| The purpose of this study was to examine the process used by academic affairs administrators at participating institutions of higher education to select instructional technology tools for faculty use in instruction in undergraduate classes. In addition, the researcher was interested how this process was informed by their institutions' commitment to best practices in undergraduate education, as articulated by Chickering and Gamson (1987) in their Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education . This study's focus was provided by its conceptual framework that consisted of four parts: (a) technology capacity, (b) procedures for selecting instructional technology tools, (c) Chickering and Gamson's (1987) Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education , and (d) institutional supports.; This study is a survey research study with a mixed methods research design. The population consisted of 147 higher education institutions that participate as members of the Teaching, Learning, Technology (TLT) Group. The study's purposeful sample of 68 institutions was drawn from the population based on their Carnegie Classification designations of Master's or Doctorate-Granting Institutions. A researcher developed online survey was completed by 27 respondents. In addition, 10 telephone follow up interviews were conducted to gather descriptive data to answer the research questions. Fifty-three findings, which served as the basis for this study's four conclusions and seven recommendations, were derived from the data collected from the two data sources.; This study concluded that adequate technology capacity is available for faculty use of instructional technology tools in their classes; however, participating institutions should not continue to expand their technology infrastructure without the guidance of a technology strategic plan that includes faculty pedagogical best practices. Also, the study concluded that there was no consistent basis for selecting instructional technology tools and that participating institutions should build a more permanent partnership between their technology experts and pedagogical experts as the key driver of its instructional technology tool selection process. In addition, higher education institutions must improve their faculty reward system, specifically the recognition of pedagogical best practices through faculty use of technology, in the institution's promotion and tenure process. |
