A study of project management capacity for instructional technologists

• Main Authors: Yi-Ru Chen, 陳怡如
• Other Authors: 何俐安
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/77474889363816634315

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 教育科技學系碩士班 === 95 === Due to the fast changing information technology and theory development in teaching and learning, Instructional Technology, as a profession, gradually becomes visible in various settings. For the past decades, professional organizations and scholars have spent numerous efforts in analyzing the competency of instructional technologists. The results show not only they should encompass instructional design skills, but managerial capabilities. The present research is a study in exploring the core competency that instructional technologists should demonstrate in project management. The study also tries to investigate the inter-relationships among various dimensions of project management skills and knowledge. The results of this research can be great pointers to Instructional Technology, or related, departments, for better arrangement of their academic curricula. Compared with other departments in the related field, the Department of Educational Technology at Tamkang University was established furthest, and therefore this study targets at the alumni who graduated from the department of Educational Technology at Tamkang University and who are currently working in schools and enterprise''s organization. The questionnaire-survey method was used to collect data. 313 questionnaires were distributed, and 171 were returned. With 33 invalid questionnaires, the valid return rate was 44.09%. The results of the research indicated that both professional knowledge and application capabilities of project management were important and essential to instructional technologists. Among the components of the professional knowledge, having the abilities to analyze and to finish a project were the most important, while purchasing management, cost management, and risk management were the least. On the other hand, among application capabilities, dealing with interpersonal relationship was of primary importance. Furthermore, the Pearson correlation coefficient showed there was a positive correlation between the professional knowledge and application capabilities, which means they complemented each other, and neither could be dispensed with. The research also found the instructional technologists’ backgrounds, except for job position and industry, had no influence on their competency in project management. The instructional technologists in different job positions differed in professional knowledge, especially in finish phase; those who worked in different industry had varied application capabilities, particularly in administration and planning. Based on the findings, this research offers suggestions to colleges, enterprise''s organization and individuals to improve the capabilities of project management.