Analysis of Satisfaction and Perceived Learning of Science in Different Distance Education Delivery Modes for Rural Elementary School Teachers Involved in a Professional Development Project

Abstract

The Science Co-op is a local systemic change project that connects eight regional clusters of elementary schools in rural Missouri and Iowa in the USA. These clusters are comprised of 38 school districts distributed over 40,000 square miles and include more than 1,400 teachers and 20,000 elementary school students. The project stresses inquiry science in the classroom and involves investigating science ideas using a constructivist approach and cross-curricular connections. Within the frameworks of the Science Co-op project a technology known as Interactive Television (ITV) allows for almost real-time interaction (a 3–5 second delay) within the state boundaries of Missouri and Iowa, respectively. The primary goals of the ITV sessions are to enhance the science content and science pedagogical knowledge among the population of elementary school teachers that they may have lacked in their prior education, and to reinforce and extend instructional strategies emphasized in this local systemic change project. In this study the participants' self-reported learning and reactions to live ITV sessions and videotaped, delayed broadcast of ITV sessions were compared. Regression analysis results show teaching experience's influence on overall satisfaction with ITV (p 0.05 for perceived new skills and content learned on the different modes of communication.