Ward, West, & Isaak Mentoring: A strategy for change in teacher technology education.

Ward, J. R., West, L. S., Isaak, T. J. (2002). Mentoring: A strategy for change in teacher technology education. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 10(4), 553-569.

Summary: This mixed methods study used the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) to understand freshmen preservice teachers’ (protégés) and their mentors’ (sophomore and junior preservice teachers in an instructional technology course) stages of concern as they experienced a mentoring program designed to help the protégés use the internet for teaching and learning.

Research Question(s): None specifically articulated. The purpose was identified. “The focus of this study was on whether or not and in what ways a peer-mentoring program shifted concerns about use of the Internet as a tool for teaching and learning. Specifically, did mentors and protégés move from a focus on self toward a focus on task and impact as a result of the mentoring process?” (p. 557).

Participants: 45 mentors and 65 proteges

Qualitative, Quantitative, Mixed: Mixed – Survey (The Stages of Concern Questionnaire) and open-ended survey questions.

International: Not identified but presumed to be the United States given the authors.

Data Collection Tools (Methods): The Stages of Concern Questionnaire and open ended survey responses.

Key Findings:

The survey instrument was inadequate for understanding these preservice teachers’ stages of concern and needed to be modified. The questions in the survey did not address personal concerns, and that seemed to be of utter importance to the preservice teachers. The preservice teachers rarely focused on concerns of impact. Instead, their concerns remained primarily on the self and at the task level despite the mentoring program.

Key Words: preservice teachers, technology, peer mentoring, preservice teachers stages of concern,