Content area
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between selected characteristics of home economics teachers and preferences for the use of computer-related materials and activities to achieve learning objectives. Characteristics examined included: teacher learning style, years of teaching experience, content area of teaching, level of computer experience, and content area of computer use. Data for analysis were collected through the use of written instruments from teachers participating in inservice computer applications workshops.
The major findings included: (1) The preference for computer use in home economics instruction increases as the tendency toward an abstract sequential learning style decreases. (2) There was no difference in preference for computer use in instruction between teachers experienced in computer use and those inexperienced in computer use. Regardless of experience, home economics teachers indicate a willingness to incorporate computers into the curriculum. (3) There was no relationship between the home economics content area of teaching and preference for computer use in instruction, indicating that preference for use of the computer in the classroom is unrelated to content. (4) Teachers did not differ in their preference for computer use based upon years of teaching experience. To the extent that years of experience may be equated with an increase in age, this finding indicates that older teachers may be as likely to want to use computers in their classrooms as younger teachers. (5) Teachers with a tendency toward a concrete sequential learning style were less likely to prefer using a computer in the child development content area, indicating that the characteristics of this learning style may not be flexible as the curriculum of the content area might demand. No significant relationships between learning styles and preference for computer use in other content areas were found.