Examining K-12 Teachers' Affective Job Satisfaction and Perceptions of Blended Instruction

Examining K-12 Teachers’ Affective Job Satisfaction and Perceptions of Blended Instruction by Michael Hiett EdS, Valdosta State University, 2012 MPH, Georgia State University, 2008 BS, Lee University, 2006 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Education Walden University November 2016 Abstract The increasing use of blended models of instruction within the U.S. public school system is transforming the K-12 education. However, few studies have been conducted of the innovation-adoption process involving blended instruction within the K-12 public school sector. In this nonexperimental, quantitative study, Rogers’s five perceived attributes of innovations was used as a theoretical lens to explore how teachers’ affective job satisfaction might affect the innovation-adoption process at the individual level. Research questions pertained to the relationship, if any, between affective job satisfaction among teachers and their perceptions of the complexity, compatibility, and relative advantage of blended instruction. Surveys were administered to middle school teachers (n = 40) in the core curriculum within southeastern U.S. schools. Data were analyzed for relationships using Spearman’s correlation; relationships found to have statistical significance were further explored using ordinal logistic regression. Affective job satisfaction had a moderately positive and statistically significant relationship with how participants perceived the compatibility and relative advantage of blended instruction (rs = .487). However, the relationship was inconsistent among subgroups, varying from rs = . 181 (n = 13) to rs = . 693 (n = 10). Findings could be used to promote positive social change by providing insight into the role of affective job satisfaction within the innovation-adoption process within the K-12 sector.The increasing use of blended models of instruction within the U.S. public school system is transforming the K-12 education. However, few studies have been conducted of the innovation-adoption process involving blended instruction within the K-12 public school sector. In this nonexperimental, quantitative study, Rogers’s five perceived attributes of innovations was used as a theoretical lens to explore how teachers’ affective job satisfaction might affect the innovation-adoption process at the individual level. Research questions pertained to the relationship, if any, between affective job satisfaction among teachers and their perceptions of the complexity, compatibility, and relative advantage of blended instruction. Surveys were administered to middle school teachers (n = 40) in the core curriculum within southeastern U.S. schools. Data were analyzed for relationships using Spearman’s correlation; relationships found to have statistical significance were further explored using ordinal logistic regression. Affective job satisfaction had a moderately positive and statistically significant relationship with how participants perceived the compatibility and relative advantage of blended instruction (rs = .487). However, the relationship was inconsistent among subgroups, varying from rs = . 181 (n = 13) to rs = . 693 (n = 10). Findings could be used to promote positive social change by providing insight into the role of affective job satisfaction within the innovation-adoption process within the K-12 sector. Examining K-12 Teachers’ Affective Job Satisfaction and Perceptions of Blended Instruction by Michael Hiett EdS, Valdosta State University, 2012 MPH, Georgia State University, 2008 BS, Lee University, 2006 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Education Walden University November 2016