Using four IMPACT innovations as examples (EXPER SIM, Guided Design, TIPS, and Student-to-Student Counseling), this study attempts to define the nature of technological and social changes in university teaching. Data were gathered in three phases: (1) a questionnaire was mailed to individuals who requested information; (2) the adopters of…

Since 1970, 90 adopters in 67 universities have used EXPER SIM for teaching research design and strategy to college students through computer simulation. An analysis of EXPER SIM as an innovation revealed that implementation of the program was not necessarily retarded by its computer dependence. Administrative support seemed to be important in the…

The nature and timing of decisions regarding the diffusion of new instructional materials and practices are critical to the ultimate utility achieved by a curriculum project. This publication is a collection of five conference papers which deal with various aspects of diffusion of innovative materials and ideas. Everett M. Rogers discusses two…

Presents an overview of research on innovations and organizations. Criticizes past research and calls for a focus on process research in future investigations, moving from a stage-by-stage conception of the innovation process to a dynamic, continuous conception in which the variables involved are sequenced and analyzed through time. (SR)

A study was conducted to determine the diffusion of educational innovations to urban and rural government secondary schools of Thailand and to teachers within these schools. Data were acquired by selecting 38 schools at random and having 629 teachers, 38 principals, and 66 changwad (provincial) education officers complete questionnaires. Some of…

How do innovations (defined as idea, products, and practices perceived as new by an individual) diffuse to members of a social system? The authors answer this and other questions about the character of innovators, the rate of adoption of ideas, and the decision-making process in 103 generalizations about diffusion of innovation. These propositions…

Utilizing nine schools located in the San Francisco Bay area, a study was conducted to examine the patterns by which microcomputers are accepted and implemented in high schools. Rather than the educational or social effects of this new academic resource, the study focused on: (1) the process of the behaviors and decisions leading to the…

The change process can be described as a cycle consisting of 5 phases: invention, diffusion, decision, adoption-rejection, and consequences. Poor communication between inventor and user is probably the weakest point in the educational system. Most innovative decisions are made by the school system rather than individual teachers. Characteristics…

Drawing on examples and evidence from social science research on the diffusion of ideas, social movements, and several other related fields, nine propositions dealing with the interrelationships between social structure and social change are explored. (Author/MB)

Supplementing an earlier work, this bibliography lists all new publications on diffusion of innovations (75 new nonempirical and 184 coded empirical studies) added to the Diffusion Documents Center, Michigan State University, from July 1967 to September 1968. Psychology, anthropology, agricultural economics, general economics, communication,…

This document reports results from an exploratory investigation into the adoption and use of microcomputers in the home, which involved interviews with 77 home computer owners, 19 individuals who were in the process of computer adoption, and a small sample of home computer manufacturers and retailers. The first two chapters provide information on…

This article reviews lessons learned from the agricultural extension model that may apply to the proposed cooperative extension service in education. The agricultural extension model is a user-oriented system linking knowledge producers with other knowledge users. In education, the adopters of innovations may be organizations as well as…

The nature of the Cooperative Extension Service in agriculture was examined to identify aspects that could be applied to the design of an educational extension service. To learn about the organization, programs, and priorities of Cooperative Extension, employees of the state extension services in California, Colorado, New Mexico, New York, and…