A Case Study for Evaluating the Diffusion of Computing Technology in Teaching Undergraduates by a Faculty in a Journalism and Mass Communication Program.

A case study investigated how journalism and mass communication faculty members diffused and used computing technology in teaching. Subjects, 21 tenured and tenure-track faculty members in a mid-sized journalism and mass communication department, completed an indeptb questionnaire designed to measure the general attitude of the faculty towards computing, the level of computer use, current and desired use of computing in teaching, and general demographics. From the data, four distinct user groups emerged with the following charactr.xistics: (1) "programmers" are heavy computer users, personalize the computer system to meet individual needs, and use computing extensively in their teaching; (2) "processors" use the corny .ter to process information, as a tool to replace a previous met.od, and as a tool in the classroom; (3) pre-processors see the value of computing and are motivated,to learn more about it; and (4) "non-users" do not use the computer for teaching or other work. Results indicated that most faculty members use computer technology simply to replace past methods with a heavy use of word processing functions and little use of more sophisticated word processing, authoring programs and other available software. Results also indicated that for most faculty a primary source of computing information would be colleagues perceived as knowing about computing. (Two tables of data are included; 17 references are attached.) (RS) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the origina] document.