COMPUTER ATTITUDE, SELF EFFICACY, AND USAGE: PERSPECTIVES FROM SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STUDENTS Felipe B. Martinez Physical Sciences Department, College of Science, De La Salle University, Dasmarinas, Cavite, Philippines ABSTRACT This study attempts to describe and compare the computer attitude, computer self efficacy, and computer usage between Science and Engineering students of De La Salle University-Dasmarinas. A survey questionnaire was administered to a total of 60 student respondents. The result shows that there is a statistically reliable difference between the mean score of science and engineering students in the usage of computer for inquiry purposes with an F value of 0.85 and p value of 0.36 respectively. In the usage of computer for communication, t test results failed to reveal a statistically reliable difference between the mean scores of science and engineering students with an F value of 0.01 and p value of 0.93 respectively. Likewise, t test results did not reveal a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of science and engineering students for both the computer attitude (F value = 5.05, p value = 0.02) and computer efficacy (F value = 2.19, p value = 0.14). One - way ANOVA of the means of four components of computer attitude scale of science and engineering students shows that there is a statistically significant difference between the means of the components with an F value of 65.86, a p value of 0.00 and F value of 20.32, a p value of 0.00 respectively. The results of one way ANOVA for science and engineering students both failed to reveal a statistically significant difference between the means of the three levels of computer efficacy with an F value of 2.55, a p value of 0.08 and F value of 1.43, p value of 0.24 respectively. Pearson r correlation coefficient of attitude towards computer and computer efficacy of science and engineering students shows no correlation at all. The result shows no significant relationship between affective and perceived control and usefulness and behavioral intention and perceived control and usefulness of science students. There was also no significant relationship between perceived control and perceived usefulness. However, the result shows a statistically significant relationship between affective and behavioral intention. For engineering students, the result also shows a statistically significant relationship between affective and behavioral intention and perceived control. There was also a significant relationship between perceived control and perceived usefulness and behavioral intention. On the other hand, the result failed to reveal a statistically significant relationship between affective and perceived usefulness and behavioral intention and perceived usefulness. Technology training is a great factor for the participant to possess positive attitudes towards computer and in gaining confidence in different levels of computer efficacy. The usage of computer for inquiry and communication can be maximized if participant will be exposed in more technology training. A further study can be conducted considering large sample size for the two groups of respondents. Relationship of age, gender, and participant with completed technology training and different variables can also be considered. INTRODUCTION The 21st century education is facing issues and challenges in different areas of learning. Learners should learn the 21st century skills like complex communication skills, adaptability, and the ability to solve non routine problems (Levy and Murnane, 2004) which is one of the issues that need to be addressed. Digital technology was also introduced into our lives which created a diverse learner (Withrow, 2011). One challenge now to educators is the application of educational technology in the classroom because the advancement in technology was no longer measured in the past due to rapid development. The discoveries of computer in different fields were unending. Computer nowadays is inevitable as evidence by the number of users that’s why a suitable technology in the classroom should be applied. Teaching with excellence and school leadership are two aspects that have gained renewed emphasis in different fields of research (Ambrose and Wilson, 2008). These two areas should be addressed to deal with the issues and challenges in different areas of learning in the 21st century education. To gain excellence in teaching, an educator must undergo continuous training related to field of teaching, in educational technology for example. An educator should also be resourceful in pedagogical applications because current research shows that there are reliable differences among attitude towards computers of males and females and between students and teachers (Robertson, 1995). On the other hand, school leaders must address issues and challenges of the 21st century education. They must do systematic transformation of the school curriculum aims to attend current issues and designed to develop the 21st century skills. Leaders should integrate information and communication technologies into education in all levels employing all 21st century tools (computers, telecommunications, videos, etc.) which recognizes that technology is, and will go on to be, a motivating force in workplaces, society, and personal lives in the 21st century (Salpeter, 2003). In the Philippines computer is widely used in many fields all over the country. But in education sector especially in the public, use