Hamish Macleod

The effect of computer use on gender differences in attitudes to computers

An automatic polishing installation in which workpieces are advanced along a path to successive spaced polishing stations where the advancing travel is temporarily halted and the work pieces are each rotated about a respective axis perpendicular to the direction of advance. The workpieces and/or the polishing heads at the pollishing stations may also be moved along directions which are transverse to the direction of advance and to said axis of rotation so that the polishing heads cover the centre surface of the workpieces which usually have non-planar configuration. If desired, means may be incorporated for programming differently the various workpiece supports for accommondating several different shapes of workpiece.

Independent student learning aided by computers: an acceptable alternative to lectures?

Abstract Computer-based learning (CBL) is now a feature of many university curricula. Where CBL is used to replace traditional teaching, it is important to monitor its effectiveness in relation to the forms of teaching it replaces. A previous study (Dewhurst, D.G., & Williams, A.D. (1998). An investigation of the potential for a computer-based program covering the cardiovascular system to replace traditional lectures. Computers and Education 31, 301–317.), employing a cross-over design, of a single cohort of undergraduate students who used either a specifically-designed CBL package or received lectures, demonstrated that student-learning was equivalent, and that students’ attitudes to using CBL became more positive after they had experienced using it. One problem with the study was that it was carried out in a tutor-supported environment which may not reflect how CBL would be used in a real teaching situation, i.e. for learning independent of tutor support. Here we report the results of a second study, carried out in the same UK University on a subsequent cohort of undergraduate students studying a first year Human Physiology module. It employed standard evaluation tools to measure the effectiveness of replacing six 1-h lectures on the cardiovascular system with CBL materials developed in-house. The CBL materials were used in a learning environment in which students were responsible for organising their own learning; tutor support was not provided and a standard module assessment (summative, unseen course examination) was used. Questionnaires, delivered before and after the CBL learning experience, were used to assess students’ perceptions of the usefulness and effectiveness of the CBL materials compared to lectures. The results suggested that students were able to organise their own learning effectively, they were generally positive about using CBL, and learning, as measured by examination performance, was equivalent in an area of the module content wholly supported by CBL to that in an area supported by lectures.

A survey of attitudes to, knowledge about and experience of computers

Abstract There is some concern that relatively few students in the U.K. elect to study computing and that this number is declining despite the high pay levels of computer staff and emphasis on computing in education. Variables known to be associated with the extent to which an individual is likely to make use of computers are background discipline, attitude to computers and IT, attitude to technology in general, experience of computers and gender. The present study investigates the relationships between these variables for 928 students at an institution of higher education. Subjects had been selected to fall into four discipline areas: COMP (computer/electronic studies), SCIENCE (science courses), HI-IT (non-science courses making heavy use of IT) and LOW-IT (non-science courses making relatively low use of IT). Results indicated that on entry to college, students in the COMP category had more experience with computers than students in other categories and that across all categories, except HI-IT, males had more experience with computers on entry than females. Students in the COMP category also had significantly more knowledge about computers than other students and across all categories males had more knowledge than females on entry. There were relatively minor differences in attitudes to computers and IT with COMP students being slightly more positive than students in the other categories, and there were no differences in attitudes to technology in general across the four categories. There were no consistent gender differences on the attitude variables. Results were discussed with relation to vocational choice and it was concluded that females on computer courses may, in general, be rather less interested in computers per se than their male peers.

Stereotyping in Relation to the Gender Gap in Participation in Computing.

Summary The gender gap in participation in science and technology is widely documented. Various factors have been proposed as contributing to this imbalance, ranging from innately determined cognitive differences to social factors such as explicit and implicit discriminatory practices in the educational system and in the employment market, different patterns of interest, and negative stereotyping of female scientists and technologists. In this study as part of a survey into students’ attitudes to, knowledge about and experience of computers, 928 students at an institution of higher education were asked to rate one of two target figures on 16 personal attributes. Half the respondents randomly selected received questionnaires describing a female computer scientist, and the other half questionnaires describing a male. Aside from the gender of the ratee, questionnaires were identical. Using analyses of variance, responses were analysed to determine whether there were any differences in the rating of the two t...

Computer anxiety and measurement of mood change

Approximately 30% of the UK population have been characterised as suffering, to some extent, from computer anxiety, showing either physiological, cognitive, or negatively affective reactions when working with computers. In this study, the relationship between computer anxiety and self-ratings of mood change was investigated. Mood was measured either by a computerized form of visual analog scales or by an identical test administered by paper-and-pencil. Positive mood change was manipulated by a modified Velten-type Mood Induction Procedure (VMIP, Velten, 1968) administered via a computer. Undergraduate student volunteers (40 males and 68 females) completed visual analog mood scales before and after the VMIP. The correlation between self-ratings of mood and the computer anxiety scores was significantly greater in the computer compared with the paper-and-pencil groups. Computer anxiety related to measured mood when the mood measurements were collected using the computerized procedure but not the paper procedure. The implications of these findings for the clinical application of computerized mood assessment are discussed.

