An examination of the extent and endurance of a technology-based staff development program on the epistemological, ontological, and methodological beliefs of high school chemistry teachers

摘要

The purpose of this qualitative, narrative study was to examine the extent andendurance of influence a technology-based professional development program had on theepistemological, ontological, and methodological beliefs of selected high schoolchemistry teachers. Three participants of a technology-based professional developmentprogram were interviewed with additional insight provided by this author, who was aparticipant in the program.Evidence of an epistemological, ontological, and methodological change in theparticipants was indicated by their self-proclaimed change in attitudes concerning the useof inquiry-based learning and information technology in the classroom. The participantsunderstood and related the importance of incorporating inquiry-based learning andinformation technology into their classroom methodology and provided examples of theirapplications. Findings of this study reveled that the participants acknowledged the effectivenessof inquiry-based learning and information technology teaching strategies, but did not fullyimplement either strategy citing time constraints, lack of resources, and statewideaccountability testing. A surprising finding was that the participants did not use thetechnology-based instructional strategies to prepare students for the TAKS test.