of computers are very limited for both educators and the learners. This is the reason why many individuals hold positive attitudes about computers; many persons express grave fears and have been tagged “technophobic” (North and Noyes, 2001) Computer education must be improved to offer students convenient access to computers (Lamont,Liu,and Maddux, 2004). Assessment must be done first before the transformation of curriculum and incorporation of 21 st century tools. Attitude towards technology must be identified to determine where the transformation of curriculum will start and what 21st century tools will be employed. METHODOLOGY A total of 60 students were used as samples of the study. These samples came from college of science and college of engineering of De La Salle UniversityDasmarinas during the second semester of SY 2011-2012. A computer usage scale adopted from the work of Bruce and Levin (1997) was used to determine the purpose of using computers of science and engineering students. It has two major categories namely; inquiry and communication. The inquiry component is further subdivided into four categories namely; technology for thinking, data access, extending the senses, and data analysis. The communication component has also four subdivisions namely; document preparation, communicating with others, collaborative media, and teaching. A Likert – type response scale was used to determine the frequency of use of computer of the samples. The students were asked to tick the appropriate option and encircle the corresponding frequency 1, 2, 3, and 4 which pertains to never, rarely, sometimes, and often respectively. Another instruments used were computer attitude scale developed by Selwyn (1997) and a computer self efficacy scale developed by Murphy et. al (1989). The computer attitude scale has four components namely; component 1, affective, component 2, behavioral intention, component 3, perceived control, and component 4, perceived usefulness. The computer self efficacy scale is composed of thirty two statements with three computing levels namely; beginner’s level, advance level, and a level related with mainframe computers. A Likert – type response scale was used in these two instruments to determine the scale that best describes the confidence in using the computer of the samples. The students were asked to encircle the corresponding scale using 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 which pertains to strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, and strongly agree respectively. To study the properties of the measurement scales and the items that make them up, reliability analysis was used. The reliability of the survey questionnaire was found to be 0.95 and 0.97 for computer usage and computer self efficacy respectively. T test was used to determine if there is a significant difference between the means of scores of the two groups of samples in different components of the survey questionnaire while Anova was used to determine if there is a significant difference between the mean scores of science and engineering students in different components of attitude towards computer and computer efficacy. To find out which of the mean scores in the components of computer attitude and computer efficacy scale differ significantly, the Tukey method was used Pearson r correlation coefficient was also used to determine if there is a significant relationship between the scores of science and engineering students in computer attitude and computer self efficacy. It was also used to determine if there is a significant relationship between the four components of attitude towards computer. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The gathered data were clustered per categories and were grouped according to course. The mean scores were compared and tabulated. Figure 1 shows the distribution of samples according to course and gender. The figure shows that there are 9 science and 24 engineering male students. The female comprise of 21 science and 6 engineering students. Science Students Engineering Students 6, 20% 9, 30% Male 21, 70% Male 24, 80% Female Female Figure1. Distribution of samples according to course and gender Figure 2 shows the distribution of samples of science and engineering students who completed and currently enrolled in a technology training course. The data shows that 35% and 58% of science and engineering students respectively are currently enrolled in a technology training course while 65% and 42% of science and engineering were already completed the training. 10 out of 30 science students are neither enrolled nor completed a technology training course while only 12 engineering students is either enrolled or completed a training course in technology. Science Students Engineering Students 5, 42% 7, 35% 13, 65% Completed Training Cuurently enrolled 7, 58% Completed Training Cuurently enrolled Figure2. Distribution of samples of science and engineering students who completed and currently enrolled in a training course in technology Figure 3 shows the distribution of samples of science and engineering students based on the frequency of use of computers. The figure shows that science students use computer more frequent than engineering students. 