The relationship of attitudes to computer utilization: New evidence from a developing nation

The attitudes of students toward computers are significant determinants of behavior that may influence computer utilization. In this paper, a survey was conducted to study the relationship between attitudes and computer utilization of 238 students. The article also examined whether or not computer utilization was affected by some demographic (e.g., age) and other non-attitudinal variables. The findings indicated that the overall attitude did affect computer utilization. The part of attitude scale that presented the strongest predictor of utilization was computer liking followed by confidence. Anxiety and perceived usefulness were found to be insignificant determinants of computer utilization. In addition to attitude, other variables appeared to have a strong influence on computer utilization, namely the degree of computer experience, the degree of access to computers, and the number of computer-related courses taken by survey participants.     

Gender,Internet and computer attitudes and experiences

It is widely assumed that participation by females on the Internet is hampered by their attitudes towards computers, which in turn is reflective of their attitudes towards new technology. Research generally supports that females have less overall experience with computers and are more likely than males to have negative attitudes towards computers. Although limited, research on Internet experiences and attitudes has found parallel gender differences, with females reporting lower levels of experience and more negative attitudes. This paper explores whether Internet and computer experiences, skills and attitudes are related, using evidence from two studies of incoming college students, in 1989/90 and 1997. There were significant gender differences in many computer experiences and attitudes of incoming students in 1989/90. Males were more experienced with computers, more likely to have taken high school courses requiring computer use, and reported higher skill levels in applications such as programming, games and graphics than females. By 1997, incoming students were more experienced with using a computer than the earlier students. However, gender differences in computer experience and skill levels had diminished in some areas. The 1997 survey also assessed Internet experiences, skills, competence and comfort. Students had more exposure to computers than to the Internet. Males were more experienced and reported higher skill levels with the Internet than females, with the exception of e-mail. The overall competency and comfort level for students in 1997 was significantly higher for computers than for the Internet; 19% of the students did not feel competent and/or comfortable with the computer compared to 36% with the Internet, with females reporting higher levels of incompetence and discomfort for both. Competence and comfort levels with the Internet and computers were highly intercorrelated, and both predicted Internet skills and experiences.     

A sample survey of attitudes to computer studies

There is a general concern at present that curricular and technological change affecting the education and career aspirations of school pupils is not being fully exploited by girls. Whilst there are many reasons which can be offered to explain this trend most arise from subjective analysis or are extrapolated from surveys conducted into the factors affecting the uptake of science subjects. Much research which has considered attitudes to and the uptake of computer studies/information technology in schools has tended to be based on relatively small or isolated pupil populations but in this present study the attitudes of 1500 sixth-form boys and girls have been explored using standard questionnaire techniques. The pupil population was selected to cover a range of school types, pupil social class, ability, religion and sex as the dominant label. The survey questions were framed to explore attitudes to computing and computers, aspirations towards computer-related careers and attitudes to activities such as programming and games playing. Statistical tests have been applied to the results in order to identify overall trends and to assess the significance of boy-girl agreement and disagreement on various aspects.     

Students' approaches and attitudes to solving computer presented problems

Abstract  The 'diseases oriented' approach to teaching medicine was used as a basis for computer presented problems to first and second year clinical students. Performance on one of the problems was analysed retrospectively to compare students who had attended innovatory Problem Based Learning (PBL) tutorials with those who experienced only the computer presentations. Results suggest that after such tutorial experience, students reached diagnoses quicker, displayed less rigid history taking, and were more responsive to the information they gathered.     

The Greek computer attitudes scale: construction and assessment of psychometric properties

The purpose of this paper was to develop and test the psychometric properties of a computer attitudes scale for the Greek population. Through both adapting items from other scales and writing new items, this study developed a Greek Computer Attitudes Scale of 30 items, with three subscales: confidence, affection, and cognitive. This study also explored sex differences on the GCAS, and the relationship between age, computer experience, and confidence with computers and participants’ responses on the scale. Questionnaire data from four Greek samples, which included participants from the general population (185 and 354 individuals, respectively), 222 teachers and 99 undergraduate students, were analyzed. Results indicated that: (1) both the reliability (internal consistency and test–retest) and validity (concurrent) of the GCAS were adequate; (2) the relationship between age and GCAS was not significant, whereas sex did not have a significant effect on GCAS scores; and (3) perceived computer experience and confidence with computers were strongly related to favorable attitudes toward computers.     

Personality,religiosity and computer oriented attitudes among trainee teachers in Israel

This study examined the relationship between the Eysenckian dimensions of personality, religiosity, and attitudes towards computer assisted instruction (CAI) among a sample of 190 trainee teachers in Israel who had experienced a professionally structured induction programme in computer teaching skills. These data confirm the power of both personality and religiosity in predicting positive student attitudes towards CAI.     

Comparing attitudes towards computer usage by undergraduates from 1986 to 2005

The importance and use of computers has increased dramatically over the last two decades. The Attitudes Towards Computer Usage Scale (ATCUS) was developed in 1986 [Popovich, P. M., Hyde, K. R., Zakrajsek, T., & Blumer, C. (1987). The development of the attitudes toward computer usage scale. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 47, 261–269.] and used in a variety of settings over the years. In order to examine how computer attitudes have changed from 1986 to 2005, the ATCUS was given to 254 male and female current undergraduate students. When comparing the 1986 with 2005 results, the amount of time spent using a computer was still positively related to computer attitudes; however, the number of college computer courses was not. There is no longer a significant relationship among any of the factors with college computer courses. Males and females no longer significantly differ in their attitudes toward computers, number of college computer courses, amount of time spent using computers, or degree of self-reported computer anxiety. Implications are discussed.     

