Unidad de Investigación y Modelos Educativos
Attitudes toward computers among students
and teachers in Mexico
Cesáreo Morales
Coordinador
cmorales@ilce.edu.mx
ILCE, México, 1999.
SUMMARY
In 1998 Likert scale questionnaires were administered to Mexican Teachers and 9th Graders from
four States to measure attitudes toward computers and electronic mail. Results showed significant differences among States in both children and teachers. It is argued that a differential technological capacity and specific–to–state computer usage models are variables responsible for those differences.
As part of a large scale international study on attitudes toward computers and informatics which has been coordinated since the early nineties by Dr. Gerald Knezek and colleagues at the University of North Texas, a Mexican research team based in the Instituto Latinoamericano de la Comunicación Educativa (ILCE) conducted in 1998 the first of a series of studies on the attitudes of Nineth Graders and their Teachers toward computers and informatics.
Participants were 590 Nineth Graders and 78 Teachers from Public Schools in four States: Nuevo León, Guanajuato, Tlaxcala and Quintana Roo. Some of the schools were located in rural areas, while others were in urban settings. The instrument administered to children was the Computer Attitude Questionnaire (CAQ 5.22), whereas a portion of the Survey of Teachers’ Attitudes toward Computers (TAC 2.22) was administered to teachers. Both instruments were translated into Spanish and the first one was also validated for the Mexican population (Morales, Turcott, Campos & Lignan, 1998).
Each one of the States belongs to a different geographic area, and also has a different degree of economic development, which is reflected in the differential numbers systems assigned to schools, the software available, the possibility of being wired to Internet and E-mail, etc. Nuevo León is the prototype of a modern, industrial, self sufficient state, which has a very strong Informatics Program involving all Secondary (7th –9th grades) schools. Guanajuato is an intermediate State, in terms of economic status and level of equipment. All schools included in the study from these two states were well equiped and connected to Internet and E-mail. On the other hand, Tlaxcala and Quintana Roo are economically disadvantaged States, with a largely indigenous Indian, economically deprived population.
Nevertheless, while Tlaxcala has developed a relatively strong Informatics program for elementary schools, Quintana Roo is poorly equiped and its Informatics program is just beginning. This was the general context of the instruments’ administration.
A prerequisite for the participation in the project was that all students and teachers should have had previous experience and be currently involved in the use of computers in the teaching-learning process.
This is a very short report on the most important results and the trends that appear worthty of further research.
RESULTS
The student sample was composed of similar numbers of girls (50.7%) and boys (49.3%), while the teachers’ sample was predominatley male (59.2%) rather than female (39.2%).
The use of computer at home showed some differences between students and teachers, with lower numbers among children (yes=22%; no=77%) compared to teachers (yes=31.6%; no=67.1%).
Additional information about the teachers’ sample is important for discussion of the results.
The majority of teachers were 36 years or older (67.1%), and have been teaching for 15 years or more (58.2%). They reported to have been using the computer for instruction (73.4%), on a weekly (25.3%) or occasional (38.0%) basis. Most of them appeared to have some computer training (65.8%), some have been trained in computer applications (40.5%), and a sizeable portion (46.8%) in integration of technology into the classroom.
Student data were gathered on six subscales validated in a post-hoc manner through factor analyis: Electronic mail, Empathy, Frustration-anxiety, Computer enjoyment, Self-learning and Preferences among media and activities. Teacher data were analyzed on the following two indices: Computer Enjoyment and Electronic Mail.
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated major differences among States, in all the variables measured in both samples. Electronic mail appeared to have the strongest positive attitude among students and teachers from Nuevo León, compared to the less positive attitudes of students and teachers from Quintana Roo.
Subscale (10 items) State Teacher Mean
Student Mean
Electronic mail Nuevo León 41.14 40.24
Guanajuato 40.35 32.51
Tlaxcala 36.88 28.81
Quintana Roo 28.74 28.81
p< .002 p< .000
On the other hand, differences on Computer enjoyment appeared to be more evident between the States of Guanajuato and Tlaxcala. Guanajuato students and Tlaxcala teachers seem to be the most enthusiastic about using and enjoying a computer. On the contrary, the less enthusiastic are Guanajuato teachers and Tlaxcala students.