80% of science students use computer 5 or more times a week while only 24% of science students Science Students 1, 3% 1, 3% 4, 14 % Engineering Students Less than once a week 1-2 times a week 15, 50% 3, 10% Less than once a week 3, 10% 3-4 times a week 3-4 times a week 5 or more times a week 24, 80% 1-2 times a week 9, 30% 5 or more times a week Figure3. Distribution of samples of science and engineering students based on the frequency of use of computers Figure 4 presents the average mean of science and engineering students in computer usage for inquiry purposes. The data shows that the engineering students scored significantly higher in data access component with a mean score of 2.33. The science students got a mean of 1.55 in technology for thinking component being the lowest in all categories. The over all mean of 2.08 of engineering students shows that they are more inclined in using different features of the computer included in the survey questionnaire. It also shows that they use the features of the computers more frequent than the science students. 2.33 2.09 1.9 1.95 1.96 2.14 1.74 2.08 1.83 1.55 Science Students SD of SS 0.74 0.67 0.67 0.73 0.51 0.62 0.77 0.72 0.67 0.69 Engineering Students SD of ES Technology for thinking Data Access Extending the senses Data Analysis Average mean/SD Figure4. Mean scores of science and engineering students in the usage of computer for inquiry purposes The data analysis component of science students has the widest spread (0.77) which is higher compared to the overall standard deviation of 0.67. Extending the senses component of engineering students has the narrowest spread with an SD of 0.51.The data analysis component of science students has the widest spread a little bit lower to the SD of technology for thinking. Figure 5 presents the mean scores of science and engineering students in the usage of computer for inquiry purposes. The data shows that the engineering students scored significantly higher in document preparation component with a mean score of 2.52. The engineering students also got a mean of 1.99 in teaching component being the lowest in all categories. Still, the results shows that the over all mean of 2.24 of engineering students shows that they are more inclined in using different features of the computer in communication component included in the survey questionnaire. The result also shows that they use the features of the computers more frequent than the science students. Teaching component of both science and engineering students have the widest spread with a standard deviation of 1.11 and 1.02 respectively while communicating with others component have the narrowest spread with an SD of 0.72 and 0.71 respectively. 2.43 2.52 2.22 2.35 2.14 2.35 2.13 1.99 2.11 2.24 Science Students 0.83 0.83 1.11 1.02 0.96 0.72 0.71 0.73 SD of SS 0.91 0.82 Engineering Students SD of ES Document preparation Communicating with others Collaborative media Teaching Average mean/SD Figure5. Mean scores of science and engineering students in the usage of computer for communication purposes Table 1 shows the independent sample test for inquiry and communication purposes of science and engineering students. The t test results revealed that there is a statistically reliable difference between the mean score of science and engineering students in the usage of computer for inquiry purposes. In communication, the t test result failed to reveal a statistically reliable difference between the mean scores of science and engineering students. Table1. Independent sample test for inquiry and communication purposes of usage in computer of science and engineering students t Test for Equality of Means Levene's Test for Equality of Variances Sig. (2- MEAN Equal variances assumed INQUIRY MEAN Sig. t df tailed) .851 .360 -3.651 58 .001 -3.651 57.380 .001 -1.426 58 .159 -1.426 58.000 .159 Equal variances not assumed Equal variances assumed COMMUNI F .008 .930 Equal variances not assumed CATION Figure 6 shows the mean scores of science and engineering students in attitude towards computer. The data shows that the science students scored a mean of 4.35 in perceived usefulness component. This is significantly higher compared to the average mean score of 3.16. The engineering students got the lowest mean of 2.52 in affective component. The mean suggests that the participant perceptions on the usefulness of computer is more positive than they believed it was helpful and has been liked, their control of computer, and intention to use computer. The overall mean of science and engineering students in computer attitude component only shows an average attitude towards the use of computer with a mean of 3.16 and 3.11 respectively. The standard deviation of engineering students in perceived usefulness component has the widest spread while perceived control component has the narrowest spread with an SD of 1.14 and 0.42 respectively. 4.35 4.19 3.16 3.14 2.57 2.52 3.16 3.11 Science Students 2.58 2.59 SD of SS 0.57 0.64 Affective 0.53 0.8 Behavioral intention Engineering Students 1.14 0.42 0.72 Perceived control 0.71 Perceived usefulness 0.56 0.83 SD of ES Average mean/SD Figure6. Mean scores of science and engineering students in attitude towards computer Table 2 shows the independent sample test for attitude towards computer of science and engineering students. The t test result failed to reveal a statistically reliable difference between the mean scores of science and engineering students. Table2. Independent sample test for attitude towards computer of science and engineering students t Test for Equality of Means Levene's Test for Equality of Variances Sig. (2- MEAN Equal variances assumed COMPUTER F Sig. t df tailed) 5.493 .023 .819 58 .416 .819 40.702 .418 Equal variances not assumed ATTITUDE Figure 7 shows the mean scores of science and engineering students in different levels of computer efficacy. The data shows that science students are more confident in using the computer with an average mean of 4.14. This is a higher compared with the average mean score of 3.83 of engineering students. The standard deviation of engineering students has a wide spread of 0.85 compared with the standard deviation of science students with a value of 0.67. 