Diffusing Innovations: Adoption of Serious Educational Games by K-12 Science Teachers

Innovation is a term that has become widely used in education; especially as it pertains to technology infusion. Applying the corporate theory of diffusing innovation to educational practice is an innovation in itself. This mixed-methods study examined 38 teachers in a science educational gaming pro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Contemporary issues in technology and teacher education 2014, Vol.14 (3)
Main Authors: Vallett, David, Annetta, Leonard, Lamb, Richard, Bowling, Brandy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adoption (Ideas)
Educational Games
Educational Practices
Elementary School Teachers
Faculty Development
Innovation
Likert Scales
Mixed Methods Research
Pedagogical Content Knowledge
Science Teachers
Secondary School Teachers
Teacher Attitudes
Teacher Placement
Teacher Workshops
Teaching Methods
Technology Education
Technology Integration
Technology Uses in Education
United States (Southeast)
Use Studies
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Summary:Innovation is a term that has become widely used in education; especially as it pertains to technology infusion. Applying the corporate theory of diffusing innovation to educational practice is an innovation in itself. This mixed-methods study examined 38 teachers in a science educational gaming professional development program that provided baseline characteristics about personal technology use and post professional development workshop experiences to ascertain characteristics that align with diffusion of innovation theory and educational game development as a new innovation in current pedagogical practices. The posttest-only design tested correlation (ANOVA) between factors, following scale conversion employing Rasch modeling, using the established Ocean Explorers workshop survey to collect data. Results suggested that while none of the demographic factors were significantly correlated with participant perceptions of the workshop, participants' perceptions of the presentation of the material were strongly correlated to their perceptions of the opportunities afforded by the workshop and the level of technological pedagogical content knowledge learning that took place. Frequencies of response ranges from the survey, for each scale, were paired with qualitative data to propose a fit to Rogers' innovation adoption curve and provide a richer description of participant perceptions. Additionally, the findings from this study serve as a framework for professional development of innovative educational technologies for subsequent studies.
ISSN:1528-5804
1528-5804