THE RELATIONSHIP or FACULTY CONTENT SPECIALITY T0 INSTRUCTIONAL DEVELOPMENTACTIVITIES:' =* AND THE SUBJECT MATTER RELATEDN’ES‘S‘ “ f _ OF PRESENTATION-S DESIGNED To . ~.- j r ENCOURAGE-FURTHERUSAGE. 1 jj:_i___li';:=ff Thesis for the Degree of Ph. D .f - ‘ mmnsmu STATE umvmsm ' f -- CURTISJOHN MCCARTY - A 1970* . Hill/{Ill III I HI I”!!! III ”I III llH/Hlljlllifllll/M w 3 1293 10109 409 LIBRARY " Michigan State University This is to certify that the thesis entitled The Relationship of Faculty Content Speciality To Instructional Development Activities and the Subject Matter Relatedness of Presentations Designed To Curtis John McCarty has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Mdegree in- Education WWW/g? 7WD ‘ Major professor 0-169 ABSTRACT THE RELATIONSHIP OF FACULTY CONTENT SPECIALTY TO INSTRUCTIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES AND THE SUBJECT MATTER RELATEDNESS OF PRESENTATIONS DESIGNED TO ENCOURAGE FURTHER USAGE By Curtis John McCarty A major function of the educational media special- ist's job is to act as a change agent in the educational setting. His is the performance of a communication link- age relationship between the knowledge generators and the knowledge users; to that end he is responsible for innova- tion to be brought to the attention of the users in such a way that the recipient will want to adopt the information. Such a position is currently being created and is given much attention at many institutions. It is called Instructional Development. It stems largely from a belief that institutions must provide specific functional units for the implementation of planned change in response to the overwhelming demand by students, staff and the administration ItLWBIf. Curtis John McCarty Since several interpretations have been given to the position of Instructional Development, it has come to have three components from as many disciplines. They are instruction, curriculum and innovation. Two basic notions are reflected. One is the system- atic approach to the analysis of a process and the second suggests that the outcome of the process should be improved learning. The increased emphasis during the past ten years on instructional systems provided the background and impetus for a study of the relationship of media and the instruc- tional systems development process. Subsequent analysis and comparisons have led to suggestions in the literature that guidelines or heuristics tie together the elements of an instructional developmental model. An important and fundamental notion advanced from previous research was selected by the researcher for testing and analysis, pro— posed by the members of the research team and tested at four major universities. The particular heuristic in question which prompted the current study is: "Don't let subject matter interfere with an understanding of process." The heuristic advises the professor of mediated instruction to choose his exam- ples outside the content area of the person to whom he is demonstrating a technique for possible adoption. It was hypothesized that discipline—centered, posi- tively-oriented-to—change faculty members would make more Curtis John McCarty commitments to adopt when presented with a non-discipline— related message than when presented with a discipline- related message. Thus, an experiment was undertaken whereby a popula— tion of discipline-centered faculty members who were pre- disposed to change were presented with one of these message treatments, either related or non-related or control. The innovation used was compressed speech. Subsequent analysis .of variance across the experimental groups and analysis of the instrument across both the experimental and discipline groups indicated no statistical differences existed between the groups. There were four major variables that contributed to the no difference results. Population selection, message treatment, reliability and the underlying assumptions of the instrument and the nature of the instructional development process are the conditions seen to be the major sources of random variability. Recommendations included larger sample populations, increased reliability values for the testing instrument and an experimental procedure which would include informal and formal communication assessments. Further study of the eXperimental hypothesis is suggested. THE RELATIONSHIP OF FACULTY CONTENT SPECIALITY TO INSTRUCTIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES AND THE SUBJECT MATTER RELATEDNESS OF PRESENTATIONS DESIGNED TO ENCOURAGE FURTHER USAGE By Curtis John McCarty A THESIS ‘ Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements 'for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY College of Education 1970 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to express his sincerest thanks for the advice, generosity, suggestions, patience and faith exhibited by the scholars of his doctoral committee. To Dr. Troy Stearns for his counsel and guidance as a teacher who showed great concern for his students; to Dr. Everett Rogers for his encouragement in the pursuit of an idea; to Dr. Charles Schuller for providing initial guidance and direction; and to Dr. Elwood Miller for pro- viding the model of administrative leader, colleague, confidant and friend is the author indebted beyond his ability to completely express. Additional thanks go to the fellow graduate students who enrich any program of advanced study, and to Charles Hollmann for the continued interest and valuable sugges- tions he provided as an outstanding office mate, and to Mary Lou Shull and Bethel Baker for their pleasantness. Finally, special appreciation goes to my father and mother and wife. To them for making it all possible and to Judy for making it possible at all. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF Chapter I. II. II]. APPENDICES . . . . . . RATIONALE FOR THE INVESTIGATION . . . Purpose of and Need for the Study. Nature of the Inquiry. . . . . . . Research Question . . . . . Statement of the Hypothesis. . . . Methodology . . . . . . . . . Scope of the Study. . . . . . . . Definition of Terms . . . . . REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Review of Related Research Instructional Development Specialist as a Change Agent . Discipline Centered, Positively Oriented to Change Faculty Member. The Instructional Process (Curriculum Innovation) The Communication Message (Related, Non— related). . . . The Innovation Adoption Decision ((‘ommitment, Non- commitment) PROCEDURES AND METHODOLOGY Statement of the Problem. Hypothesis Population . Message Construction Language Laboratory Audio Component. iii Page ii vi vii Chapter IV. V. Instrumentation. . . . . . . . Randomization Procedures. . . . . . Equipment Used . . . . . . . . . Experimental Procedures . . . . . ANALYSIS OF DATA . . . . . . . Review of Experimental Procedure . . . Hypothesis . . . . . . . . Analysis Procedure Major lfiffects . Instrument Analysis—-Correlation . Instrument Analysis Across Experimental II’OUDS. Instrument Analysis Across Discipline Groups. . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . SUMMARY, DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS . . . Summary . . . . . . . . Review of Analysis. . . . . . . . Discussion . . . . . . . . Population Selection Mes) sage Treatment . . . . Reliability and Assumptions of Instrument . Nature of the Instructional Development Process . Recommendations. Conclusions . . . . . . . . REFERENCES. APPENDICES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv 70 72 73 75 93 Table LIST OF TABLES Differences in Playback Times for Messages During Experiment Analysis of Variance Table for Major Effects. Question Correlations Within Characteristic Groups . . . Characteristic Analysis Across Experimental Groups Characteristic Analysis Across Discipline Groups Page 147 57 59 61 62 Figure l. 2. LIST OF FIGURES Paradigm of types of social change. Representation of design Language laboratory experimental setup Subject number in each experimental condition Subject number in experimental conditions vi Page 1U 51 54 57 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A. B. EXPERIMENTAL GROUP NOTIFICATION BIOLOGY MESSAGE. EARTH SCIENCE MESSAGE. MATHEMATICS MESSAGE CONTROL MESS GE. INTROI.‘)U(_,"I'ORY MUSIC SELECTIONS “0 ITEM LIKERT—TYPE INSTRUMENT. EXPERIMENTAL DIRECTIONS DEMOGRAPHIC DATA FORM. SUMMARY OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA RY DISCIPLINE Page 93 97 10“ 111 118 120 122 128 132 135 CHAPTER I RATIONALE FOR THE INVESTIGATION Purpose of and Need for the Study The purpose of this study is to determine which of two message strategies will obtain more adoption commit— ments decisions by discipline centered faculty members who are positively oriented to change. One of the prime responsibilities of a person charged with the responsibility of coordinating media services and implementing their use within educational systems is that of making educators aware of the potential of the media and securing a commitment from them to utilize the avail— able media in their instruction. A major function of the educational media special- ist's job is to act as a change agent in the educational setting. His is the performance of a communication link- agel relationship between the knowledge generators and the knowledge users; to that end he is responsible for 1Communication linkage is a term used and suggested by Rogers and Jain meaning the performance of the function of communicating client needs to researchers and of dif- fusing innovations to clients. See Everett M. Rogers and Nemi C. Jain, "Research Utilization: Bridging the Communi- cation Gap Between Science and Practice" (paper presented at the Joint Session of the Information Systems Division of the International Communication Association and the iehavioral Sciences Interest Group of the Speech Associa— tion of America, New York, December 27—30, 1969), pp. “~9. innovation to be brought to the attention of the users in such a way that the recipient will want to adopt the information. However, media specialists' efforts are not as con- sistently succeszul as they might be. One way this prob- lem might be looked at is from the position of one who must be concerned with the process of social change. One para- digm useful to the discussion is that suggested by Rogers2 (see Figure l). Recognition of the Origin of the New Idea Need for Change Internal to be External to the Social System Social System Internal to the I. IMMANENT CHANGE II. SELECTIVE Social System CONTACT CHANGE External to the III. MOTIVATED IMMA- IV. DIRECTED Social System MENT CHANGE CONTACT (Unlikely) CHANGE Fig. l.-—Paradigm of types of social change. The media professional traditionally is perceived as a peripheral, if not external, member of the educational 3 system of a given school. In many cases, he perceives the need for a change but is unable to implement it. When 2Everett M. Rogers in association with Lynne Svenning, U0!