Home PublicationsJRTEPast IssuesVolume 31 Number 2

Edited by Diane McGrath, Kansas State University

formerly Journal of Research on Computing in Education

Assessing the Impact of Computer Integration on Students

Xiufeng Liu and Robert Macmillan
St. Francis Xavier University

Vianne Timmons
University of Prince Edward Island

Abstract

This article reports a study designed to assess the effects of computer integration on students in terms of academic achievement and attitudes toward academic subjects and computers. Computer integration was perceived as a complex instructional system in which student learning is impacted by teachers, students, school administrative and technical support, computer hardware and software resources, and the computer lab and classroom settings. Eight teachers of four subjects at one high school participated in this study for seven months. A quasi-experimental design was used. Student achievement was assessed by teacher-made tests. Attitude was assessed as part of the student survey questionnaire using the instrument developed by Bear, Richards, and Lancaster (1987). In addition, three students from each integration class were interviewed. It was found that there was no significant effect of computer integration on achievement, and although positive attitude toward computers was high both before and after the integration period, there was no significant change in student attitude toward computers after the computer integration. Generally, students' perceived using computers as having a positive effect on their learning. The methodological and instructional implications of the findings are discussed.
read online supplement
Contributors

Xiufeng Liu is an associate professor in the Department of Education at St. Francis Xavier University. His research focuses on strategies for integrating computers into secondary curricula, particularly in science. Robert Macmillan is an associate professor in the Department of Education at St. Francis Xavier University. His research focuses on organizational reactions to specific change initiatives such as technology introduction and site-based management. Vianne Timmons is an associate professor and dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Prince Edward Island. Her research focuses on issues of equity in technology use in schools and in the quality of life for children with special needs. (Address: Dr. Xiufeng Liu, Education Department, PO Box 5000, Xavier Hall, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS B2G 2W5 Canada; xliu@stfx.ca.)

A PDF file of the full article is available. Contact: jrte@iste.org. Please specifiy Volume and Issue number and article name.