Date of Award:

5-2009

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department:

School of Teacher Education and Leadership

Department name when degree awarded

Higher Education

Committee Chair(s)

Gary Straquadine

Committee

Gary Straquadine

Committee

Brett Shelton

Committee

Andrew Walker

Committee

Doug Holton

Committee

Sheri Haderlie

Abstract

This dissertation examines Utah resident views of incentives and disincentives for use of OpenCourseWare (OCW) and how they fit into the theoretical framework of perceived innovation attributes established by Rogers. Rogers identified five categories of perceived innovation attributes, which include relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability.

A survey instrument was developed using attributes that emerged from a Delphi technique with input from experts in the OCW field. The survey instrument was sent to 753 (n = 753) random individuals between 18 and 64 years of age throughout Utah based on information obtained from Alseco Data Group, LLC.

Results indicated that the greatest incentives for OCW use were (a) no cost for materials (M = 4.59, SD = .68), (b) having resources available at any time (M = 4.35, SD = .89), (c) pursuing in depth a topic that interests me (M = 4.24, SD = 0.93), (d) learning for personal knowledge or enjoyment (M = 4.22, SD = .93), and (e) materials in an OCW were fairly easy to access and find (M = 4.12, SD = .98).

Results indicated that the greatest disincentives for OCW use were (a) there was no certificate or degree awarded (M = 3.28, SD = 1.54), (b) it did not cover my topic of interest in the depth I desired (M = 3.17, SD = 1.31), (c) lack of professional support provided by subject tutors or experts (M = 3.14, SD = 1.25), (d) lack of guidance provided by support specialists (M = 3.09, SD = 1.26), and (e) feeling the material was overwhelming (M = 3.06, SD = 1.31).

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