Subscale (12 Items) State Teacher Mean Student Mean
Guanajuato 54.62 46.29
Tlaxcala 63.84 43.02
Quintana Roo 60.65 44.73
p< .009 p< .000
As documented in previuos studies conducted in the United States and Japan (Knezek and Miyashita, 1993; Knezek, Lai and Southworth, 1994), girls tend to show more Empathy than boys, which is confirmed in this study (X=43.99 vs X=39.12, p< .000).
One of the most intriguing and interesting results was that the variable Frustration-anxiety indicated differences accross states, groups and sex.
Subscale (11
Items) State Group Sex
Frustration-anxiety Nuevo León 21.00 Rural 23.10 Boys 22.58
(Chidren) Guanajuato 20.23 Urban20.9
9
Girls 21.08
Tlaxcala 23.16
Quintana Roo 23.22
p< .001
p< .009
p< .009This table shows the highest levels of frustration-anxiety in using the computer and attending school among children from the most deprived states and the rural areas, plus, boys compared to girls. As shown in the Computer enjoyment table above, children from the more economically advanced states tend to enjoy the use of a computer more.
Furthermore, an ANOVA of particular items from the teachers’responses showed differences among states in four items concerning the general idea of liking-disliking the computer.
Item State Mean Prob.
I get a sinking feeling when I think of trying to
use a computer. Nuevo León 1.50
Guanajuat
o 1.17
Tlaxcala 1.55
Quintana
Roo 1.85 .014
I will do as little work with computers as
possible. Nuevo León 1.65
Guanajuat
o 1.17
Tlaxcala 1.65
Quintana
Roo 1.95 .003
If I used a computer, I could get a better picture
of the facts and figures. Nuevo León 4.50
Guanajuat
o 3.11
Tlaxcala 4.45
Quintana
Roo 4.25 .000
If there was a computer in my classroom it
would help me to be a better teacher. Nuevo León 3.80
Guanajuat
o 1.22
Tlaxcala 4.05
Quintana
Roo 3.60 .003
Perhaps this last item was one of the most controversial assertions of the instrument administered, and reflects some of the true feelings of the various groups. Teachers from Guanajuato seem to be most skeptical about being a better teacher if they have a computer in the classroom, but teachers from Tlaxcala seem to have the opposite point of view. Further exploration of the reasons why teachers experience this ambivalence in their attitudes toward computers when it comes to the idea of enhancing their own performance, will have to take into account several other variables such as their real access to this technology, the threats they face on their jobs, their commitment to teaching, the experience they have on the use of this technology, their point of view respecting the educational means and its place in the teaching-learning process.
Since there are no major differences for urban-rural analysis, we believe that particular conditions of States, in terms of technology availability, school equipment, and the models of computer usage, are responsible for the differences in teachers and students attitudes.
As a matter of fact, there is still much to be explored in teachers and students attitudes toward the computer, now that we have a trend in the State differences. We have speculated on it and concluded that we need to explore more closely the different models for computer use that exist in our country. Each State has its own Informatics Program, which is the basis for the introduction of computers in the local schools. Perhaps we will find some answers in the rationale and the computer application policy that underlies each State Informatics Program, and also in the process that teachers and students go through in order to be using the computer for teaching and learning.
REFERENCES
Knezek, G.; Lai, M. & Southworth, J. (1994) Psychological Dispositions of Children Residing in Hawaii in the Context of a Multinational Study on Computing, in: Gerald A. Knezek (Ed.) Studies on Children and Computers: The 1993-94 Fulbright Series. Denton, Tx., TCET-University of North Texas.
Knezek, G. and Miyashita, K. (1993) Handbook for the Young Children’s Computer Inventory. Denton, Tx., TCET-University of North Texas.
Morales, C.; Turcott, V.; Campos, A. & Lignan, L. (1998) Actitudes de los escolares hacia la computadora y los medios para el aprendizaje. Instituto Latinoamericano de la Comunicación Educativa (ILCE). Available: http://investigacion.ilce.edu.mx/dice/p1.htm
Feb. 23, 1999