‘ 0 . _oo :noo: --. . _1‘ sq t O_ on... . oo . O. _ New York: Holt, 'inehart and Winston, Inc., 19-9 , p. ., 3Paul W. F. Witt, "Educational Technology: The Edu- cation of Teachers and the Development of Instructional Materials Specialists," in Technology and the Curriculum, 9d. by Paul W. F. Witt (New York: Teachers College Press, 1968), pp. 53—67. the idea itself comes from the outside, the paradigm indi- cates a condition of directed contact (or planned) change. Goodlad comments that these external forces and interests have in the main been responsible for motivating the schools toward change more rapidly in recent years than in the past.u Planned change however, has a negative connotation to many. It is seen as the manipulation of peoples' ideas in a controlled fashion such as suggested in George Orwell's 19§£.5 A perceived need is therefore suggested by Rogers for a buffer position to be occupied by a person who can perform the delicate relationship of intermediary between the innovation source and the change agent or media specialist.6 Such a position is currently being created and, as such, is given much attention at many institutions. It is called Instructional Development. It stems largely from a belief that institutions must provide specific functional “John I. Goodlad, Renata Von Stoephasius, and M. Frances Klein, The Changing School Curriculum (New York: Fund for the Advancement of Education, Ford Foundation, 1966), pp. 12-14. 5George Orwell, 1984 (New York: The New American library of World Literature, Inc., Harcourt, Brace and Co., 19A9). 6Everett M. Rogers, "Developing a Strategy for Planned Change" (paper presented at the Symposium on the Application of System Analysis and Management Techniques to Educational Planning in California, Orange, Calif., June 12-13, 1967. East Lansing, Mich.: Department of Communication, Michigan State University), p. 8. units for the implementation of planned change in response to the overwhelming demand by students, staff and the ad- 7 states the problem well. ministration itself. Johnson The pressure is on. Students are coming in hordes and their numbers are increasing. Costs are rising sharply and taxpayers are demanding efficiency-- and in some situations threatening revolt. The times in which we live urgently demand imaginative thinking, planning and action. Nature of the Inquiry Since several interpretations have been given to the position of Instructional Development,it has come to have three components from as many disciplines. They are in— struction, curriculum and innovation. The position as defined by several different insti— tutions of higher education reflects slightly differing emphases. At Michigan State University, Johnson,8 reflec- ting the Educational Development Project administratively states its purpose at an economic level. Educational development is the planned use of free floating dollars to support projects for seeking answers to the questions and improving the academic program of the university. 7B. Lamar Johnson, "Action and Reaction: A Conference Critique" (paper presented at the National Conference on Curricular and Instructional Innovation in Large Colleges and Universities, held at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich., Nov. 6—11, 1966), p. 6. 8F. Craig Johnson, An Evaluation of Educational ygyelopment Programs in Higher Education, Project Report No. A01 (East Lansing, Mich.: Michigan State University, Office of the Provost, March, 1968), p. 2. The Department of Instructional Development and Technology, representing the academic responsibility, defines the pro— 9 cess more operationally when Schuller states: The purpose of . . . Instructional Development is to prepare educators and to develop the addi— tional competencies required to assist educational systems desiring to improve the quality and effec— tiveness of their instructional programs. Ely and HudspethlO of Syracuse University emphasize the systematic and continuous developmental process of both individual faculty member and the learning task. Instructional development activity . . . repre- sents a systematic attempt to use creatively the new educational technology. Present . . . devel- opment activities are seen as a continuum ranging from individual instructor improvement through systematically deveIOped learning sequences. Writing for Indiana University, Paris11 defines the process around the development of instruction. The emphasis . . . should be upon development of instruction . . . that . . . could be feasibly achieved by following a systematic plan or approach. 9Charles F. Schuller, Professional Programs in Instructional Development and Technology (East Lansing, Mich.: College of Education, Michigan State University, 1968), p. 1. 10Don Ely and DeLayne R. Hudspeth, "Instructional DeveIOpment: Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York," in New Media and College Teaching, ed. by James W. Thornton, Jr. and James W. Brown (Washington, D. C.: National Edu- cation Association, 1968), p. 125. 11Gene Paris, Terminal Program Report: Institute in figggcational Media: Indiana University (Bloomington, Ind.: instructional Development Institute, Audio—Visual Center, May 31, 1968), p. l. Two basic notions are consistent as reflected by the previous examples. One is the systematic approach to the analysis of a process and the second suggests that the out- come of the approach should be improved, i.e., greater learning. Miller12 and Trzebiatowskil3 point to similar systematic principles which not only evaluate current in- structional programs but also implement suggested improve- ments in the curriculum. Curriculum development is slightly more global in its approach but less specific in its solutions. Thelenlu suggests that: . . it will be the body responsible . . . for formulating, revising, and disseminating the long range plans for educational development. Another interpretation of curriculum development and change procedure is the bringing about through adoption of 15 instructional improvements in packaged form. Goodlad supports this notion. 12Elwood E. Miller, "A Descriptive Study, Evaluation and Analysis of Instructional Systems Development Activi- ties in Selected Departments at MSU During the Period of 1960 to 1963" (unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 196A), pp. 50-60. 13Gregory L. Trzebiatowski, "An Evaluation of the Instructional Systems Approach in Higher Education" (un— published Ph. D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1967), pp° 35—49- 1“Herbert A. Thelen, Education and the Human Quest (New York: Harper and Row, 1960), pp. 202-2OU. 15Goodlad, Von Stoephasius, and Klein, op. cit., Pp. 19—14. In virtually every field the focal point for teachers and students alike is an instructional materials package; invariably a textbook or series of textbooks, supplementary books, workbooks, teacher's manuals, film strips, films, programed materials and lab experiments. Anderson16 likewise relates curriculum improvement with change. He emphasizes however, the interaction of change with the people involved. To those who thoughtfully ponder the question, im— provement means change: up—dating content, re- writing textbooks, doing research on learning and child growth . . . re-educating teachers. . 17 Berlo makes the point quite clear when he suggests to the instructional media specialist that the emphasis of the specialist should be on the people served. You are not in the audiovisual business, you are not in the instructional technology business, you are not in the message or media business. You are in the peOple business. You are paid to affect behavior, to produce information—gain, to induce attitude-change, and, most importantly, to increase the learner's ability to learn without being taught. The effects of a lack of curriculum emphasis on the people 18 to be served is poignantly demonstrated by Hicks. l6Vernon E. Anderson, Principles and Procedures of Curriculum Improvement (2nd ed.; New York: The Ronald Press Co., 1965), pp. 3-19. 17David K. Berlo, "Communication Theory and Audio— visual Education," Keynote Address to the National Con- vention of the Department of Audiovisual Instruction, National Education Association, Audiovisual Instruction, June, 1963, p. 374. 8Hanne Lane Hicks, "The Invisible Curriculum," 23; Delta Kappan, 10 (June 1969), 602. The children are exposed to flexible scheduling, programed instruction, team teaching. They are socialized in kindergarten, institutionalized in grade school, and homogenized in high school. And they are graduated, too often, unchanged, un— touched and uncaring. Of final importance to the discussion at this point is the notion of innovation or the deliberate attempt on the part of an individual to introduce, in a systematic way, an idea into a social group for their ultimate adop- tion. The behavioral outcome is for the innovation to be given serious consideration by the intended group and measured against current practices for possible replace- ment in the operating structure, or to be discarded as non—functioning. Instructional develOpment and/or curriculum improve- ment have as their purposes the reformation of existing practices into a position where they can be subjected to scrutiny of analysis and possible inclusion into the ob- served behavioral traits of the reference group. The Committee for Economic Development19 in a 1968 report has seen fit to place innovation on the priority list for new directions. 19Committee For Economic Development, Innovation in Education : New Directions For the American School, Sterling M. McMurrin, project director (New York: Com— Iflittee For Economic Development, 1968), p. 1“. The future of the schools depends in large part on whether they can overcome in educational policy and practice what is frequently an extreme con- servatism and a strong resistance to change. This depends in turn on whether they can develop a genuine Openness to experiment and innovation. Lieberman,2O however, states that the impetus for educational reforms must belong to the professional edu- cator rather than the concerned non-professional. but the major and enduring responsibility for improving our schools lies with the people who work in them. Goodlad21 supports this view when he specifies cur- rent curriculum reform procedures. The current curriculum reform movement is marked by an updating of content, a reorganization of subject matter, and some fresh approaches to methodology in fields traditionally taught in the schools. In addition, Lippitt22 points out that ultimately it is the individual teacher, the professional, who must de- cide on the relative merit of any given curriculum inno- vation. In order for the materials to be useful, the teacher must perceive the information as relevant . . . and must be able to derive from it realistic ideas about possible action. 