Use of integrated technology for teaching multicultural concepts for children in second grade

• Main Author: Bruning, Merribeth J.
• Other Authors: Stroud, James C.
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Multicultural education > Activity programs.; Educational technology.; Visual literacy.; Media programs (Education)
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/175288; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/861396

The purpose of the study was to determine if instruction with or without the use of integrated technology made a significant difference in the mean scores of second grade children in a unit of instruction concerning multicultural education and if there were any gender bias.The unit for Multicultural Education was created by the researcher. The researcher designed the Multicultural Cognition Assessment I (pretest), Multicultural Cognition Assessment II (posttest), and Child Preference Inventory instruments.The school corporation chosen as the site for the research had two elementary schools in neighboring towns with two sections of second grade each. Each school had a racially homogeneous population (Caucasian) and similar technology available. One class from each school received lessons with technology, and one class was taught without technology. There were 90 students in the study with complete data available for 78 students. After an initial observation, the researcher conducted the study on Wednesdays for six subsequent visits.ResultsA repeated measures analysis with one within-subject factor (pretest, posttest) and two between-subjects factors method (showing the difference between the use of technology and without technology and gender) was used to test Hypothesis I and II. Hypothesis I concerned the method of instruction and resulted in p = .445>.05. Hypothesis II concerned the effect of gender and resulted in p = .075>.05. No significant differences were found. Both hypotheses were accepted. There was no interaction effect between method and gender. There was a significant difference between the overall mean scores in the Pretest and Posttest analysis at p = .007<.05. A one sample t test was applied to determine if the mean of the overall preference was zero on the Child Preference Inventory. The result of the one-tailed t test resulted in t value of 13.32 with p = 0.000, indicating a positive response toward technology. === Department of Elementary Education