A journal in family and consumer science - Article Example

Family and Consumer Sciences Journal Article The essay aims to address a two-fold objective to wit to select a journal article from the Family and Consumer Sciences; and (2) to describe and critique the article.Family and Consumer Sciences Journal ArticleIntroduction The article selected is entitled “Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher Use of Technology to Teach Higher Order Thinking Skills” by Beth Hirose. The article assessed and determined the use of technology and higher order thinking skills among Family and Computer Sciences (FCS) teachers, as well as the support and training rendered to teachers.

The purpose of the study is a two-fold objective: first, to determine whether northern Illinois FCS high school teachers felt sufficiently supported by their school and if they felt they had received enough technology training to instruct their students in the use of technology; and second, to determine whether teachers are actually using technology to teach higher order thinking skills in their classrooms (Hirose, 2011, 39). The focus of the study is the use of technology among FCS teachers and teaching of higher order thinking skills.

The audiences of the article are educators and students in the FCS and in the whole education field.Key Elements, Concepts or Ideas The key elements or concepts of the study include technology standards, higher order thinking skills, and teacher’s training using technology. The application of technology standards are created by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and students must demonstrate the six technology standards ranging from demonstration of creative thinking, knowledge, and innovative products and processes using technology, use of digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, application of digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information, use of critical thinking skills in research, projects, problems, and informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources, understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and legal and ethical behavior, and demonstration of a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations (Hirose, 37).

Technology standards are related to the second concept: the development of higher order thinking skills. These include analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The desire to be an educated person using the current technology has been shown to improve higher order thinking skills. The last concept is teacher’s training using technology. In order to be an effective teacher facilitating use of technology, teachers must receive adequate preparation in the form of training and professional development.

The strength of the study includes the vast array of literatures needed to support the assumption or proposition presented while its weakness includes the lack of clarity over variables or concepts under investigation. If concepts are investigated, it should be identified in the study; likewise, if variables are investigated, the independent and dependent variables should be identified (Polit & Beck, 2008, 89). Upon reading the article, it confused me whether the author was investigating the concepts or the variables because concepts and variables were both identified in the study.

Key Points One of the key points of the study stated that teachers have received adequate support and training in using technology; however, they tend to spend more planning prior to the use of the technology in the classroom. In addition, the teachers’ confidence with own ability to use technology in classroom is significantly related to requiring students to use a specific program. Thus, even though enough training was provided, teachers were still apprehensive of using technology skills directly as manifested by their request to have more planning time prior to teaching technology in the classroom.

Teachers also assessed students skills of using technology based on their own skills and conclude that if they were not able to use a material, software, or program, teachers also not expect the students to use the same materials. For instance, a teacher is instructed to attend a virtual classroom using tools like WebEx. The teacher received adequate training on dealing with virtual classroom and tools like WebEx but needs more time to facilitate it effectively. On the other note, if the teacher is not comfortable of using the tool, the teacher may think that the students are not also capable of handling the tools thus, requesting the administration to change tools to Skype or Adobe Connect.

Reaction and Summary It was nice to learn from the study that teachers were able to empathize with the students in terms of using technology; however, I do not agree with this key point and suggest that teachers must treat every student’s capabilities in using technology individually. A teacher teaching technology should not base what to teach in own abilities but rather, on the result of a reliable skill test. The study stated that teachers of Illinois FCS are confident in using technology and have received adequate training.

The NCATE and ISTE set the standards of using technology in teaching as technology standards enhanced higher order thinking skills. Teachers are expected to be competent and must strive for professional developments. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the teacher to be updated on the current trends in technology particularly in the software and hardware used in teaching.ReferencesHirose, B. (2011). Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher Use of Technology to Teach Higher Order Thinking Skills.

Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences Education, 29(1): 36-45.Polit, D.E. & Beck, C.T. (2008). Conceptualizing Research Problems, Research Questions, and Hypotheses. Nursing Research: Generating and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice (8th ed.) (p. 81-104). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.