2OMyron Lieberman, The Future of Public Education, Phoenix Books (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1960), p. 218. 21Goodlad, Von Stoephasius, and Klein, op. cit., FDp. 12—14. 22 Ronald Lippitt, Robert Fox, and Richard Schmuck, "Innovating Classroom Practices to Support Achievement MOtivation and Ego Development," in Behavioral Frontiers in Education, ed. by Eli M. Bower and William G. Hollister New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1967), p. 322. 1.0 At a 1966 conference on curricular innovation at Michigan State University, Rogers23 states that the prob- lems of today were created in part by the process by which the large universities evolved from their small origins, i.e., the informational explosion in its most literal sernse. But in the 1960's conditions began to change, what with further growth in instructional technology, shifting societal expectations for the university, and students with different needs and capabilities. éut the institutionalized bureaucracy could not respond quickly to its changing environment. It is seen, therefore, that the basic instructional development model as previously outlined has, as its com— ponents, the three discipline interrelationships of in- struction, curriculum and innovation. Research Question The increased emphasis during the past ten years on instructional systems provided the background and impetus for Barson's 1965 study of the relationship of media and 2A the instructional systems deveIOpment process. This study was followed by a federal project comparing 23Everett M. Rogers, "The Communication of Innova— tions: Strategies for Change in a Complex Institution" (paper presented at the National Conference on Curricular and Instructional Innovation for Large Colleges and Uni— Versities, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich., fflov. 6-11, 1966), p. 2. ’) LuJohn Barson, A Procedural and Cost Analysis Study g£_Media in Instructional Systems Development (Washington, D.C.: U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Contract OE-3—l6-O30, September, 1965), pp. l-lO. 11 instructional systems development activities across four major universities.25 Barson's analysis and comparisons led his research team to suggest guidelines or heuristics that would tie together the elements of the instructional development model proposed by the members of the research team and tested at four major universities.26 A heuristic is defined as anything which serves to guide to discover or to reveal. As stated by Haney, the heuristic is a second cousin to the research hypothesis.27 However, the heuristic is valuable in that it can point the way to a hypothetical statement and subsequent empiri- cal verification. The report encourages hypothesis gener— ation from heuristics. The particular heuristic in question which prompts tkiis current study is: "Don't let subject matter inter- _§§I°e with an understanding of process."28 According to tflaee team of authors, this statement advises the professor Of' mediated instruction to choose his examples outside the CCDritent area of the person to whom he is demonstrating a 25John Barson, Instructional Systems Development: .fl_12§monstration and Evaluation Project (Washington, D. C.: U- S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Contract Ohh—5—16-025, June, 1967), pp. 1—14, 52—67. 26Ibid., p. 84. 27John B. Haney, Phil C. Lange, and John Barson, "The :SeLtbistic Dimension of Instructional Development," Audio —;L§;§§1 Communication Review, 16 (Winter, 1968), 368. 28Barson, Instructional Systems Development: . . ., 9ii;§i11§., p. 80. l2 technique for possible adoption. If it is advisable to demonstrate the concept of programming to a professor of economics, don't show him an economics program. Rather, demonstrate the technique with a program outside his area of expertise. Otherwise he will take intellectual issue with the content in the program and miss the salient features of the concept of programming. This heuristic, if valid, would provide a useful strategy to the media change agent to secure the adoption decision from the prospective educator client. The pro- jected implications of the heuristic do appear to be in direct conflict with one aspect of the current body of .innovation research; the essence of which states that the Spneed or rate of adoption of a given innovation is in- crweased if it can be perceived as advantageous, compatible, eassily tried, uncomplicated and observable.29 (This area (Jf innovation research is more thoroughly reviewed in Chaipter II under The Communication Messagg.) If however, tJdC: experimental evidence supports the alternative hypo- thuesis of Barson's heuristic, then the study can be justi- f‘ied on the basis of providing a very vital innovation E“VCI’ategy to the instructional development specialist. \ ’ 9 2“Rogers, "The Communication of Innovations: . . ., M" p. 14. 13 Statement of the Hyppthesis The broadly stated hypothesis to be subjected to test suggests that the probability of innovation adoption commitments by faculty members from the specific disci— plines of Mathematics, Geology and Biology will be in- creased when the content of an innovation presentation involving an instructional process is other than from the discipline of the specific faculty member to whom the pre- sentation is made. The innovation itself is introduced to the faculty member as one component part of the instructional devel— Opment process. It is this component, i.e., message re- latedness, that is to be studied in this research. Methodology This study is to be an experimental study concerned wixtiithe presumed relationship between subject matter con- teunt of a faculty member and the relatedness of messages Lkessigned to secure his commitment to adopt an innovation CCDricerning an instructional process. The experimental design is a modified Posttest Only- CCHdtrol Group30 and will draw a sample of subjects from a DCWDulation composed of teachers from the Science-Math IrHStitute for High School Teachers held on the Michigan \ 50Donald T. Campbell and Julian C. Stanley, Experi- ggiflfigal and Quasi Experimental Designs for Research (Chicago: arui McNally & Co., 1963), pp. 6-27. 1A State University campus during the summer of 1969. A visual representation of the design is shown in Figure 2. Subjects Message Assignment Treatment Observation Treatment Biology Related Random X 0 Non—Related Random X 0 Earth Related Random X O Science Non-Related Random X 0 Mathematics Related Random X 0 Non-Related Random X 0 Control Random X 0 Fig. 2.--Representation of design. In order to avoid possible sources of media bias, the presentation technique used will be compressed speech. Audio tapes were prepared in various forms for use as message sources. A Likert—type scale was devised, refined through con- sultation with university evaluation and testing services, and subjected to limited pilot testing prior to the actual experiment. Items were designed to elicit responses of agreement or disagreement to forty statements dealing with media usage and intent to adopt. Demographic data were obtained as checks on the presumed underlying relation— ships. Random assignment was used throughout. A controlled environment was obtained and used for this experiment for the purpose of reducing the time factor 15 since the subjects were released from their normal class activities during the hour of the experiment. Data analysis, by computer, was performed and is discussed in Chapter IV. Sc0pe of the Study Research literature on educational change agents is quite limited along the lines of the present research question. As such it is essential to draw upon the re- search traditions in other areas for much of the study. Suggestions for supportive and corollary research are made in the final chapter of this study. The diffusion process as defined by Rogers is com— posed of several states, i.e., functional relationships consisting of first knowledge, attitude formation, deci- sion and evaluation/confirmation.31 While important to the overall value of diffusion research, which is quite extensive, these stages have been collapsed to first know- ledge through attitude formation to confirmation in order that the process, which is usually conceived to occur over some time, may be studied within the time period of one hour which was available. The application to the general body of diffusion re— search is restricted in that the adoption commitment was defined along very narrow lines. ¥ 31Everett M. Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, (Glencoe, N. Y.: The Free Press of Glencoe, N. Y., 1962), P. 81. 16 Finally, appropriate instrumentation was not found to exist. Therefore, the validity of the experimental instrument is assumed but should be presumed to be tenta- tive until subjected to additional verification. Definition of Terms Several terms will be used throughout the research which will be defined and used in the following manner: Innovation—~An idea, technique, process or thing perceived 32 as new by an individual. In this case, the tech- nique of using compressed audio materials. Compressed SPEECh--Th€ electromechanical process of varying the duration of a previously recorded audio signal without affecting its concommitant pitch. This pro- cedure can be accomplished by using a machine de— signed specifically for this purpose.33 Diffusion Process—~The presumed sequence by which an in— dividual is made aware of an innovation by a change agent. Change Agent-~The professional, in this case the Instruc- tional DeveIOpment Specialist, who influences inno- vation decisions in a way seen as desirable by the 3” client. 32 33Emerson Foulke, ”Listening and Word Rate," Journal of Communication, 18, No. 3 (1969), 196. 3“Rogers, Modernization Among Peasants: . . ., 0p. cit., p. 169. Ibid., p. 13-28. 17 Adoption Stages--The presumed sequence through which an individual passes from first awareness of an innova- tion to final adoption-decision commitment.35 Adoption Commitment—-An individual's above the mean score on statements on the questionnaire form as distri- buted to the experimental population assumed to reflect an internal behavior state which will activate future adoption. Instructional Development Process—-Activities undertaken by the Instructional Development Specialist which include the systematic analysis and subsequent recommendations for any given instructional system. r 3)Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, op. cit., p. 76. