The Association Between Systematic Exposure to Information About Computers and Attitude Changes Among Students Who Are Non-Computer Majors

The problem with which this study is concerned is the association between systematic exposure to information about computers and attitude changes to computers among students who are non-computer majors. The experimental design includes a semester length course in introduction to computers at a small community college in Texas.\ud The study has a twofold purpose. The first is to determine the pre-instruction direction and valence of attitudes of non-computer majors towards computers. The second is to determine the post-instruction direction and valence of attitudes of non-computer majors towards computers.\ud A questionnaire was used to measure attitudes of students towards computers as a pre-test and post-test. The test results were encoded for computer statistical analysis. To determine the valence of changes in attitudes, chi-square tests were applied for each statement of the questionnaire with combinations between pre-test and post-test and each of the variables: gender, age, student performance, and instructor. To determine changes of direction in attitudes, a phi coefficient was applied for each statement of the questionnaire.\ud The following conclusions may be drawn from the data collected for this study. \ud 1. Based upon gender, age, student performance, and the variable of instructor, there was a significant difference in the valence of changes in attitudes towards computers.\ud 2. Based upon gender, age, student performance, and the variable of instructor, there was no difference in the \ud direction of change in attitudes towards computers