Using LOGO with Infant School Children

Abstract The recent introduction of micro‐computers into schools is opening up many new avenues for developmental psychologists interested in studying how children learn. Of particular interest at present are approaches in which children program computers themselves, using languages such as LOGO and PROLOG. This paper describes a study in which a simplified version of LOGO was introduced to a group of six‐year‐olds in a severely deprived area of Edinburgh. The children used a special touch‐sensitive keyboard (Concept Keyboard) to control the movements of a floor‐crawling robot called a Turtle. The sessions with the Turtle were marked by high levels of concentration, collaborative problem‐solving and the use of mathematical language. Pre‐ and post‐tests on the British Ability Scales revealed statistically significant gains on the sub‐scales concerned with number and shape: these gains, however, were found only in the boys.

In a Glass Darkly: Identity, Agency and the Role of the Learning Technologist in Shaping the Learning Environment

Learning technologies are becoming a common, and in many cases essential, component of the contemporary learning environment. As such, those who design, implement and control these encompassing technologies have emerged as major contributors to the success (or otherwise) of such systems. This article considers the power and responsibilities of learning technologists and the ways that they affect the teaching and learning environments around them. It does this by investigating, through semi-structured interview, the praxis of a learning technology group at the University of Edinburgh and relating this to professional issues for learning technologists in general. The article goes on to develop a typology of learning technology service provision based on the relationship between the learning technologist and the context in which their work is to be used. This is compared with interviews with practitioners, and a series of principles and recommendations is then developed. The thrust of these is that direct participation in the learning community is essential for learning technologists and that common codes of practice for learning technologists are required, both as a benchmark and as a framework by which professional practice can be measured and developed.

Gender & Information & Communications-Technology-A 10-Year Study of New Undergraduates

ConclusionIn terms of the University of Edinburgh, there are lessons for us from our data, plus some insights from recent surveys and interviews we have conducted with various groups around the university.New students’ reporting of apprehensiveness with respect to use of ICT in their studies has been falling over the years, but now appears to be reaching a stable baseline, perhaps reflecting a group in our population with general apprehensiveness about university life and studies. The steadily rising temale:male ratio in our undergraduate population will tend to exacerbate this issue. One approach which we could take would he to give more information to prospective students about the extent and types of use of ICT in their courses, and to focus in on this topic in the early days and weeks of the first term. Another approach is to provide more explicit guidance to students about the sorts and levels of skills we expect graduates to achieve. We know that students leaving the university for professions such as teaching, medicine and law are more confident about the match between their future employers’ needs than are other students, probably because the courses leading to professional qualifications are more explicit than are more “academic” subjects. Provision of materials to enable students to self-assess their skills against objective tasks might enable men and women to become more accurate in their self-reporting of skills. The formal demonstration (even to oneself) of one’s ICT skills may be more of a support to the technological confidence of women than of men. Although the point applies equally to any students who are anxious about their skills in this domain: self assessment is more important to those low in confidence than to those high in confidence. An example of such objective testing can be found in the European Computer Driving Licence (www.ecdl.org). At present, the university favours integration of ICT skills development into academic studies, which although good for encouraging engagement by its relevance, may well make wider and generic self-assessment more difficult.Interviews with technical support staff who come into direct contact with students in the university microlabs and who run the voluntary courses provided in the first weeks of the academic year, have provided us with useful insights into gender differences in requests for assistance. Although most students appear to turn first to peers tor help (something we have observed in other studies), females are more willing to ask for assistance, and particularly with technical problems, than are males who may view such difficulties as “something they should be able to solve”. The great majority of our student technical support staff are males, and this in itself may raise barriers for the increasing proportion of female students in the university. Seeking costeffective ways to provide appropriate assistance will continue to be an issue for us over the coming years.

Massive Open Online Courses: designing for the unknown learner

ABSTRACT University teachers are faced with a problem of ‘knowing’ their learners when teaching on a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). This paper explores and analyses what the University of Edinburgh has come to know about its recent MOOC participants, highlighting one particular course. We draw attention to barriers and enablers from co-existent understandings and expectations of course design, and from an abundance of highly qualified participants. We compare characteristics of participants who report a positive experience with those who do not. Mixed messages about teacher presence may have implications that go beyond MOOCs. We contemplate whether the participant group should be seen as a single massive multivocal entity. The paper concludes with a discussion of the potential opportunity for MOOCs to challenge standardization, homogenization and commodification of education. Shifting attention from the achievements of an individual to what can be done with a multitude, MOOCs may open up new educational arenas.

Making Construals as a New Digital Skill: Dissolving the Program - and the Programmer - Interface

Making a construal is a way of using the computer to help us in making sense of a situation. Its merits as a new digital skill for developing open educational resources in the constructionist tradition are illustrated using a basic construal of shopping activity. Making construals is the central theme of the three year EU Erasmus+ CONSTRUIT! project. This paper takes the form of an introductory tutorial highlighting key qualities of construals that will shape the CONSTRUIT! agenda.