1. iMET Project: Fall Semester 2001 Debra CraneJohn Dunn Richard HoweAnn Sperske Michael Yee

2. The purpose of this assignment is to integrate instructional strategies and the usage of technology. The Purpose

3. An Action Research Approach: What’s the Problem? The flexibility and accessibility of the internet has opened up a brand new resource with which teachers can enhance their classes The flexibility and accessibility of the internet has opened up a brand new resource with which teachers can enhance their classes Many teachers either don’t realize or are hesitant to embrace the utility of a teacher web page Many teachers either don’t realize or are hesitant to embrace the utility of a teacher web page Effective training is necessary to assist teachers in realizing the creation of a teacher web page Effective training is necessary to assist teachers in realizing the creation of a teacher web page

4. Is the use of an advance organizer effective in staff development that addresses how to build a teacher web page? An Action Research Approach: What’s the Question?

5. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of using an advance organizer when training teachers how to build their own teacher web page. An Action Research Approach: What’s the Point?

6. The Strategy: Advance Organizer Fathered by David Ausubel, an educational theorist Fathered by David Ausubel, an educational theorist Unlike inductive approaches, provides concepts and principles directly Unlike inductive approaches, provides concepts and principles directly Activates a student’s prior knowledge (schema) so that new concepts can be connected to familiar ones. Activates a student’s prior knowledge (schema) so that new concepts can be connected to familiar ones.

7. The Strategy: Advance Organizer Actual tool should be a brief presentation (orally, visually or both) Actual tool should be a brief presentation (orally, visually or both) Practical to use when teaching a concept that involves complex relationships Practical to use when teaching a concept that involves complex relationships

8. Advance Organizer: Research Support “Advance organizers have shown a positive impact on learning outcomes by presenting direction and criteria to enable learners to utilize their own existing cognitive structures for information processing.” - Clifton Hatch & Francis Dwyer “Effect of Varied Advance Organizer Strategies in Complementing Visualized Prose Instruction”

9. Advance Organizer: Research Support “Teachers who introduce new materials to students through the use of advance organizers promote learning because advance organizers help students to organize, integrate, and retain materials to be learned.” “While studies have shown [advance organizers] to be effective with all grade and ability levels, the retention of lower ability students tends to profit the most.” - “What Have We Learned About Good Instruction?” What Have We Learned About Good Instruction?What Have We Learned About Good Instruction?

10. The Technology: World Wide Web Page/Internet The internet (more specifically, a webpage) seemed a natural “fit” to support the advance organizer strategy because of the textual and visual nature of web pages.

11. Determine the effectiveness of advance organizers: Determine the effectiveness of advance organizers: Two training groups with randomly assigned participants Two training groups with randomly assigned participants One group receives the advance organizer prior to the training, the other does not One group receives the advance organizer prior to the training, the other does not Assess the effectiveness Assess the effectiveness The Staff Development Session: A Brief Simulation The Staff Development Session: A Brief Simulation Integration and Implementation: