Abstract
Over the last two decades there have been numerous studies in a variety of countries examining students' attitudes towards computers, ranging from pre-school to postgraduate levels of education. Despite a plethora of international attitudinal research there has, however, been a conspicuous avoidance of the 16–19 educational setting (i.e. Grades 12–14). From this background the present study examined the attitudes towards computers of a sample of 983 students from nine school sixth-form and college based institutions in South Wales. Although students' attitudes towards IT were found to be influenced by a range of individually and educationally based factors, multivariate analysis showed that attitudes were primarily influenced by the subject area and qualification pathway students were following as well as their access to a home computer. Contrary to previous research, gender was found to only exert a lesser influence on students' attitudes. Furthermore, factors such as the educational institution attended and students' year group were not found to affect attitudes towards computers. Having contextualised these findings within the international work carried out on computer attitudes and use, areas of contention for future research are then discussed.p>
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ajzen, I. (1988) 'Attitudes, Personality and Behavior' Milton Keynes, OU Press.
Ball, S. J. and Lacey, C. (1984) 'Subject Disciplines as the Opportunity for Group Action: A Measured Critique of Subject Subcultures' in Hargreaves, A. and Woods, P. (Eds.) 'Classrooms and Staffrooms: The Sociology of Teachers and Teaching' Milton Keynes, Open University.
Breakwell, G., Fife-Schaw, C., Lee, T. and Spencer, J. (1987) 'Occupational Aspirations and Attitudes To New Technology' Journal of Occupational Psychology, 60, 169–172.
Colley, A., Gale, M., and Harris, T. (1994) 'Effects of Gender Role Identity and Experience on Computer Attitude Components' Journal of Educational Computing Research, 10(2), 129–137.
Davis, F. (1993) 'User Acceptance of Information Technology: System Characteristics, User Perceptions and Behavioural Impacts' International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 38, 475–487.
Dearing, R. (1996) 'The Review of Quali®cations for 16–19 Year Olds' Summary report. London, SCAA Publications.
Department for Education and Employment (1997a) 'Education Statistics for the United Kingdom 1997' London, Stationary Office.
Department for Education and Employment (1997b) 'Qualifying for Success' London, Stationary Office.
Durndell, A., Glissov, P. and Siann, G. (1995) 'Gender and Computing: Persisting Differences' Educational Research, 37, (3), 219227
Durndell, A., Macleod, H. and Siann, G. (1987) A Survey of Attitudes to, Knowledge About and Experience of Computers. in Computers and Education, 11(3), 167–175.
Goodson, I. F. and Mangan, J. M. (1995) 'Subject Cultures and the Introduction of Classroom Computers' British Educational Research Journal, 21(5), 613–628.
Gorard, S., Rees, G., Furlong, J. and Fevre, R. (1997) 'Patterns of Participation in Adult Education and Training?Outline Methodology of the Study' Cardiff University, School of Education Working Paper 2.
Hair, J. F., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L. and Black, W. C. (1995) 'Multivariate Data Analysis' (Fourth Edition).Englewood Cliffs, NJ., Prentice-Hall.
Jones, T. and Clarke, V. (1994) 'A Computer Scale for Secondary Students' Computers and Education 22(4), 315–318.
Kay, R. (1992) 'Understanding Gender Differences in Computer Attitudes, Aptitude and Use: An Invitation to Build Theory' Journal of Research on Computing in Education 25, 159–171.
Kay, R. (1993) 'An Exploration of Theoretical and Practical Foundations for Assessing Attitudes Toward Computers: The Computer Attitude Measure (CAM)' Computers in Human Behavior, 9, 371–386.
Kirkman, C. (1993) 'Computer Experience and Attitudes of 12-Year Old Students: Implications for the UK National Curriculum' Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 9, 51–62.
Kramer, P. and Lehman, S. (1990) 'Mismeasuring Women: A Critique of Research on Computer Ability and Avoidance' SIGNS, 16(1), 158–172.
Leggett, M. and Robertson, S. (1996) 'Curriculum Fragmentation Impedes Students' Understanding of Technology and the Environment' Journal of Educational Policy, 11(6), 681–691.
