Teachers' perspectives on the use and utilization of instructional television

The purpose of this study was to identify factors which affect the use of instructional television (ITV) for teaching science, and to determine the "felt needs" of science teachers that must be satisfied to warrant additional use of ITV. This was a descriptive study including an ex-post facto analysis of the effects of certain teacher characteristics on teachers' opinion and stance toward instructional television.;The sample for this research consisted of 260 science teachers (5-12 grades) with affiliation to Science Education Council of Ohio (SECO). A survey instrument solicited science teachers' beliefs on 31 items related to the use of instructional television, their viewpoints on five specific criteria related to the mode of use, and information on teacher demographics. A Chi-square analysis was conducted using gender, subject, type of school and geographic location to estimate the match between the sample and the population. A Principal Component analysis was performed on the first part to reduce the variables to interpretable clusters. The data from the second part were reported through descriptive statistics. The effects of teacher characteristics on the factors identified in the first part were tested by multivariate analysis of variance. Finally the significance of teachers' "felt needs" were assessed using a "One-Within" multivariate design.;Eight factors and three unique items were identified as the variables influencing the use of instructional television. The factors which most teachers identified as influencing the uses of instructional television were: program content and quality (88.1%), opportunity for previewing (67.7%), accessibility (62.3%), and students' liking for programs (56.9%). The other factors which were less important were parents' support (17.3%), encouragement from the principal (10.4%), and opinions of colleagues (8.5%). The differences between "ideal" and "actual" conditions as rated by the teachers were statistically significant for all eight factors and the three items. Overall, science teachers exhibited a positive disposition toward using instructional television in their classrooms.;Future research should examine many of the variables which underlie each of the factors enumerated in this study. Instructional television producers should include teachers, media specialists and educators in the planning stage of instructional television programs. Finally, the ability of teachers to understand the visual messages of a medium should be evaluated and further developed.