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Review of Related Research When the late Dr. James Finn in 1965 suggested the term Instructional Development and Technology,1 he was reflecting a position which he thought would cope with the changing nature of a professional organization in future years. Slaughter,2 characterizing our society, labels the phenomenon of change as the most indicative and accurate descriptor. McLuhan3 supports the general inevitability of change adding that global and instan- taneous transmission of information prohibits "relaxed" change. The positive value of change is called rewarding by Harmer“ who realizes the practical consequences of 1James D. Finn, "Instructional Technology," Audio Visual Instruction, 10, No. 3 (March, 1965), 192-93. 2Robert E. Slaughter, "The Response of the Knowledge industry to Society's Demand For a More Relevant Education," in Technology and the Curriculum, ed. by Paul W. F. Witt (New York: Teachers College Press, 1968), p. U6. 3Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Exten— §ions of Man, Signet Books (New York: The New American Library, McGraw-Hill, 1964), pp. 269-9U. ”R. Howard Harmer, "Dare to Innovate," American Chamber of Commerce Magazine, September, 1969, pp. 8-23. l8 19 changes as breaks with tradition. Max Ways sums up the problem neatly in the following way: Within a decade or two it will be generally under— stood that the challenge to U. S. society will turn not around the production of goods but around the difficulties and opportunities involved in a world of accelerating change and ever widening choices. . What is different now is the pace of change, and the prospect that it will come faster and faster. . . .5 This concern for innovation and change is reflected at many levels. Finn6 noting the official policy of the U. S. Office of Education states: It has become the official policy of the U. S. Office of Education to encourage educational innovations; further, the concept of innovation is 'in' with the entire educational community at State, regional, and local levels. Further evidence of this trend has to do with most of the recently introduced innovations in the U. S. school systems. These represent the planned change strategy. Examples are the School Math Study Group, supported by NSF, Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation as is the Physical Science Study Committee and the Biological Sciences Curri- 7 culum Committee. 5Max Ways, "The Era of Radical Change," in Instruc- tional Technology . . . A Book of Readings, ed. by Frederick G. Knirk and John W. Childs (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968), p. A. H 6James D. Finn, "The Emerging Technology of Education, in Instructional Process and Media Innovation, ed. by Robert A. Weisgerber (Chicago: Rand McNally & Co., 1968), p. 3150 7John I. Goodlad, School Curriculum Reform in the United States (New York: Fund for the Advancement of Education, Ford Foundation, 1964), pp. 13-28. 20 The Instructional System Development Project8 noted this emphasis in the educational community when the authors stated that: It is common knowledge that growing student enroll- ments and the dearth of professorial talent have forced many colleges and universities to seek new ways of meeting instructional obligation . . . [thus] facilitating more effective ways of meeting growing instructional demands. The preceding comments evidence the widely held be- lief and conviction among the educational community that strategies must be developed to cope with the process of change or innovation. Of special interest and concern is the task of making the faculty aware of current directions and objectives of the organization. Faculty time is taken up more and more with memos, the daily reading of news- letters, journals, periodicals, committee meetings, ad- vanced study, final approval of the most recent publication, drafting a proposal for graduate research and, if time per- mits, teaching Introductory Methodology to 600 students twice.a weeks In recent years, however, institutions have partially realized the dilemma of meeting the needs of the the students and have encouraged the growth and development of instructional systems to alleviate some of the pressure on departments whose courses service large segments of the total university populations. Barson, Instructional Systems Development: . . ., op. cit., p. l. 21 Some of the instructional alternatives that have found their way into classrooms are instructional television, independent study materials, language laboratories, compu- ters and a whole array of hard and soft wares becoming known as instructional technology. However, a more systematic effort at dealing directly with the problems of instruction was directed at the orga- nizational structure of the university itself. There was no clear cut procedure that was available to the members of the organization to solve basic instructional problems for small student groups. In addition, there was no consistent method or approach for problem solving of instructional situations.9 Utilizing existing services of the general university, specific agencies were established to systematically develop an overall strategy to approach the solving of instructional problems in higher education. The objectives of one such organization were to: be devoted to the development and implementa- tion of a set of educational principles and proce— dures . . . which will be deve10ped . . . and which will preserve and improve . . . education.lO 9 Charles F. Hoban "Implications of Theory for Research and Implementation in the New Educational Media," in Theor For the New Media in Education, ed. by John M. Parsey (East Lansing, Mich.: Educational Publication Services, Michigan State University, 1968), pp. 1u3-66. 10John E. Dietrich and F. Craig Johnson, "A Catalytic Agent for Innovation in Higher Education," reprinted from Educational Record (Washington, D. C.: American Council on Education, Summer, 1967), p. 209. 22 Its functions were organized around principles similar to 11 who identified a three those suggested by Brickell pronged attack for the mobilization of a state-wide ap- proach to curriculum development; that is, design, evalua- tion and dissemination with the teacher at the focal point in the process. Even though the function of a development and inno- vative organization within a university is established with specified objectives and purposes aimed at implementing change, additional difficulties arise. Generalized resistance to change is exhibited in many ways; Vergis12 found innappropriate selection of personnel as contributing to a resistant to change attitude. Millerl3 suggests that a credibility gap exists between faculty and I“ graduate instructional development specialist. Cohen cites group influence as a major factor in attitude change. 11Henry M. Brickell, "State Organization for Educa- tional Change: A Case Study and a Proposal," in Innovation in Education, ed. by Matthew B. Miles (New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 196”), pp. “94-505. 12John P. Vergis, "Media Utilization in Select Col— leges," Final Technical Report of an Institute funded under Title VI-B, Higher Education Act of 1965, University of Southern California, September, 1967 to August, 1968, pp. 10-12. l3Elwood E. Miller, "Improvement in Media Applica- tions to Undergraduate Instruction with Coordinated Pro- grams for Educational Media Specialists," Final Report of an Institute funded under Title VI-B, Higher Education Act of 1965, Michigan State University, September, 1967 to May, 1968, pp. 82—91. 1”Arthur R. Cohen, Attitude Change and Social Influ- ence (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1963), pp. 100-120. 23 Hudspeth15 suggests the nature of belief systems as pre- dictors of resistance to change among faculty. Rogers1 has shown that the characteristics of innovations them- selves to be related to the resistance of an adoption. These factors must therefore be taken into consideration in developing a strategy for the implementation of educa— tional innovations. The role of the instructional development specialist appears to be straightforward. He must meet with the faculty member to discuss the characteristics of the available media resources as they relate to his develop- mental problem, sharply defining the objectives, making decisions to determine instructional strategies for imple— 1? mentation of the instructional system. The components of this developmental model include the following: I. The Instructional Development Specialist as Change Agent II. The Faculty Member A. Discipline Centered B. Positively Oriented Toward Change r l)Delayne R. Hudspeth, "A Study of Belief Systems and Acceptance of New Education Media With Users and Non- users of AudioVisual Graphics" (unpublished Ph. D. disser— tation, Michigan State University, 1966), pp. 82-94. l6Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, op. cit., pp. 123-46. 17"The Systems Approach," Audiovisual Instruction, 11, No. 6 (June-July, 1966), A31-32- 24 III. The Instructional Process (Curriculum Innovation) IV. The Communication Message (Related, Non—related) V. The Innovation Adoption Decision (Commitment, Non—commitment) The model assumed under the current study is the condition whereby the faculty member (discipline centered with a positive orientation to change) approaches the instructional development specialist (change agent) for the presentation of a message (related or non-related) about an instructional process (innovation) for the faculty member's adoption de- cision (commitment or non-commitment). The recognition of the need is internal to the system while the origin of the new idea is external. Instructional Development Specialist as a Change Agent The professional discipline of instructional develop— ment and technology as it exists on campuses of higher edu- cation is concerning itself and its practitioners with the implementation of new methods, approaches, techniques and ideas of a curricular nature. As such, it has been estab- lished as one of the many change agencies concerned with curriculum innovation. The practitioners, as suggested by 18 Rogers, can be considered change agents who deal with 18 Everett M. Rogers, "Needed Research on Diffusion Within Educational Organizations" (paper presented at the National Conference on the Diffusion of Educational Ideas, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich., March 26—28, 1968), pp. 16-21. 