Staff Attitudes to Instructional Innovation in Higher Education

Abstract This exploratory study deals with staff attitudes to programmed instruction, and tests hypotheses developed from a consideration of: 1. Those features of programmed instruction which are relevant to the problems faced at present in higher education. 2. The characteristics of staff in higher education. 3. Those factors reported in the literature as likely to influence the attitudes of academic staff to innovations. The findings presented are based on a survey of a stratified random sample by both interview and questionnaire. The relationships between the variables measured prove to be more complex than expected, and suggest that different departments would react differently to any attempt to introduce programmed instruction, probably because of differing attitudes as to the nature of the subjects being taught. Attitudes to students and to university expansion also appear to be important factors in the formation of attitudes to programmed instruction. There is a clear need for further research in t...