Motivating students to be engaged in learning, especially in math, has been a perennial challenge for educators. Over the past 20 years, instructional technology has become an increasingly prevalent teaching tool that, according to many educational observers and researchers, can have a transformative effect on teaching and learning because of the way that it engages today’s students. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the relationship between students’ perceptions of technology integration and situational interest in middle school math so that educational planners will be better informed when making instructional decisions concerning the use of technology in the math classroom. In this study, the relationship between students’ perceptions of teacher technology integration and situational interest in math was investigated using the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. A moderate, positive correlation was established and found to be significant [r=.461, n=223, pResults from this study showed middle school students who perceive a higher degree of teacher instructional technology integration show higher levels of situational interest in math. Results also indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in the relationship between perceptions of instructional technology integration and situational interest in math between sixth and eighth graders. No statistically significant differences in this relationship were found between any other sub-groups. The findings of this study suggest that instructional technology can be a motivating factor for middle school students regardless of sex, grade, or race and that educators should pursue student centered paths to instructional technology integration.
","abstract_html":"<p>Motivating students to be engaged in learning, especially in math, has been a perennial challenge for educators. Over the past 20 years, instructional technology has become an increasingly prevalent teaching tool that, according to many educational observers and researchers, can have a transformative effect on teaching and learning because of the way that it engages today’s students. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the relationship between students’ perceptions of technology integration and situational interest in middle school math so that educational planners will be better informed when making instructional decisions concerning the use of technology in the math classroom. In this study, the relationship between students’ perceptions of teacher technology integration and situational interest in math was investigated using the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. A moderate, positive correlation was established and found to be significant [<em>r=.461, n=223, pResults from this study showed middle school students who perceive a higher degree of teacher instructional technology integration show higher levels of situational interest in math. Results also indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in the relationship between perceptions of instructional technology integration and situational interest in math between sixth and eighth graders. No statistically significant differences in this relationship were found between any other sub-groups. The findings of this study suggest that instructional technology can be a motivating factor for middle school students regardless of sex, grade, or race and that educators should pursue <em>student centered</em> paths to instructional technology integration.</em></p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Thompson, James A., IV"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.)","degree_level":"Dissertation (open access)","degree_discipline":"Department of Leadership, Technology, and Human Development","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jason LaFrance","Paul Brinson"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:28:15Z","subjects":["ETD","instructional technology","situational interest","math","student perceptions","middle school","Curriculum and Instruction","Education","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/1191","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jason LaFrance","Paul Brinson"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Thompson, James A., IV"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-11-16T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Department of Leadership, Technology, and Human Development"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation (open access)"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["ETD","instructional technology","situational interest","math","student perceptions","middle school","Curriculum and Instruction","Education","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/1191"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Motivating students to be engaged in learning, especially in math, has been a perennial challenge for educators. Over the past 20 years, instructional technology has become an increasingly prevalent teaching tool that, according to many educational observers and researchers, can have a transformative effect on teaching and learning because of the way that it engages today’s students. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the relationship between students’ perceptions of technology integration and situational interest in middle school math so that educational planners will be better informed when making instructional decisions concerning the use of technology in the math classroom. In this study, the relationship between students’ perceptions of teacher technology integration and situational interest in math was investigated using the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. A moderate, positive correlation was established and found to be significant [r=.461, n=223, pResults from this study showed middle school students who perceive a higher degree of teacher instructional technology integration show higher levels of situational interest in math. Results also indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in the relationship between perceptions of instructional technology integration and situational interest in math between sixth and eighth graders. No statistically significant differences in this relationship were found between any other sub-groups. The findings of this study suggest that instructional technology can be a motivating factor for middle school students regardless of sex, grade, or race and that educators should pursue student centered paths to instructional technology integration.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Instructional Technology Integration and Situational Interest in Math"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jason LaFrance","Paul Brinson"],"dc:creator":["Thompson, James A., IV"],"dc:date.available":["2014-11-16T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Motivating students to be engaged in learning, especially in math, has been a perennial challenge for educators. Over the past 20 years, instructional technology has become an increasingly prevalent teaching tool that, according to many educational observers and researchers, can have a transformative effect on teaching and learning because of the way that it engages today’s students. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the relationship between students’ perceptions of technology integration and situational interest in middle school math so that educational planners will be better informed when making instructional decisions concerning the use of technology in the math classroom. In this study, the relationship between students’ perceptions of teacher technology integration and situational interest in math was investigated using the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. A moderate, positive correlation was established and found to be significant [r=.461, n=223, pResults from this study showed middle school students who perceive a higher degree of teacher instructional technology integration show higher levels of situational interest in math. Results also indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in the relationship between perceptions of instructional technology integration and situational interest in math between sixth and eighth graders. No statistically significant differences in this relationship were found between any other sub-groups. The findings of this study suggest that instructional technology can be a motivating factor for middle school students regardless of sex, grade, or race and that educators should pursue student centered paths to instructional technology integration.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/1191"],"dc:subject":["ETD","instructional technology","situational interest","math","student perceptions","middle school","Curriculum and Instruction","Education","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration"],"dc:title":["Instructional Technology Integration and Situational Interest in Math"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Department of Leadership, Technology, and Human Development"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation (open access)"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:28:15Z"}