Loyd, B., Loyd, D. and Gressard, C. (1987) 'Gender and Computer Experience as Factors in the Computer Attitudes of Middle School Students' Journal of Early Adolescence, 7, (1), 13–19.
Martin, C., Heller, R. and Mahmoud, E. (1992) 'American and Soviet Children's Attitudes Toward Computers' Journal of Educational Computing, 8, 155–185.
Martin, R. (1991) 'School Children's Attitudes Towards Computers as a Function of Gender, Course Subjects and Availability of Home Computers' Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 7, 187–194.
Miller, F. and Varman, N. (1994) 'The Effects of Psychosocial Factors on Indian Children's Attitudes Toward Computers' Journal of Educational Computing Research, 10(3), 223–238.
Miyashita, K. T. (1994) 'Effect of Computer Use on Attitudes Among Japanese First and Second-Grade Children' Journal of Computing in Childhood Education, 5, (1), 73–82.
Nelson, L. (1988) 'Attitudes of Western Australian Students Towards Micro-computers' British Journal of Educational Technology, 19(1), 53–57.
Norusis, M. (1994) 'SPSS Advanced Statistics 6.1' New York, SPSS Inc.
Parlette, M. and Hamilton, D. (1972) 'Evaluation as Illumination: a New Approach to the Study of Innovative Programs' Occasional Paper 9, Centre for Research in the Educational Sciences, University of Edinburgh.
Pelgrum, W. and Plomp, T. (1993) 'The Use of Computers in Education Worldwide: Results from the IEA 'Computers in Education' Survey in 19 Education Systems' Oxford, Pergamon.
Rolfe, H. (1990) 'In the Name of Progress? Skill and Attitude Towards Technological Change' New Technology, Work and Employment, 5, (2), 107–121.
Schumacher, P., Morahan-Martin, J. and Olinsky, A. (1993) 'Computer Experiences, Attitudes, Computer and Mathematical Anxiety, and Grades of MBA Students' Collegiate Microcomputer, 11(3), 183–193.
Selwyn, N. (1997a) 'The Effect of Using a Computer at Home on Students' School Use of IT' Research in Education, 58, 79–81
Selwyn, N. (1997b) 'Students' Attitudes towards Computers: Validation of a Computer Attitude Scale for 16–19 Education' Computers and Education, 28(1), 35–42
Selwyn, N. (1998) 'The Effect of Using a Home Computer on Students' Educational Use of IT' Computers and Education, 31, 211–227.
Shashaani, L. (1993) 'Gender-Based Differences in Attitudes Toward Computers' Computers and Education, 20(2), 169–181.
Stevenson Report (1997) 'Independent Commission into Information and Communications Technology in Secondary Schools 1996/1997' [http://rubble.ultralab.anglia.ac.uk/stevenson/]
Todman, J. and Dick, G. (1993) 'Primary Children and Teachers' Attitudes to Computers' Computers and Education, 20(2), 199–203.
Watson, D. M. (Ed) (1993) 'The ImpacT Report: An Evaluation of the Impact of Information Technology on Children's Achievements in Primary and Secondary Schools' London, King's College.
Weinholtz, D., Kacer, B. and Rocklin, T. (1995) 'Pearls, Pith and Provocation: Salvaging Quantitative Research with Qualitative Data' Qualitative Health Research, 5(3), 388–397.
Whiteside, M., Lang, N. and Whiteside, J. (1989) 'Medical Students' Attitudes Toward the Use of Microcomputers as Instructional Tools' Journal of Computer Based Instruction, 16(3), 90–94.
Woodrow, J. (1991) 'A Comparison of Four Computer Attitude Scales' Journal of Educational Computing Research, 7(2), 165–187.
Yelland, N. (1995) 'Young Children's Attitudes to Computers and Computers' British Journal of Educational Technology, 26(2), 149–151.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Selwyn, N. Student's attitudes towards computers in sixteen to nineteen education. Education and Information Technologies 4, 129–141 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009695816587
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009695816587