Chapter 2: Role Of The Faculty Mentoring Program In The Adoption And Diffusion Of Instructional Technology: The Theoretical Perspective

Ultimately, the faculty technology mentoring program described in this book is designed to facilitate change in faculty members’ use of technology to improve instruction. The cases described in this book tell stories of both faculty adoption and diffusion of technology and we believe that Rogers’ (2003) Diffusion of Innovations Theory provides the most useful theoretical lens for understanding this process. Thus, we will use Rogers’ work as the primary theoretical lens for explaining how each element of the one-on-one faculty technology mentoring program contributes to encouraging the faculty adoption and diffusion. Although Rogers’ theory is the main theoretical frame used throughout this book, we also find Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977) and the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) (Hall & Hord, 1987) useful for explaining and interpreting our work. In Chapter 7, Pamuk uses the CBAM to describe the developing levels of concern of his faculty mentee. In this chapter, we provide an overview of Rogers’ diffusion of Innovations Theory, as well as an introduction to Social Learning Theory and the Concerns-Based Adoption Theory. We then briefly suggest how these theories guide and explain some of the findings in the cases described in Chapters 4-10.