25 change agent—client relationships. Their behavioral goals are the securing of a commitment to experiment with the curriculum innovation. This process can be best illustrated by a short description of the activity at Michigan State University. Service courses of large enrollments pose problems for college and university departments. The content is of a survey nature for which the professor is highly special- ized in his approach. The Educational Development Project19 was asked for assistance in the development of the basic course in the Department of Geography. The department tried to cope with the growing enrollments in the basic course by hiring more instructors to teach additional sections. But each instructor was a specialist in one area of the general discipline. With this kind of explicit special— ization final exams were widely variant and in the words of the department chairman, "Geography 201 should have been treated as ten separate courses instead of one." So the basic decision was one of answering several questions. Do we add more sections or do we make the existing ones larger? How do we effectively utilize the talents of the graduate teaching assistants? What can be done with the slides, charts, graphs, motion pictures and other visual aids that have been prepared over the years? Is there 19"Revising a Basic Course," Educational Development Program Report, No. 15 (East Lansing, Mich.: Michigan State University Educational DevelOpment Program, January, 1968), pp' 1'3. 26 something that can be done with the quality of the teaching/ learning process? A complete re-thinking of the course seemed in order and Dr. Matley was assigned to spend half his time for one year on this project. First the basic decision was made to increase the size of the Geography 201 lecture sessions. Were there common concepts that could be taught? Dr. Matley then went to the Instructional Development Service for assistance. He was counselled in the value of estab— lishing behavioral objectives, the technique of problem posting, methods of evaluation and the utilization and in— tegration of the visual materials existent plus the neces- sity of creating additional ones for the expressed pur- poses called for by the insights gained under the instruc— tional development process. The development of a series of concepts were then presented to the numerous faculty who had been assigned to teach the course for their evaluation and suggestions. This composite example provides insight into a good deal more than the activities of the professional develop- ment person. It attempts to lay the groundwork for an understanding of the entire developmental process. It can be seen that the instructional development specialist is available to assist the faculty member who wishes to utilize the facilities and services available to him. These 27 services include a change agency skilled in determining behavioral objectives, instructional technology support and evaluation strategies. Discipline Centered, Positively Oriented to Change Faculty Member The study of instructional development quickly leads to the notion that formal courses of study can be evaluated in terms of their specified outcomes with feedback result- ing in a further refinement or refinements increasing the probability of the previously stated outcomes or causing the outcomes to be re-defined. In the earlier referred to Conference on Curriculum Innovation, Johnson20 has suggested several clusters of the generalized problem. He cites the role of the university in conflict with the frustrations of the students in the rigidity of its educational grasp. There is, in addition, little time for the faculty to consider alternative teaching/learning strategies and the "publish or perish" syndrome forces them to devote less time to the teaching function. This is coupled with the unavailability of cur- ricular machinery to deal with more than a superficial change. Finally he states that relevant strategies are not given the attention being demanded by all the other factors. 2OJohnson, "Action and Reaction: . . .," op. cit., 28 Given a strategy for curricular development what does the research evidence indicate? MacKenzie21 states teachers, students, subject matter, methods, materials/facilities and time as the determiners of curriculum. He later suggests a means of effecting curricular development by concentra- tion on the teacher component. Mort22 suggests that an un- usually long period of time elapses between the perceived need for curricular change and its introduction into the 23 system in the form of a specific plan. Evans makes a similar statement by commenting on the exceeding slowness of change in educational methods due to general faculty resistance and often open hostility. This inertness is also comically portrayed by Peddiwellel4 who showed that the curriculum designed for primitive man became an estab- lished pattern even after the conditions it had been de- signed for were dramatically changed by the environment. 21Gordon MacKenzie, "Curricular Change: Participants, Power, and Processes," in Innovation in Education, ed. by Matthew B. Miles (New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 196”), pp. A20-23. 22Paul Mort, "Studies in Educational Innovation From the Institute of Administrative Research: An Overview," in Innovation in Education, ed. by Matthew B. Miles (New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 1964), pp. 317-28. 23Richard I. Evans in collaboration with Peter Leppman, Resistance to Innovation in Higher Education (San Fransisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass Inc., 1967), p. 3. 214J. Abner Peddiwell, The Saber—Tooth Curriculum(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1939), pp. 25-AA. 29 The general lethargy of our past educational history toward change seems to be similar to the built-in compen- sation of our legal system. Since we can never know of a man's guilt or innocence, our culture seems to say "It's more important that guilty men go free than to put one innocent man to death." Perhaps the analogy to educa- tional innovation is comparable. "It's better to continue to educate as we do and risk missing out on some worth— while innovations than to make widespread adoption of one that would be ruinous to our children." 25 Rogers states,as a possible reason for the lethargy, the nature of a complex organization such as an educa- tional institution and the way the information flows through the communication channels. Therefore, knowledge of the flow of information about an innovation by teachers, the prime movers, seems essential. A positive orientation to the change process of the faculty member seems likewise essential for the Instruc— tional Development Specialist to be able to work effectively with the development model. It seems clear that until a problem is perceived by the faculty member; until a need is felt for the innovation (in this case undifferentiated help), no adoption, much less consideration, will occur. This is a strategy for the Instructional Development Specialist. Further examples of this strategy are: 25Rogers, "Needed Research . . .," cp. cit., pp. 16-21. 30 I'm getting bloody tired of giving each lec— ture twice. I understand that you people . . could make a film or something of me in the lecture hall and reach all of the students that way. Can you help me?26 . he believed that Dr. Green was keenly inter- ested in experimenting with instructional techniques . a preliminary conference . . . revealed that he was ready and willipg to participate in the project. 27 Harboring a conviction that students can be taught higher cognitive processes through other methods of instruction, the team decided to analyse one unit in order to develop an instructional strategy appropriate to this particular body of content.2 Dr. Sturr had previously visited the Center for Instructional Communications seeking the develop- ment of materials for his course. Because of his purpose and his eagerness when confronted with some new media, we approached him to determine his readi- ness. He was ready and willing to assist us in investigating this program.29 The previous approach situations reflect the neces- sity for the faculty member to be motivated, by a problem recognition, to seek out the services of the Instructional Development Specialist. Not until the individual actively enters the system with his perceived problem and willingness to be approached will any progress be made. Thus a major 26Gary N. Hess, "Education of a Professor," Educa- tional TV, 1, No. A (February, 1969), 20-22. 27Barson, Instructional Systems Development:. . ., 0p. cit., p. 28. 28Faris, Terminal Program Report: . . ., 9p. cit., p. 32. 29Barson, Instructional Systems Development: . . ., op. cit., p. 27. 31 emphasis will be to seek to determine which of two com— peting message strategies will increase the probability of acceptance of a given curriculum improvement by the teacher involved thus affording the higher proportion of acceptances. Since the objective of the change agent is to secure a commitment to adopt from a positively oriented faculty member; the question remains as to how best to put the in- formation for the highest probability of adoption. The research question deals therefore with the strategy for obtaining the commitment on the part of the faculty member to adopt the proposed innovation. In other words, should the message that the instructional development specialist present to the client be in the discipline area of the client or in a non-related area? The Instructional Process (Curriculum Innovation) A study of curriculum innovation must, of necessity, draw attention to the process of change itself. While the subject of change in curriculum content has been widely dealt with in professional literature, less concentrated efforts have been directed toward the all—important process 30 involved in bringing about desired changes. This process is of primary concern in this study. 30Charles A. Blackman, "The Process of Change" (mimeo- graphed handout, College of Education, Michigan State Uni- versity, East Lansing, Mich., 1965), preface. 32 Compressed speech is a specially processed recording in which rate can be varied without affecting pitch. It can be used to transmit increased amounts of information to more students in less time. It can also present more verbal narrative per unit time of visual display. Because of its recent development and the likelihood that the experimental population would be unfamiliar with the technique, it was considered appropriate for use as the innovation on which to test the hypothesis. Its inclusion is reviewed for reasons of determining maximum limits of intelligibility of the messages. Comprehension therefore is not being tested. The study of compressed speech was first begun by Garvey31 in 1953 when he hypothesized that abbreviated speech patterns retained their recognition. Fairbanks 32 and Kodman, working in the area of word intelligibility, demonstrated that compression rates up to 200 words per minute (wpm) were acceptable. Later it was found by Diehl, White and Burke33 that between 126 to 172 me, 31W. D. Garvey, "The Intelligibility of Abbreviated Speech Patterns," Quarterly Journal of Speech, 39 (1953), 296-306. 32Grant Fairbanks and Frank Kodman, Jr., "Word Intel- ligibility as a Function of Time Compression," Journal of Acoustical Society of America, 29 (1957), 636-“1. 33Charles F. Diehl, Ronald c. White and Kenneth Burke, "Rate and Communication," Speech Monographs, 26 (1959), 229-32. 