Beyond the "How To"

A Dual-Framework Model to Drive Strategic LMS Adoption and Empower Student Success

Abstract

This study investigates the adoption and use of the Learning Management System by mathematics faculty at a community college using the combined perspectives of Everett Rogers’s Diffusion of Innovation Theory and Arthur Chickering’s Seven Principles of Good Practice. The study examines faculty perceptions, usage patterns, and how Rogers’s five attributes, relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability, help explain adoption. Chickering’s principles highlight the pedagogical motivations, including prompt feedback, student–faculty interaction, and active learning, that make technology instructionally meaningful. Using a cross-sectional online survey of seventeen mathematics faculty members, the findings indicate that instructors view the Blackboard platform as a valuable tool for communication, grading, and course organization. Adoption is shaped primarily by perceived relative advantage, compatibility with teaching practices, and visible outcomes, while complexity and limited opportunities for experimentation remain partial barriers. The results further show that pedagogical utility, defined as the extent to which technology supports effective teaching, plays a central role, not explained by Rogers alone. Integrating both frameworks, the study proposes a Support Decision Matrix that maps LMS tools according to “Ease of Use” and “Teaching Value”, offering institutions guidance for targeted training, gradual implementation, and peer-supported instructional improvement.