The computer in the consulting room: a psychological framework

Abstract

The use of an interactive computer system to aid the doctor with history taking and diagnosis is described. The system is developed for dyspepsia cases and is designed to be flexible enough to give the doctor considerable choice in the way it is used in the consulting room. We have observed and analysed its use by doctors in two very different settings; registrars and SHOs in an outpatient clinic, and GP trainers in a simulation exercise. All the doctors found individual ways of using the computer in the consultation, some chose to use it ‘conversationally’, alternating their attention between patient and computer, whilst others attempted to minimize its use while the patient was present. Patients’ reactions to the use of computers in general, and to their experience of this system specifically are described. The ways in which the computer imposes structure on the consultation and seems to influence the doctors’ decision processes are discussed. The complex dynamics of the interaction between patient, doctor and computer are outlined and are related to the cognitive load imposed. We raise ‘human factors’ issues, specific to the medical consultation environment, which need consideration in the design of future systems.     

Analysis of cognitive learning strategies and computer attitudes,according to college students’ gender and locus of control

This study explored variations in cognitive learning strategies and computer attitudes among college students, based on gender and locus of control. The study groups were comprised of 263 preservice teachers. The results demonstrated that the level of adherence to cognitive learning strategies on the part of female college students was significantly higher than those of male college students, especially in terms of memorization, analytical, and explanation. This study found that college students’ gender has an effect on cognitive learning strategies and computer attitudes. In terms of locus of control, college students’ cognitive learning strategies and computer attitudes were found statistically significant in the following levels: small in application, small in memorization, weaker in analytical, small in summarization, small in rehearsal, weaker in explanation, and small in computer attitude. Observance of cognitive learning strategies was found to be significantly higher for college students with internal locus of control than for those with external locus of control in terms of summarization and rehearsal.     

Ethics and information technology use: a factor analysis of attitudes to computer use

Abstract. In 1986 Richard O. Mason identified privacy, accuracy, property and access as four ethical issues for the information age. The research reported here sought to answer the questions: are these social issues empirically verifiable constructs? Second, what consensus exists on the factors? A field survey of 79 business professionals and students identified 12 factors which were grouped into five clusters: ownership, access, motivation, responsibility and privacy. These constructs identify additional dimensions and complexity to extend Mason's definition of key ethical issues. The importance of separating the computer user who experiences the ethical dilemma from the stakeholder(s) who deal with the consequences of the dilemma is identified. This study also demonstrates some consensus within the survey items. Consensus exists that it is unethical to profit from non-job, computer-related acts. Consensus also exists that personal use of company-owned information technology resources is acceptable. The other items show little consensus, identifying areas of necessary discussion within the computing professions to determine ethically consistent and appropriate computer uses.     

The influence of competition,cooperation, and player relationship in a motor performance centered computer game

We conducted an experiment to study the effects of goal structure in multiplayer gaming (competition vs. cooperation) and relationship type between players (positive pre-existing relationship [friends] vs. no pre-existing relationship [strangers]) on player motivation (as indicated by perceived effort put into the task), goal commitment, and performance in playing a balloon popping game. The cooperative goal structure was found to lead to greater effort put into the game than the competitive goal structure. In addition, playing with friends resulted in a stronger commitment to the in-game goals than playing with strangers in the cooperative goal structure context, yet no difference was found between playing with friends and playing with strangers with regard to goal commitment in the competitive goal structure context. A moderated mediation relationship was found among the variables. Theoretical contributions to the current literature on goal structure and motivation, practical implications for exergame design, and directions for future research are discussed.     

The fuzzy relationship of intelligence and problem solving in computer simulations

Using the instructional computer simulation “Hunger in the Sahel”, two experiments were conducted concerning the moderating effect of domain knowledge on the correlation of intelligence and problem solving. Experiment 1 with N=200 students implemented a between-subjects design, Experiment 2 with N=28 young adults a within-subjects design with 10 repeated measures on problem solving. The results correspond to the Elshout–Raaheim hypothesis: With low domain knowledge, the correlation is low; with increasing knowledge, the correlation increases; with further increasing knowledge, the correlation decreases; finally, when the problem has become a simple task, the correlation is again low. The results are of practical and theoretical relevance for designing simulation-based learning environments and simulation-based tests for measuring intelligence and problem-solving ability.     

浅谈计算机网络专业模拟公司制教学

计算机网络专业的相关专业核心课程多为知识综合度高、实践性较强的课程,传统的教学模式已经不能完全适应现代社会的发展,需采用新的教学模式来提高学生的学习主动性,提高学习效率,同时提高学生的企业适应能力.     

Decision making,computer attitudes and expert systems: What is our direction?

Expert systems have been concerned with applications dealing with medical diagnosis, mineral exploration, and computer configuration, with some efforts relatively successful in achieving results at least as good as human experts. Today, much is being written about these systems and managerial decision-making activities in organizations and the positive impact that they can have in these situations. However, it appears that expert systems could become somewhat of a panacea for some organizational ailments as research, development, and marketing of them continues at a fast pace. What may be forgotten in this technological thrust is the individual decision maker and his/her unique style of decision making which could affect acceptance and use of these systems. Another important consideration is the attitude people have toward computers and computer systems, which along with decision-making styles could certainly affect expert system effectiveness and ultimate success in organizations. This paper provides a discussion of potential problems that could occur regarding individual decision making and attitudes and their relationships to these systems.