33 listening comprehension was unaffected by changes in word 34 rate. Nelson, increasing word rate from 125 to 175 wpm and Harwood,35 increasing from 150 to 225 me found a slight loss in comprehension. Foulke, Amsler, Nolan and 36 Bixler found comprehension slightly affected by increasing word rate up to 275 words per minute. Voor and Miller37 demonstrated that a slight improvement existed in compre— hension during initial practice trials. However, Foulke38 found no such improvement from training. It seems evident therefore that comprehension of spoken materials is not significantly affected by increasing word rates up to about 250 to 275 words per minute. The evidence of where the precise point of decline is is lacking, therefore a word rate of under 200 wpm would seem to be safely within the established parameters. Since effects of practice are not clear it would again seem wise to avoid 3“Harold E. Nelson, "The Effect of Variation of Rate on Recall by Radio Listeners of 'Straight' Newscasts," Speech Monographs, 15 (19U8), 173-80- 35Kenneth A. Harwood, "Listenability and Rate of Presentation," Speech Monographs, 22 (1955), 57-59. 36Emerson Foulke, Clarence H. Amster, Carson Y. Nolan and Ray H. Bixler, "The Comprehension of Rapid Speech by the Blind," Exceptional Children, 29 (1962), 13A-U1. 37John B. Voor and J. M. Miller, "The Effect of Practice Upon the Comprehension of Time Compressed Speech," Speech Monographs, 32 (1965), "52-5"- 38Foulke, Op. cit, pp. 198—206. 34 possible contaminating sources of bias and eliminate any practice trials. The Communication Message (Related, Non-related) The study is focusing on the faculty member approach— ing the instructional development specialist with an ob- vious instructional problem. He is anticipating a presen- tation of information concerning his problem. The instruc- tional development specialist has several new ideas for his consideration. Since the faculty member is discipline oriented, the change agent is faced with several communica- tion strategies. The one of central interest to this study is: should the message about the process (innovation) be constructed around the discipline of the faculty member or should the message be constructed outside the discipline of the faculty member. 39 suggests that the discipline relatedness of Barson the message negatively affects its value. The content gets in the way of an understanding of the process being commu— nicated such that at the conclusion of the presentation the process under discussion is not understood. Rogers40 sug— gests that relative advantage of the innovation is positively 39Haney, Lange and Barson, 0p. cit., pp. 358—71. uoRogers, Diffusion of Innovations, cp. cit., pp. l2A-A7, 308-16. 35 related to its rate of adoption.Lll It is also noted that compatibility and fulfillment of perceived needs are also positively related to rate of adoption. Cohen's”2 research indicates that persuasive messages are accepted more read— ily when the source first creates a need then delivers a message which satisfies that need, rather than deliver a “3 message then create the need. Klapper notes that per- suasive communication messages are thought to be more suc- cessful with persons who had no prior opinion or who had a "neutral" orientation. Intuitively, the notion of direct application to content area seems plausible. In the Title VI-B Insti- tute at Indiana University in 1967, the strategy of direct example was utilized in the Mathematics and Microbiology departments during the initial phase.uu 45 Stowe, in a recent Audio Visual Instruction arti- cle, suggests that, in development activities, when visualizing experiences, the media professional is best advised to deal with issues having real reference to the 141Ibid., pp. 126-130. L4'QCohen, op. cit., pp. 1-22. u3Joseph T. Klapper, The Effects of Mass Communica- tion (New York: Free Press, 1960), p. 5A. uu Faris, Terminal Program . . ., op. cit., pp. 32-37. usRichard A. Stowe, "Putting Salt on the Tiger's Tail Or How To Work With Teachers," Audiovisual Instruction, 13, No. A (April, 1968), 335-37. ' 36 teacher's own classroom. Rhodes,)46 using Havelock's model of linkages, advises the instructional development special- ist to appreciate the client's internal needs and problem- solving patterns in order to make relevant and effective solutions. Peetu7 offers essentially the same advice for development decision making by emphasizing accuracy and relevancy of initial experience. Anderson“8 likewise sug- gests that producer services to the instructional develop- ment process provide related examples produced external to “9 state that the the classroom. Carpenter and Greenhill introduction of media must have clear relations to the faculty member's needs as he perceives them. When these needs are met through the perceived solution of critical problems, the introduction of the media is advanced, though 50 not assured. Miller, citing Carlson, indicates that people will accept (adopt) innovation which they both “6Lewis Rhodes, "Linkage Strategies for Change: Process May Be the Product," Phi Delta Kappan, LI, No. A (December, 1969), 2OA-207. “7Frank A. Anderson, "Hoban's Heroes Need Help," Audiovisual Instruction, 13, No. 3 (March, 1968), 254-57. uBDennis W. Peet, "A Model for Media Development," Training in Business and Industgy, 6, No. 1 (January, 1969), 25-28} “90. R. Carpenter and L. P. Greenhill, "Providing the Conditions for Learning: The 'New' Media," in Higher Education, ed. by Samuel Baskin (New York: McGraw-Hill Co., 1965), p. 147. 50Peggy L. Miller, "Change Agent Strategies: A Study of the Michigan-Ohio Regional Educational Laboratory" (unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Michigan State Univer- sity, 1968), p. 31. 37 understand and perceive as relevant. Witt51 comments that teacher preparation programs would do well to utilize the media by relating its use to the educational programs that attempt to train teachers to be good users of technology. 52 Ginzberg describes the process of relating subject matter to the real world experiences that the students will face 53 and are interested in. Rogers advises curriculum inno- vation planners to deveIOp innovations that have clear cut relative advantages over the techniques being replaced. Although the evidence appears to indicate the use of 5“ related messages the heuristic remains a testable hypothesis. Evidence of this is that Haney, Lange and Barson55 found when presenting information about an instructional process to the members of the 1965 instructional systems institute; the discipline related message strategy was not getting the adoption commitment. They found that when presented with information about the concept of programed 51 52Eli Ginzberg, "Manpower Needs in a Technological Society and Their Implications for Education," in Tech— nology and the Curriculum, ed. by Paul W. F. Witt (New York: Teachers College Press, 1968), p. A2- Witt, op. cit., pp. 5u-63. 53Rogers, "The Communication of Innovations: . . .," op. cit., p. 21. 5“The heuristic is labeled No. 14 in the AVCR article referred to under footnote 39 (page 3A) and is named: "Don't let subject matter interfere with an understanding of process." 55Haney, Lange and Barson, op. cit., pp. 358-71. 38 instruction in their subject matter area, the clients became concerned with the content of the process to the exclusion of the process itself. When subsequently ques— tioned about elements of the techniques of programing as it related to their instructional problems, they had missed the salient features of programing itself. It is therefore felt that the hypothesized strategy: that is, presenting information about an instructional process to a discipline oriented faculty member outside his area of expertise, if validated, provides an interesting and valuable alternative to the innovation process as practiced by the instructional development specialist. The Innovation Adoption Decision (Commitment, Non-commitment) The remaining question having bearing on this study is of the nature of the innovative/diffusion process. It will be necessary to discuss briefly the nature of the process as it relates to the study. r Rogers)6 has suggested that an innovation can be con- sidered as an idea, object or practice perceived as new by members of a social system having been communicated to via certain channels in the hOpe of its being adopted over time. 56Everett M. Rogers and J. David Stanfield, "Adoption and Diffusion of New Products: Emerging Generalizations and Hypotheses" (paper presented at the Conference on the Application of Sciences to Marketing Management, Purdue University, July 12-15, 1966), p. 3. 39 This is essentially what the instructional development specialist is about. The innovation/decision process is the amount of time required for an individual to pass from first knowledge of an innovation through an attitude for- mation stage to a decision point and finally on to evalua- 57 tion or confirmation. The process has, for this study, been collapsed from the four stages or functions to three; namely from knowledge to attitude formation to decision. This was done since the evaluation or confirmation stage was not available to the faculty members of the experi— mental population. The process has further been collapsed in time from an activity that is usually conceived to occur over some time to one which, of necessity, will occurin some— thing under one hour,the time available for the eXperiment. Several characteristics are thought to affect the adoption rate of innovations. Strong positive and negative relationships have been shown to exist between character- istics of an innovation and its subsequent rate of adoption. 58 Summarizing the research literature Rogers reports the following: 1. Innovations which have a perceived high relative advantage will be adopted more rapidly than those with little advantage. 57Rogers, "The Communication of Innovations: . . ., op. cit., pp. 10-11. 58Ibid., pp. A-5. K}? In addition, Rogers AO As the complexity of innovations increases, their rate of adoption decreases. The more convenient an innovation lends itself to limited trial prior to full-scale adoption, the more rapidly will be its rate of adoption. An innovation that is compatible with the existing nature of the individual will be adopted more rapidly. The more observable an innovation is in its use by others the more rapid will be its rate of adoption. 59 and others have postulated that a number of adopter categories can be thought to exist for the population of potential adopters. The categories are: l. 2. 