofreader extraordinaire), Lynne Davis, John Weatherley, Karon Kelly, Mary Marlino, Mike Wright, and everyone else involved in the CCS project, and digital library work in general.
Finally, thanks to all the DPS teachers whose participation in the CCS evaluation project made my dissertation study possible.
My dissertation study was funded by NSF awards 0734872 and 0734875.
Download my dissertation manuscript
Background
I was part of a team from Digital Learning Sciences that investigated science teachers' adoption of the Curriculum Customization Service (CCS) by teachers in the Denver Public Schools district during the 2009-2010 academic year. The CCS’s three key features were:
- Web-based access to digital versions of the paper-based publisher materials that comprised the DPS Earth science curricula,
- Integration of digitized curricular content with digital resources available from the DLESE digital library; and,
- Interactive ‘Web 2.0’ capability, including the ability for users to save and upload digital resources.
Findings
I found that teachers reported three major reasons for adopting the CCS:
- To increase efficiency in utilizing digital resources,
- To offer alternative representations of key concepts, and
- To differentiate instruction according to student differences such as reading ability and language proficiency.
The CCS also impacted both teachers’ instructional planning and classroom teaching: teachers reported that the CCS helped them integrate digital resources into their teaching practices with greater confidence, frequency, and effectiveness.
My study made two significant contributions to the literature on technology adoption: a new case study describing how and why teachers adopted CCS and a novel conceptual framework that characterized technology adoption according to four perspectives: quantitative, qualitative, mixed-method, and longitudinal.
Acknowledgments
My advisors, Ben Kirsher and Tammy Sumner, have been outstanding mentors during my oft-turbulent journey through my doctoral program. Our society has made the phrase ‘I couldn’t have done it without you’ a trite platitude, but in the case of Ben and Tammy, it’s the plain truth.
Thanks to the rest of my committee – Erin Furtak, Leysia Palen, and David Webb – for their participation in this process. The nascent study proposed in my prospectus was much-improved after your thoughtful feedback and suggestions.
My fellow grad students have given me (as needed) advice, criticism, a shoulder to cry upon, and/or a kick in a certain place when I was on the verge of falling off track. I couldn’t have done it without you, either:
From Tammy’s lab: my homeboy-for-life Keith Maull, Ifeyinwa Okoye, James Foster, Chih How Bong, Ogheneovo Dibie, Philipp Wetzler, Lee Becker, and Heather Leary.
From the School of Education: Sara Rabin, Tanya Rose, Suzanne Eyerman, Holly Yettick, Sue Hopewell, Eric Snow, and everybody else from the 2005 and 2006 cohorts.
Many researchers at Digital Learning Sciences and UCAR/NCAR directly and indirectly contributed to my study in some shape or form, and also deserve many thanks: Holly Devaul (proofreader extraordinaire), Lynne Davis, John Weatherley, Karon Kelly, Mary Marlino, Mike Wright, and everyone else involved in the CCS project, and digital library work in general.
Finally, thanks to all the DPS teachers whose participation in the CCS evaluation project made my dissertation study possible.
My dissertation study was funded by NSF awards 0734872 and 0734875.
Download my dissertation manuscript
