Comparison of Technology Use Between Biology and Physics Teachers in a 1:1 Laptop Environment

Abstract

Using a mixed-methods approach the authors compared the associated practices of senior physics teachers (n = 7) and students (n = 53) in a 1:1 laptop environment with those of senior biology teachers (n = 10) and students (n = 125) also in a 1:1 laptop environment, in seven high schools in Sydney, NSW, Australia. They found that the physics teachers and students reported more use of their laptops than did their biology counterparts, particularly in regard to higher order, engaging activities such as simulations. This disparity is consistent with the differences between the prescribed NSW physics and biology curriculum documents. The physics curriculum specifies that students should engage with various technologies (especially simulations) frequently within the course content, while the biology curriculum makes only generic statements within the course outline. Due to the curriculum mandate, physics teachers seemed to be capitalizing on the opportunities afforded by the 1:1 laptop environment, whereas the biology teachers had less of a mandate and, consequently, incorporated less technology in their teaching. A recent study found that senior students in a 1:1 laptop environment performed significantly better in external standardized examinations than did those without laptops in both biology and physics (Crook, Sharma, & Wilson, 2015). The effect sizes (Cohen’s d) of being schooled with 1:1 laptops in these subjects were 0.26 and 0.38, respectively. The substantially larger effect size in physics was an interesting result. Consequently, we determined to investigate why students in physics appear to be better able to leverage the opportunities afforded by a 1:1 laptop environment compared to students in biology. Additional questions included the following: