Environmental & Personal Factors Affecting Instructional Development by the Media Professional at the K-12 Level.

This study was designed to determine the relationship between personal and environmental variables and the amount of reported instructional development done by media professionals at the K-12 level in the state of Alabama, as well as the effect of those variables on the reported performance of instructional development activities within each domain delineated by the AECT. The study also attempted to identify those factors which might lead to increased amounts of instructional development by K-12 media professionals. Conclusions revealed a positive relationship of competencies, attitude, budget, empathy, and non-supervisory time with reported performance of instructional development activities; however, it was found that volunteer assistance--students or parents--did not contribute to the amount of instructional development undertaken. Recommendations include competency testing for media professional preparatory program graduates, research into empathy training, and an increase in non-supervisory time for media professionals. A list of references is provided. (Author/RAO)