Abstract
The main purpose of this study is to identify and comprehend faculty members’ perception of attributes of the diffusion of the technological innovation CLEERhub.org at EAFIT University, College of Engineering, in Medellin, Colombia. Moreover, this work attempts to understand causes and motivators that might lead to innovation adoption or rejection. The Diffusion of Innovations Theory serves as the framework to develop an appropriate assessing instrument that allows accurate measuring of user opinions towards the practice of CLEERhub.org in their educational research work in Engineering. In order to correctly assess user perception of the embracement process of such technological/cyberinfrastructure innovation, the concept of Online Communities of Practice is taken also into account. Results, obtained in two collection rounds, indicate that one year after the introduction of CLEERhub the EAFIT engineering community is still located in the initial knowledge stage of the diffusion process.
Keywords
Diffusion of Innovations, Education, Engineering, CLEERhub
Date of this Version
4-5-2013
Department
Computer and Information Technology
Department Head
Prof. Fatma Mili, PhD
Month of Graduation
May
Degree
Master of Science
Head of Graduate Program
Prof. Jeffrey L. Whitten
Advisor 1 or Chair of Committee
Prof. Alejandra J. Magana, PhD
Committee Member 1
Prof. Alejandra J. Magana, PhD
Committee Member 2
Prof. Brandeis H. Marshall, PhD
Committee Member 3
Prof. Jeffrey L. Whitten