3. A. 5. Innovator Early Adopters Early Majority Late Majority Laggard These categories define an individual's willingness to adopt, from the earliest (innovator) to the most reluctant. This study deals with the first or innovator category. As may be recalled from the opening chapter, for purposes of this study, the assumption is made that the 59 Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, op. cit., pp. 1A8-92. A1 subjects for this experiment are a—priori positively oriented to change and can be considered as innovators. The rationale for this stems from the research concerning 60, 61 and adopter categories as suggested by Rogers Hildebrand and Partheimer.62 They have established strong positive relationships between innovators and information seeking behavior, venturesomeness, and risk taking. The primary investigators have demonstrated that innovators travel directly to the source of the information they are seeking, rather than to rely on the local information sources such as neighbors. They are also known to parti- cipate to a greater degree in extension service activities. Travel is vital to the innovator who will go to some dis- tance to observe new techniques at other locations. Since the institute (Math-Science) was at some dis- tance for the participants, travel was necessary. The members selected to join the institute at their own voli— tion. Since the institute staff were considered as sources of information, these participants were conforming to the criteria of direct source information seeking. Their par- ticipation itself can be thought to be analagous to the greater degree of participation in extension service 60Ibid., pp. 168-88. 61Rogers and Svenning, op. cit., pp. 169-9A. 62Peter E. Hildebrand and Earl J. Partenheimer, "Socio-Economic Characteristics of Innovators," Journal of Farm Economics (May, 1958), AA6-A9. A2 activities on the assumption that this is a form of exten— sion work. It seems therefore that the selection of the participants as innovators is justified. It now seems apparent that the instructional devel- opment specialist has at his disposal the necessary pre— requisites to the implementation of the proposed model strategy. The faculty member has actively entered the system with a perceived instructional problem. He is positively oriented to change and has a strong discipline orientation. The instructional development specialist has an instructional innovation for the faculty member's con- sideration and evaluation as a proposed solution to the problem. The remaining question concerns the strategy of presenting the message about the innovation in a related or non-related manner. This is the research question which is dealt with in the following chapter. CHAPTER III PROCEDURES AND METHODOLOGY Statement of the Problem The primary concern of this study is the determina- tion of which of two competing message strategies is more probable to secure the adoption commitment of a faculty member to an instructional technology innovation. Stated differently, it is hypothesized that discipline centered, positively oriented to change faculty members will make more commitments to adopt when presented with a non- discipline related message than when presented with a discipline related message. Hypothesis The null form of the hypothesis is: there will be no difference between number of adoption commitments of faculty members who hear discipline related messages versus non—discipline related messages. Population To test this thesis experimentally, a population of appropriate subjects (N=AA) was obtained from three on- going Science-Math summer institutes for high school teachers in the three discipline areas of Mathematics, “3 AA Earth Science and Biology. Approval for their partici- pation and notification of experimental times was ob- tained from the various directors (see Appendix A). Message Construction Since the instructional innovation, compressed speech, was to be presented in verbal narrative form, a professional radio announcer was secured for the reading of the material in the messages. The researcher read the initial instructions to the experimental groups. Three messages (see Appendices B, C, and D) were constructed from textual materials which were provided by the directors of the various institutes as being rep- resentative of both the level and concepts being then currently taught in the three related disciplines.l’2’3 Introductory chapters were used as a basis for the message construction. Approximately nine minutes of nar- ration was obtained from each of the three texts. Deci- sion rules for the editing process included the elimina- tion of visual symbols, footnotes, paragraph headings and any graphic description. 1 G. Cuthbert Webber and John A. Brown, Basic Concepts of Mathematics (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., 1963), pp. 159-73. 2William L. Stokes and Sheldon Judson, Introduction to Earth Science (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968), pp. 2A9-52. 3 J. D. Watson, Modern Biology (New York: W. A. Benjamin, Inc., 1965), pp. 1-8. A5 A fourth message (see Appendix E), musical selec— tions, was constructed and judged to be "neutral" in con- tent as was each of the messages judged to be discipline related. A fifth message (see Appendix F), musical selec- tions (different from the above),was constructed to serve as an introductory musical environment which would serve to control entrance behaviors upon arrival at the lab. The five messages were then recorded on l/A inch audio tape prior to the experiment. Language Laboratopy Arrangements were made through the late Dr. Sergei Andretz for use of the Michigan State University language lab facility located in Wells Hall B-100. Thirty-six booths were reserved for three time periods during two days, July 1, 1969 at 3:00 P.M. and July 2, 1969 at 10:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M. The language lab was selected because of its large, flexible and controlled environment. Each of the 216 student stations has headphones with individual volume control, visual and sound separation from the adjacent booth and can be programed, from the master control room facility, to receive any one of twelve separate audio SOUPCGS . A6 Audio Component The three discipline related messages were then com- pressed on an Eltro Information Rate Changer MLR 38/15.u The amount and percentage of compression as well as time was kept constant across the three experimental message treatments (Ml=76.3%, M2=76.3%, M =75.A%). The non- 3 compressed control message was also the same length as the compressed experimental messages. The introductory music tape was constructed to be sufficiently long to allow all subjects to be in their respective booths ready for the experiment. In this way all subjects would be eXposed to equal treatment and experimental times (Ml=6:53, 3:6:55, MA=6:53)'5 All instructions for the eXperimental and control conditions were included on the M,=6:53, M tapes. “Mr. Anton Springer originally designed a device called the Tempo Regulator. The machine as re-designed and used is called the Eltro Information Rate Changer Mark II, MLR 38/15, and is available from Gothan Audio Corporation, 2 West A6th Street, New York, New York 10036. 5All tapes were timed and leadered to control for differences in presentation times. The tapes were within three seconds of each other. This variance is attribut- able to slight speed variations in the Eltro compressor and associated record and playback equipment at the time of compression. During the experiments tape recorder speed variations were again slight but were not judged significantly different from the recorded masters (see Table l for time comparisons during the actual experi- ment). A7 TABLE l.——Differences in Playback Times for Messages During Experiment. T1 T2 T3 M1 6:50 6:52 6:50 M2 6:50 6:53 6:52 M? 5‘5“ 6:52 6:52 J Mu 6:52 6:50 6:5A M5 11:58 11:55 12:01 M = Message Conditions T = Experimental Time 1 = Mathematics 1 = July 1, 3:00 2 = Earth Science 2 = July 2, 10:00 3 = Control 3 = July 2, 3:00 A = Biology 5: Music Introduction A8 Instrumentation A forty item Likert-type scale (see Appendix G) was constructed similar to that used by Trumbo.6 Additional 7 consultation with Davis and Warrington8 resulted in a limited pilot run (S=5) to determine final clarity of in- tent and time requirements.‘ The items were constructed to elicit extent of agreement or disagreement along a five step continuum.9 Analysis of variance was performed on the internal consistency of the commitment scales and is discussed further in Chapter IV. Validity for the data is assumed and is based on pre- vious work with this scaling technique. Page,lo Miller,ll 6Donald A. Trumbo, "An Analysis of Attitudes Toward Change Among the Employees of an Insurance Company" (un- published Ph. D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1958), Abstract, pp. 25- 32. 7Initial conference with Dr. Robert Davis of MSU's Learning Service. 8Dr. Willard Warrington, director of Evaluation Services, provided additional information on item con- struction. 9Fred N. Kerlinger, Foundations of Behavioral Re- search (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 196A), pp. 592-95. 10James L. Page, "NDEA Institute for Advanced Study in Educational Media," Final Report, Instructional Media Center, Michigan State University, July 31,1967 to Sept. 1, 1967, pp. 15- ~25, Appendices II, III, IV, V. llMiller, "Improvement in Media . . .," op. cit., pp. 29-80, Appendix D. A9 12 13 McIntyre, and Trumbo have demonstrated validity with the construction of similar scales and data. According to previous research studies by Rogerslu l5 and Kivlin, forty items were constructed and integrated to obtain as many measures of commitment to adopt by the subjects. Eight item units were constructed in each of the five characteristic groups which have been shown to exhibit strong positive relationship between innovation and rate of adoption. These characteristics are: 1. Relative Advantage 2. Compatibility 3. Observability A. Complexity 5. Trialability Thus an individual's total score is seen to be made up of components from each of the five characteristics. This score, when computed, is defined as the individual's com- mitment to adopt. 12Kenneth M. McIntyre, "A Study to Determine Specific Sources of Resistance to the Use of Audio-visual Materials by College and University Teachers and the Development of Procedures for Overcoming the Barriers to Optimum Use," Final Report, Title VII (A) NDEA, University of North Caro— lina, Chapel Hill, N. Car., 1963, pp. 28-50. 13Trumbo, op. cit., Abstract. l“Everett M. Rogers with F. Floyd Shoemaker, Diffusion of Innovations: A Cross-cultural Approach (Glencoe, N. Y.: Free Press of Glencoe, N. Y., 1970 in press), pp. 29—30. 