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Attitudes to computer‐assisted learning amongst business and management students
Author(s) -
Rainbow Stephen W.,
SadlerSmith Eugene
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
british journal of educational technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.79
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-8535
pISSN - 0007-1013
DOI - 10.1046/j.0007-1013.2003.00354.x
Subject(s) - set (abstract data type) , learning management , computer assisted learning , psychology , higher education , medical education , disposition , mathematics education , computer science , medicine , social psychology , political science , law , programming language
Computer‐assisted learning (CAL) is becoming ever more important as a method of teaching and facilitating learning in an increasingly overburdened higher education sector in the UK. A number of authors have made pleas for more evaluation and research in the area of CAL. This study set out to evaluate the attitudes to CAL amongst over 300 business and management undergraduates using a questionnaire survey. The survey revealed a positive disposition towards CAL irrespective of age, gender or educational background. In addition respondents were asked to compare the features of CAL with those of other more traditional methods of teaching and learning. Two factors were identified, labelled CAL ‘instructional’ features and CAL ‘tutorial’ features. The instructional features of CAL were rated more highly than its tutorial features. Respondents rated CAL as better than traditional methods in terms of its instructional features and about the same as traditional methods in terms of its tutorial features. Younger respondents rated the instructional features of CAL more highly than did the older respondents. The findings were discussed in terms of their implications for the use of CAL in an expanding system of mass higher education.