Assessing students' and professors' attitudes toward the use of computer-based technology in the classroom: A case study at the University of Jordan.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study investigated professors' and students' attitudes toward computer technology at the University of Jordan during the spring semester, 2005. The Computer Attitude Scale (CAS), developed by Loyd and Gressard, (1984) was used to gather information regarding participants' attitudes measured in terms of confidence, liking, perceived usefulness, and anxiety toward computers.
The students' demographics---gender and age---and computer-related experience, skills/knowledge, and weekly use were examined as possible determinants of their attitudes. For professors, experience, skills/knowledge, and ownership of/access to a computer, were studied as factors. Seven hundred students and a hundred and fifty professors were surveyed. The results of the data analysis indicated a significant correlation between students' attitudes toward computers in terms of confidence, liking, perceived usefulness, and anxiety, on the one hand, and computer-related experience, skills/knowledge, and weekly use, on the other. Similarly, the study found a strong correlation between professors' attitudes measured with the same variables, and levels of experience, skills/knowledge, and ownership of/access to a computer. Those students and professors who used computers more frequently and had more than a year of computer experience had the most positive attitudes toward computers on all (CAS) subscale.
While age played no role, this study found gender to be an important factor in students' attitudes toward computer technology, with male students showing a more positive attitude. Overall, both students and professors had a positive attitude toward computers.