Janice E. J. Woodrow

A Comparison of Four Computer Attitude Scales

Ninety-eight student teachers enrolled in an introductory computer course were simultaneously administered four computer attitude scales. The responses were used to compare the reliability, dimensionality and construct validity of the four scales. All were found to give a reliable measure of general attitudes toward computers and their use. The scales primarily evaluated three attitude dimensions: Computer Anxiety, Computer Liking and Social and Educational Impact of Computers. One scale, the Computer Use Questionnaire, sampled only the last of these three dimensions and seems to be particularly appropriate for evaluating attitudes related to the impact of computers. Another, the Computer Attitude Scale, sampled only the first two of these dimensions making it a particularly appropriate choice to measure the attitudes of computer-novices. The other two, the Computer Survey and the Attitudes Toward Computers, sampled all three dimensions.

The Influence of Programming Training on the Computer Literacy and Attitudes of Preservice Teachers

AbstractThis pretest/posttest study measured the change in knowledge of computers and attitudes toward computers among 36 preservice teachers enrolled in an introductory computer training course. This course was oriented towards developing basic computer programming skills. Significant gains were achieved in attitudes toward computers, both in the overall Computer Attitude Index and in five of the six component attitude dimensions of this Index. Moreover, attitude gains were correlated with achievement in the course. Most students entered the course with relatively high levels of computer literacy. Nevertheless, gains in this domain were significant in all measured dimensions except that of Knowledge of Computer Uses. Gains in the Computer Literacy Index were correlated with course achievement. No gender effects were detected, and only one age-related correlation was found.

The Development of Computer-Related Attitudes of Secondary Students

The pretest/posttest study measured the computer-related attitudes of grade eight and grade eleven students, the correlates of these attitudes, and the gains in these attitudes. The attitudes were measured along six dimensions: Anxiety, Confidence, Liking, Interest, Gender Equity, and Acceptance. The results of the study indicate that the computer-related attitudes of secondary students are positive, stable and resistant to change. Gender differences among these attitudes were found to be school dependent and to diminish as students mature except in the case of Gender Equity where gender differences were minimal at the grade eight level but very pronounced at the grade eleven level. Unstructured computer experiences and word processing experience accounted for the greatest variance of all attitude dimensions. Tests indicated that gains in attitudes were independent of gender, computer training and computer course achievement.

Locus of control and student teacher computer attitudes

Abstract The attitudes towards computers and the perception of locus of control over factors which determine academic success were measured for a group of 106 pre-service teachers enrolled in an introductory computer literacy course. All subjects were computer novices. Positive computer attitudes were found to be correlated with an externally-oriented perception of locus of control. The external attribution of luck was most highly correlated with positive computer attitudes. Among internally-oriented subjects, those who felt that effort primarily determined academic success displayed the most negative attitudes towards computers. Locus of control was found to account for more variation in computer attitudes than were the factors of student age, gender, computer experience and word processing experience.

Technology, text, and talk: Students' perspectives on teaching and learning in a technology-enhanced secondary science classroom

Now is a time of rapid technological changes. These changes are inevitably felt in schools as multimedia technologies are introduced into the classroom. The case study reported in this article examines the teaching and learning impact of technology from the perspective of students participating in a long-term study of technology implementation. The study is situated within the context of the Technology-Enhanced Secondary Science Instruction (TESSI) project, a longitudinal, field-based research program of technology integration into secondary science classrooms. The article describes the technological and pedagogical impacts that emerge from the interplay between the implemented technologies and the social milieu of the classroom. The voices and multiple perspectives of students provide the focus for this study.

Locus of control and computer attitudes as determinants of the computer literacy of student teachers

Abstract The computer literacy of a group of 106 student teachers enrolled in an introductory computer literacy course was measured and correlated with measures of their computer attitudes, locus of control for academic achievement, gender, age, word processing and computer experience. Computer literacy was found to be correlated, at the P P P P P

Closing of the gender gap in technology enriched science education: a case study

Abstract This case study explores a popular assertion, namely that success in technology enriched science classrooms is gender dependent. We investigate how students respond to substantive changes that accompany a comprehensive integration of technology with the teaching and learning of secondary science and physics. Specifically, we ask: (1) Do female students view, participate, and achieve differently than male students in technology enhanced science classrooms? and, (2) If not, why not? Empirical evidence collected over seven years includes: classroom observations, student interviews and questionaires, classroom achievement records, and journal entries; Findings from the study illustrate that sound pedagogical practices and social organization in technology enhanced secondary science classrooms can promote a gender inclusive experience, where women and men participate and perform equally well. Methodologically, the study also illustrates how a consideration of the complexity of classroom environments contributes to rich contextual understanding of the interplay of technology, teaching, and learning.

Teachers' Perceptions of Computer Needs.

AbstractThe success of any innovative computer program in attaining its goals and objectives depends, ultimately, upon the support of the teachers. Based upon the premise that teacher support for computer programs, both inservice and school-based, will be increased if they are perceived as focusing on priority needs, 92 teachers were asked to rate and then rank their own perceived computer needs and those of their own students. The general trend was that teachers gave high ratings to those applications that allow users to retrieve, process and present information by computer. Applications in which the computer is used as an instructional or learning tool were given much lower ratings. Word processing was ranked as the primary need for both teachers and students. The teachers ranked using the computer to perform administrative tasks as their second priority. They ranked the use of a computer as a data source as their students’ second priority. Programming skills were uniformly rated as low priorities. The ...

Assessing Technology Enhanced Instruction: A Case Study in Secondary Science

The paper describes an evaluation program designed to assess the effectiveness of Technology Enhanced Instruction (TEI). The study is situated within the context of the Technology Enhanced Secondary Science Instruction (TESSI) project, a seven-year, field-based research program of technology integration into secondary science (grades 9–12). Evaluation procedures include analyses of student enrollment and achievement, teacher-researcher reports, an independent ethnographic assessment, the projects scalability, and interviews with graduates from the program. Taken together, these evaluations of TESSI support claims that TESSI is a scaleable and reproducible model of successful TEI implementation, which encourages greater student enrollment and retention in senior science electives (i.e. greater success for more students), and prepares students for post-secondary education and the realities of an information-based workplace. The effectiveness of the projects implementation of technology is supported by both quantitative and qualitative data.

Determinants of student teacher computer literacy achievement

Abstract The achievement of 98 student teachers enrolled in an introductory computer literacy course for novices was measured and correlated with measures of their computer attitudes, locus of control for academic achievement, gender, age, prior word processing and computer experience, and entry-level computer literacy. Computer literacy achievement was found to be correlated, at the P