Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Education

Advisor

Gladys Arome

Abstract

Postsecondary faculty do not provide detailed, individualized, and timely feedback to students, although faculty and students consider feedback an integral aspect of higher education. Text expander technology, or software programs that automatically convert snippets of predetermined text into longer phrases, can aid postsecondary faculty in providing digital written feedback, but little quantitative research exists regarding postsecondary faculty adoption of text expander technology. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the perceived attributes of Rogers’ diffusion of innovation theory that predict postsecondary faculty adoption of text expander technology. The research questions were related to the frequency at which postsecondary faculty adopt text expander technology to provide digital written feedback and to what perceived attributes of innovation predict postsecondary faculty adoption of text expander technology. The study included the use of an online survey and a random sample of 321 participants regarding the relationship between postsecondary faculty adoption of text expander technology and the perceived attributes of innovation, followed by data analysis using binary logistic regression. The results showed that 208 (64.8%) postsecondary faculty considered themselves adopters of text expander technology, while 113 (35.2%) did not, and the perceived attributes of relative advantage (p < 0.001), complexity (p = 0.04), and observability (p = 0.003) predicted postsecondary faculty adoption of text expander technology, supporting Rogers’ diffusion of innovation theory. The study results support positive social change by clarifying the employment of digital written feedback practices to improve student engagement in higher education.

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