ICLS 2000 Proceedings

Investigating the Mutual Adaptation Process in TeachersÕ Design of Technology-Infused Curricula

Brian J. Reiser, James P. Spillane, Franci Steinmuller, Don Sorsa, Karen Carney, and Eleni Kyza
Northwestern University
2115 N Campus Dr.
Evanston IL 60208
Tel: 847-467-2205 Fax: 847-491-8999
Email: reiser@nwu.edu, j-spillane@nwu.edu, f-steinmuller@nwu.edu, d-sorsa@nwu.edu, k-carney@nwu.edu, kyza@ils.nwu.edu

Abstract: We investigate the challenges that face teachers in their role as collaborators in the design of technology infused reform, and the challenges they perceive in making inquiry and technological tools an integral part of their teaching practice. Teachers' concerns about students, both technology-related and concerns about the difficulty of the academic tasks, outweighed those about teaching. Teachers' task concerns had to do chiefly with the ambitious and open-ended nature of the task and whether students would have the necessary background conceptual knowledge and skills. We also examine the solutions teachers developed to address these concerns, and illuminate important differences between the stance of researchers and that of teachers in the collaborative design process.

Keywords: science education, curriculum, teacher beliefs and practices, technology planning

Preferred Citation Format:
Reiser, B.J., Spillane, J.P., Steinmuller, F., Sorsa, D., Carney, K., & Kyza, E. (2000). Investigating the Mutual Adaptation Process in TeachersÕ Design of Technology-Infused Curricula. In B. Fishman & S. O'Connor-Divelbiss (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference of the Learning Sciences (pp. 342-349). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

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