Teachers' beliefs and their intention to use interactive simulations in their classrooms

• Published in: South African journal of education Vol. 30; no. 3; pp. 439 - 456
• Main Authors: Stols, Gerrit, Kriek, Jeanne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Education Association of South Africa (EASA) 01.08.2010; Education Association of South Africa
• Subjects: Behavior; Beliefs; Correlation; Education & Educational Research; Education, Scientific Disciplines; Educational Technology; Factor Analysis; Foreign Countries; Grade 10; Grade 11; Grade 12; Institute for Science and Technology Education, UNISA; Intention; Interaction; Interactive simulations; Interviews; Likert Scales; Pedagogy; Peer Influence; PhET project; Physical Sciences; Physics; Questionnaires; Regression (Statistics); Science Instruction; Science Teachers; Secondary School Teachers; Simulation; Social interaction; Teacher Attitudes; Teacher beliefs; Teachers; Teaching; Technology Integration; Technology Uses in Education; Theories; Theory of Planned Behaviour; University of Pretoria; Workshops; South Africa; Theory of Planned Behaviour; teacher beliefs; PhET project; interactive simulations; physics
• ISSN: 0256-0100; 2076-3433; 2076-3433
• DOI: 10.15700/saje.v30n3a284

In this pilot study, we sought to examine the influence of the beliefs of Grade 10 to 12 physical science teachers on their intended and actual usage of interactive simulations (Physics Education Technology, or PhET) in their classrooms. A combination of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the Technology Acceptance Model and the Innovation Diffusion Theory was used to examine the influence of teachers' attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control on their intention to use simulations in their classrooms. Using regression and factor analyses, it was found that beliefs about the perceived usefulness and the pedagogical compatibility of PhET have a significant effect on teachers' attitude towards the use of the simulations in their classrooms. The expectations of the teachers' colleagues contribute to the subjective norm of these teachers. The regression and partial correlation result also highlights the importance of teachers' general technology proficiency. Although we were not able to confirm a direct link between attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, and the teachers' behaviour intention we show the influence of behaviour intention on the actual use of the simulations with an accuracy of 70.83%.