Professional Development Article Review 3

Professional Development Article Review 3

Professional Development Article Review

Barbara Powell-Schager

University of West Georgia

Overbaugh, R., & Lu, R. (2008, September 1). The impact of a NCLB-EETT funded professional development program on teacher self-efficacy and resultant implementation. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 41(1), 43-61. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. EJ810574) Retrieved June 23, 2009, from ERIC database.

This article is an unbiased and well written report of the authors’ research to determine how successful the professional development program implemented in 18 districts in Southeastern Virginia was at preparing and influencing teachers to integrate technology in their pedagogy. They used before and after training surveys that had been reviewed by outside researcher to verify their validity. The surveys were designed to determine if there was a sustained increase the participants’ self-efficacy regarding their knowledge of state technology standards, ability to use new technologies, and ability to create instructional units that genuinely integrate technology. They also evaluated whether participants’ demographic characteristics influenced the professional development program’s effectiveness. In addition, they interviewed 51 participants several months after the training to gain further insight into the effects of the training.

Overbaugh and Lu presented, and supported with many references, the idea that technology integration in instruction could only happen when technology was personally meaningful for teachers. They cited well established educational research that concluded that self-efficacy was a reliable measure of “a teacher’s desire to implement the teaching strategies he/she believes to be appropriate and efficacious…and perhaps more importantly, the tenacity with which he/she will persist in trying to do so” (Overbaugh & Lu, 2008, p. 45). Thus professional development was the way to imbue teachers with the knowledge and confidence to accomplish this. The authors carefully defined the key terms and concepts used in the article, for example using ISTE’s definition for “technology integration.” They acknowledged that the best way to measure integration of technology would have been to observe classroom instruction but explained that wasn’t possible due to the large number of teachers and schools involved. The professional development program included a variety of six-week online courses and two face-to-face one week courses offered during the summer. The online course topics ranged from very specific (i.e., how to use Inspiration in language arts instruction) to more generalized “how to integrate technology into instruction”. The summer courses were Tech Trek I which provided instruction on the use of software applications and Tech Trek II which focused on ways to use technology to create project based instruction.

The authors thoroughly analyzed the quantitative data, presenting their findings in narrative and tables which showed that the professional training did significantly “increase participants’ confidence and competence in technology integration” (Overbaugh & Lu, 2009, p. 43). They further concluded that the demographics of the participants made no difference in the program’s effectiveness. The most critical limitation of the study noted was the low response rate for the follow-up survey, which may have positively skewed their results. They suggest additional research should be conducted to analysis the cost/benefit between the two (online vs. face-to-face) professional development delivery methods.

This research article provides valuable information and is an excellent resource for the educational research community and those responsible for designing and implementing professional development for teachers. Both authors’ biographical information is evidence of their expertise in instructional technology and research. Overbaugh, in particular, has authored numerous articles for peer reviewed journals and has been cited by other educational researchers.