15Joseph E. Kivlin, "Characteristics of Farm Practices Associated With Rate of Adoption" (unpublished Ph. D. dis- sertation, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa., 1960), pp. l2-A6. Randomization Procedures Approximately half (N=18) of the forty items were constructed as negatively oriented while the remaining (N=22) were positive. The items were then randomly or- dered for presentation in a linear sequence format. The experimental environment (language lab booth locations) was randomly assigned within array levels to the four treatment conditions (see Figure 3). The subjects were randomly assigned to booth loca- tions within array levels thus assuring random assignment to treatment conditions. Equipment Used Equipment used for the experiment included an Eltro Information Rate Changer II, two Ampex tape recorders (300-0, 351), a Magnecord 1020, and Crown 85 tape recorders and eighteen Brush Clevite headphones. All taped infor- mation was recorded at 7 1/2 inches per second, 1/2 track, monophonic with the exception of the pre-compressed masters. The verbal presentation of the messages was recorded with an ElectroVoice RE-15 microphone through a limited com- pression/equalized automatic gain reduction amplifier feeding a Magnecord 1020 tape recorder at 15 ips. full- track. This speed and track configuration being required for Eltro compression. The tape medium used throughout was Scotch (3M) 201-1200'. 51 B 31 B 32 B 33 B 3A B 35 B 36 A 2 1 2 3 A B 25 B 26 B 27 B 28 B 29 B 30 2 A 1 3 3 l B 19 B 20 B 21 B 22 B 23 B 2A 1 A 2 3 A 1 B 13 B 1A B 15 B 16 B 17 B 18 1 A 2 3 3 2 B 07 B 08 B 09 B 10 B 11 B 12 2 3 1 2 A 3 B 01 B 02 B 03 B 0A B 05 B 06 A 2 3 1 1 A Key: 2 = Mathematics 1 = Earth Science A = Biology 3 = Control All booths (B 01 to B 36) = Introductory Music Fig. 3.—-Language Laboratory Experimental Setup. Egperimental Procedures The experiment was conducted over a two day period. In order to disturb each of the three on-going institute sessions as little as possible, three time periods of one hour each were provided. Essential to the validity of the results was the stipulation that all experimental time periods be conducted as exactly the same as possible. The re— searcher spent many hours in consultation with the language lab technician who was to act as lab assistant until satis— fied that the procedure was not only practicable but also that the conditions necessary for the experiment were controlled. The subjects were instructed to report to the lab at the following times: Mathematics July 1, 1969 3:00 - A:00 P.M. Earth Science July 2, 1969 10:00 -ll:OO A.M. Biology July 2, 1969 3:00 - A:00 P.M. At the prescribed times, the subjects entered the lab and were randomly assigned to booths isolated for the ex- periment. Just prior to their arrival, the music intro— ductory tape was fed to all assigned booth locations. In each booth were pencil and inventory/instrument containing the initial instructions on how to proceed (see Appendix H). At the conclusion of the music introduction tape (11:58), all subjects had been able to complete Part I of the instrument (see Appendix I). At this time, all 53 occupied booths were switched to the randomly assigned message treatment conditions. The tape provided all fur- ther verbal instructions. During the running of the experiment, at each of the three time periods, the researcher randomly checked to be certain that the booth location indicated was, in fact, getting the message treatment which had been assigned to it. Section and seat locations were called for on each copy of the instrument but the procedure just mentioned was undertaken as a necessary precaution. It was ascer- tained that booths indicated were receiving the intended message treatment. At the conclusion of the experimental message treat- ments, the subjects were directed to fill out the ques- tionnaire instruments. On the last page they were in- structed to hand in the instrument and that they were free to leave. Questions about the "true" nature of the ex— periment were dealt with only after all forms were turned in. The total times of the experiments were: Mathematics 3:00 - 3:38 38 minutes Earth Science 10:00 -10:30 30 minutes Biology 3:00 - 3:A5 A5 minutes The overall design of the experiment is represented by Figure A. The experimenter was convinced that the experimental environment of the language laboratory offers real SUbJeCtS Messages Earth Science Biology Mathematics Control Earth A, 5, 9 l, 6, ll 2, 7, 10 3, 8, 12 Science Biology 30, 31, 35, 27, 32, 28, 33, 36 29, 3A, 39 37, A0 A1, A6 38, A2, A3 Mathema- l6, 17, 21, l3, 18, 1A, 19, 22 15, 20, tics 25 23, 26 2A Fig. A.--Subject Number in Each Experimental Condition. advantages to further research in this area. The control of extraneous variables such as visual distractions, sub- ject interaction and noise exceeds that commonly available to the experimental situations found in most classroom environments. Flexibility of the particular lab was also excellent and allowed the current research to function as naturally as possible. One criticism, however, is in the unnaturalness of the situation. The instructional development model process usually takes place in much more informal surroundings. However, given that the objective of an experiment is to provide as controlled an environment as possible to estab- lish the relationship between two or more variables, it was felt that the experimental criteria should take precedence. CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS OF DATA Review of Experimental Procedure The purpose of the current study was to determine, given a positively change oriented faculty in a specific discipline, which of two competing message strategies, i.e., related or non-related, would secure the higher mean number of adoption commitment decisions. A population of appropriate subjects were selected from three Science-Math Institute groups and randomly assigned to one of three experimental treatment groups. Each of the subjects were from one of three discipline areas which were: Biology, Earth Science, and Mathematics. A message, about a recent innovation in education called compressed speech, in each of the three subject matter fields was prepared and compressed. The three experimental conditions were related, non- related and control. Related was defined as an Earth Science message heard by an earth scientist; Biology mes- sage to a biologist and Mathematics message to a mathema— tician. Non—related was defined as an earth scientist, biologist or mathematician receiving a message other than one from his field. The control condition was a series of 55 56 musical selections having no relation with or to com- pressed speech. At the conclusion of the message treatments, all subjects took an instrument which attempted to assess their commitment to adopt the use of compressed speech in their teaching by asking them to respond to forty items composed of eight items for each of five characteristics of innovations previously shown to be strongly related to rate of adoption. Sypothesis The major hypothesis to be tested was that discipline centered, positively oriented to change faculty members will make more commitments to adopt when presented with an instructional technology innovation in a non-related sub- ject matter area than when the presentation is made to them in their own subject matter area. Analysis Procedure Several analyses were thought to be necessary to the thorough understanding and interpretation of the data. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test for major effects between the three experimental conditions. The F statistic was used to test for signi- ficance. Simple correlational analysis was performed for the five, eight item units of the instrument. Each question was correlated with t Analysis of variance istics means across t 57 he mean of its category descriptor. was computed on the five character- he three experimental treatment con- ditions and finally analysis of variance was computed on the characteristic me groups. Design for the Related 14’ 5’ 9’ Discipline 19, 22, 2 32, 37, A 10 Fig. Computer analys ans across the three discipline Major Effects One—way ANOVA is seen in Figure 5. Non-related Control 1n, 1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 3, 8, 12, 15, 7, 11, 13, 16, 17, 20, 2A, 29, o 18, 21, 23, 25, 3a, 38, A2, 26, 28, 3o, 31, A3 33’ 35, 36’ 393 41, L114 23 11 5.-—Subject Number in Experimental Conditions. is was performed on the data. At the .05 level of confidence, with 2 and A1 degrees of freedom, an F value of 3.23 wo tistical hypothesis 0 uld permit the rejection of the sta- f no difference (see Table 2). Table 2.-—Analysis of Variance Table for Major Effects. Source of Variance Between Categories Within Categories Total Spm_pf Degs. of Mggp F Value Squares Freedom Square 71.619 2 35.809 .517 NS 2837.562 Al 69.208 2909.181 A3 Clearly there is no statistical difference between the groups. Therefore the null hypothesis of no difference cannot be rejected. Instrument Analysis - Correlation It is necessary to obtain data on the instrument itself. Correlational analysis was performed on each of the five eight-item units which composed the instrument. These five characteristics had been previously shown to be strongly related to the rate of adoption of an inno- vation. These five units or characteristics are: Characteristic Question Number 1. Relative Advantage 2, 6, 10, 11, 19, 22, 25, 27 2. Complexity 1, 8, 9, 1A, 2A, 29, 30, 35 3. Compatibility 7, 17, 23, 26, 32, 3A, 36, 37 A. Observability A, 5, 12, 16, 18, 21, 33, 39 5. Trialability 3, 13, 15, 20, 28, 31, 38, A0 Thus for each of the eight questions in each of the five characteristic groups, a correlation coefficient will in- dicate the degree to which that question is related to the overall mean of the characteristic group. This value cor— responds to a consistency value for each question. The results for this analysis are presented in Table 3. The questions within each of the five characteristic groups can be seen to correlate reasonably well, with some 59 TABLE 3.—-Question Correlation Within Characteristic Groups. Characteristic Grogp, Question Number Correlation Value Relative Advantage 2 .18 6 .57 10 .70 11 .36 19 .A5 22 .A9 25 .57 27 .A6 Complexity 1 .60 8 .56 9 .3A 1A .69 2A .Al 29 .Al 30 .29 35 .AO Compatibility 7 .Al 17 .39 23 .57 26 .Al 32 .50 3A .50 36 .63 37 .A6 Observability A .53 5 .60 12 .A0 16 .A9 18 .1A 21 .71 33 .Al 39 2“ Trialability 3 -53 13 .35 15 .39 20 .AA 28 .A3 31 .6A 38 39 60 notable exceptions,1 with the mean value of the charac- teristic groups indicating that the questions seem to measure the characteristic consistently. This is not to imply complete endorsement of the instrument. With further refinement it would appear that the reliability could be increased with a corresponding increase in the strength of the confidence of interpretation. This will be ex- plained further in Chapter V. 1Derivation of expected correlation value determined by Mr. Bill Allard (Statistics consultant of Computer Center Applications and Programming). Assume all eight questions are uncorrelated, i.e., p(Xl, X ) = 0 if 1 ¢ j. J ‘ - = 2 = ihen cov