4.35 4.02 3.97 3.82 4.14 4.09 3.64 3.83 Science Students SD of SS Engineering Students 0.54 0.82 Beginner 0.65 0.77 Advanced 0.82 0.97 Mainframe 0.67 0.85 SD of ES Average mean/SD Figure7. Mean scores of science and engineering students in different levels of computer efficacy Table 4 shows the independent sample test for computer efficacy of science and engineering students. The t test result failed to reveal a statistically reliable difference between the mean scores of science and engineering students in computer efficacy. It means that there confidence in using the computer is the same. Table4. Independent sample test for computer efficacy of science and engineering students Levene's Test for Equality of Variances t Test for Equality of Means Sig. (2- MEAN Equal variances assumed COMPUTER EFFICACY F Sig. T df tailed) 2.191 .144 1.517 58 .135 1.517 52.378 .135 Equal variances not assumed Table 5 shows the one - way ANOVA of the means of four components of computer attitude scale of science students. The result shows that there is a statistically significant difference between the means of the components with an F value of 65.86 and a p value of 0.00. This shows that science students scored significantly higher in at least one of the components. Table5. One - way ANOVA of the means of four components of computer attitude scale of science students. Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig. Between Groups 63.310 3 21.103 65.858 .000 Within Groups 37.170 116 .320 Total 100.480 119 To find out which of the mean scores in the four components of computer attitude scale differ significantly, the Tukey method was used. A Tukey post – hoc analysis (Table 6) revealed that there were statistically significant differences between all the components except for component 1 and 2. The result also shows that the mean score of component 4 is significantly higher than the mean scores of component 1, 2, and 3. Table6. Multiple comparisons of the means of four components of computer attitude scale of science students. (I) 95% Confidence Interval Compo (J) nent Mean Difference (I- Component J) Std. Error Sig. Lower Bound Upper Bound 2 -.00833 .14616 1.000 -.3893 .3727 3 -.59500* .14616 .000 -.9760 -.2140 4 -1.78333* .14616 .000 -2.1643 -1.4023 1 .00833 .14616 1.000 -.3727 .3893 3 -.58667* .14616 .001 -.9677 -.2057 4 -1.77500* .14616 .000 -2.1560 -1.3940 1 .59500* .14616 .000 .2140 .9760 2 .58667* .14616 .001 .2057 .9677 4 -1.18833* .14616 .000 -1.5693 -.8073 1 1.78333* .14616 .000 1.4023 2.1643 2 1.77500* .14616 .000 1.3940 2.1560 3 1.18833* .14616 .000 .8073 1.5693 1 2 3 4 *. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level. Table 7 shows the one - way ANOVA of the means of four components of computer attitude scale of engineering students. The result shows that there is a statistically significant difference between the means of the four components with an F value of 20.32 and a p value of 0.00. This shows that engineering students scored significantly higher in at least one of the components. Table7. One - way ANOVA of the means of four components of computer attitude scale of engineering students. Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Between Groups 43.880 3 14.627 20.317 .000 Within Groups 83.511 116 .720 Total 127.391 119 A Tukey post – hoc analysis (Table 8) revealed that there were no statistically significant differences between component 1 (affective) and component 2 (behavioral intention) and between component 2 and component 3 (perceived control). The result also shows that there were significant differences between the means of component 1 and component 4 (perceived usefulness), between the means of component 2 and 4, between component 3 and 1 and 2, and between component 4 and 1, 2, and 3. Table8. Multiple comparisons of the means of four components of computer attitude scale of engineering students. (I) 95% Confidence Interval Compo nents 1 2 3 4 Mean (J) Components Difference (I-J) Std. Error Sig. Lower Bound Upper Bound 2 -.13100 .21908 .932 -.7021 .4401 3 -.64600* .21908 .020 -1.2171 -.0749 4 -1.53933* .21908 .000 -2.1104 -.9683 1 .13100 .21908 .932 -.4401 .7021 3 -.51500 .21908 .093 -1.0861 .0561 4 -1.40833* .21908 .000 -1.9794 -.8373 1 .64600* .21908 .020 .0749 1.2171 2 .51500 .21908 .093 -.0561 1.0861 4 -.89333* .21908 .000 -1.4644 -.3223 1 1.53933* .21908 .000 .9683 2.1104 2 1.40833* .21908 .000 .8373 1.9794 3 .89333* .21908 .000 .3223 1.4644 *. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level. Table 9 and 10 shows the one - way ANOVA of the means of three levels of computer efficacy of science and engineering students. The results both failed to reveal a statistically significant difference between the means of the three levels of computer efficacy with an F value of 2.55, a p value of 0.08 and F value of 1.43, p value of 0.24 respectively. This shows that science and engineering students have the same confidence in the three levels of computer efficacy. Table 9. One - way ANOVA of the means of three levels of computer efficacy of science students Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Between Groups 2.357 2 1.178 2.545 .084 Within Groups 40.284 87 .463 Total 42.641 89 Table10. One - way ANOVA of the means of three levels of computer efficacy of engineering students. Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Between Groups 2.107 2 1.054 1.435 .244 Within Groups 63.873 87 .734 Total 65.980 89 Table 11 shows the summary of Pearson r correlation coefficient of attitude towards computer and computer efficacy of science and engineering students. The result shows no correlation at all in attitude towards computer and confidence in using computer. Table11. Summary of Pearson r correlation coefficient of attitude towards computer and computer efficacy of science and engineering students Science Students Engineering Students *significant correlation R Sig. (2 tailed) -0.04 0.83 0.31 0.09 Table12 shows the summary of Pearson r correlation coefficient of four components of computer efficacy of science students. The result shows no significant relationship between affective and perceived control and usefulness and behavioral intention and perceived control and usefulness. There was also no significant relationship between perceived control and perceived usefulness. However, the result shows a statistically significant relationship between affective and behavioral intention. Table12. Summary of Pearson r correlation coefficient of four components of computer efficacy of science students Affective Pearson Correlation Behavioral Perceived Perceived Affective intention control usefulness 1 .672** -.006 -.249 .000 .977 .185 1 .127 -.314 .504 .091 1 .195 Sig. (2-tailed) Behavioral intention Perceived control Perceived usefulness Pearson Correlation .672** Sig. (2-tailed) .000 Pearson Correlation -.006 .127 Sig. (2-tailed) .977 .504 Pearson Correlation -.249 -.314 .195 Sig. (2-tailed) .185 .091 .302 .302 1 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). Table13 shows the summary of Pearson r correlation coefficient of four components of computer efficacy of engineering students. The result shows a statistically significant relationship between affective and behavioral intention and perceived control. There was also a significant relationship between perceived control and perceived usefulness and behavioral intention. On the other hand, the result failed to reveal a statistically significant relationship between affective and perceived usefulness and behavioral intention and perceived usefulness. Table13. Summary of Pearson r correlation coefficient of four components of computer efficacy of engineering students Affective Affective Pearson Correlation 1 Sig. (2-tailed) Behavioral intention Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) Perceived control Perceived usefulness .691** Behavioral Perceived Perceived intention control usefulness .691** .518** .213 .000 .003 .258 1 .582** .313 .001 .093 1 .671** .000 .518** .582** Sig. (2-tailed) .003 .001 Pearson Correlation .213 .313 .671** Sig. (2-tailed) .258 .093 .000 Pearson Correlation **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). .000 1 The overall result shows a positive attitude and high level of confidence in using the computer of science and engineering students. The positive result could be attributed to the completed and ongoing technology training of the participants. The result shows that science students scored significantly higher in the average mean of computer attitude and computer efficacy compared with engineering students. It means that science students are more positive and confident in using computer which is reflected in the survey that 80% of them use computer 5 times or more per week. On the other hand, engineering students scored significantly higher in usage of computer for inquiry and communication purposes compared with science students. It means that engineering students use computers more frequent for inquiry and communication purposes. The result of the study for computer attitude and computer efficacy confirms the findings of Arani (2001) which states that the level of self-confidence in using the computer and attitude towards computer was high. However, Arani’s findings in the relationship of attitude towards computer and computer efficacy contradict with the outcome of this study which shows no correlation at all. The study also confirms the findings of Sam (2005) which shows that undergraduate students of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak have high computer self-efficacy. The findings of Teo (2008) that shows a significant correlation in all components of computer attitude conforms with the findings of this study for engineering students except for the affective and perceived usefulness and behavioral intention and perceived usefulness which shows no correlation. On the other hand, Teo’s findings contradict the outcome of the study for science student which shows no correlation in all of the components except affective and behavioral intention which shows a significant relationship. Technology training is a great factor for the participant to possess positive attitudes towards computer and in gaining confidence in different levels of computer efficacy. The usage of computer for inquiry and communication can be maximized if participant will be exposed in more technology training. The study of Abbitt (2007) shows that there is a significant increase in self-efficacy beliefs while enrolled in a technology course. 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