International
Journal of
Educational
Technology

Gender differences and computer competency: the effects of a high access computer program on the computer competence of young women

Alan Bain, Brewster Academy;
Peter T. Hess, Brewster Academy;
Gerard Jones, Cushing Academy;
Carl Berelowitz, Wheaton College

This study examined the effects of a secondary school technology immersion program (laptop program) on the technological competency of randomly selected male and female secondary school students. The definitions provided by the CEO Forum Star Assessment, (CEO Forum, 1997) were used to categorize two programmatic experiences within the same school based upon student access to technology. The study sought to establish the effects of participation in a high access environment (1:1 computer/student access ratio) on the performance of female students. Student computer knowledge and skill were measured employing evaluation tools derived from the Student Technology Competencies Scope and Sequence Matrix- High School. (Center for Educational Leadership and Technology, 1994). The results indicated that the technological competency of female participants in the high access integrated program exceeded that of male counterparts who participated in a program of reduced access and integration. The study found statistically significant skill increases for students in the high access immersion program irrespective of gender.

Introduction

Gender and Information Technology in Education

The role of education in creating or exacerbating performance differences on the basis of gender have been the source of considerable controversy in schools and in the popular and professional literature. Concerns exist regarding the extent to which the differences identified in the 70's and 80's associated with the achievement of women in math (Shashaani, 1995) are recurring in the area of information technology. According to Mangione (1995), peer pressure, male metaphors in the design of information technology, and gender bias in software are creating an educational "deja- vu" with potentially devastating effects on the opportunities for women

The antecedents to the differences between males and females in the area of information technology have been the source of some controversy. The debate has focused on whether the disparities are a function of cognitive and psychosocial differences between the sexes or a consequence of a socialization process and experience base. Unfortunately, answers to this "nature-nurture type" question appear to be predicated more on assumption and opinion than evidence, which rather than resolving the controversy, actually fuels the debate (Hattie & Fitzgerald, 1987).

Contemporary perspectives suggest that gender differences should be viewed more from the socialization-experiential perspective as opposed to one based upon assumptions about innate differences in psychological processing. An extensive meta-analysis conducted by Linn and Hyde (1989) found that differences in spatial visualization, mathematical computation and problem-solving related to the cognitive and psychosocial domains should be de-emphasized because they have always been small and have declined even further in the last 20 years. The authors emphasize the contribution of the social context to gender differences and importantly, the need to emphasize situations that minimize those differences. This focus on contextual factors and the social experience of women provides a compelling rationale for research which examines the ways in which the school experience can contribute to or diminish the disparities between genders in the area of information technology use and skill.

Access in Schools

Improved access to technology is a pivotal feature of almost all information technology plans. While there is immense interest in the use of technology in schools and rapid growth in the presence of technology, many students still have limited access to computers. Despite an anticipated expenditure of over 5 billion dollars for technology in schools in the US during 1998, (Trotter, 1997) only 20% of teachers use advanced telecommunications regularly for instruction, professional development and curriculum development (Viadero, 1997). As recently as 1994, 26% of 11th grade students reported never using a computer at school while in the 1996 NAEP study of computer use in 8th grade mathematics 52% of teachers reported never using computers in mathematics instruction (Viadero, 1997).

The low levels of access to information technology in schools has created a circularity in the debate about its contribution to the educational experience of students. Critics point to the lack of effects on student performance, while proponents argue that such effects could not be expected given the low levels of access. While this debate is destined to recur as long as access levels remain low, it seems reasonable to posit that diminished accessibility will serve to keep technology on the margins of students' educational experience where factors associated with gender bias may perpetuate and exacerbate performance differences between males and females. According to Mangione (1995) all students must have equal opportunity to learn with and about computers to ensure equity although few schools have achieved the levels of access necessary to provide students with an equitable experience. The majority of accounts of those experiences are anecdotal in nature and while schools and educational authorities aggressively pursue strategies to improve access there is little school-based experimental research to confirm or counter such an approach.

The rationale for this study stands at the confluence of two important issues in the educational application of information technology. First, the need to investigate educational contexts and their contribution to gender differences and second, the need to examine more deliberately the effects of access to technology on student skill. The present study sought to determine the effects of an environment where information technology became a routine component of every student's educational experience on technology knowledge and practical application.

Brewster Academy

The study was undertaken at Brewster Academy, an independent college preparatory boarding school located in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. The school's curriculum serves students in grades 9-13. Brewster has a heterogeneous student population. The performance profile for students entering the school mirrors that of the average US secondary school on standardized tests of achievement. Prior to the introduction of the target program, Brewster, like many public and independent schools, had a computer lab equipped with a range of personal computers which were employed primarily for teaching educational productivity applications and by students for the completion of assignments. A number of faculty with a personal interest in technology owned and used personal computers while a like number of students also brought their computers to school. Computer use was generally confined to the school's lab although in some cases teachers would demonstrate classroom applications as part of their instruction. Courses in keyboarding and educational productivity tools were taught as electives and not integrated into the curriculum.

Over the last four years Brewster has undergone a technological transformation as part of a comprehensive school development and improvement program based on the School Design Model (Bain, 1996). Technology is infused into the core of the school's curricular activity. All students and teachers carry laptop computers and have access to a campus network which has connected every desk in every classroom to both school-based Intranet and Internet resources. Teachers integrate technology into their teaching and use it on a day to day basis in their classrooms for research, instruction and communication. The school is an example of the growing trend to improve access to technology and while few schools have achieved such a ubiquitous level of access, the setting provides an opportunity to examine the effects of integrating technology into the curricular life of a school in a genuine high access environment.

STAR Assessment

The definitions of school programs provided by the CEO Forum Star Assessment (CEO Forum, 1997) were used to place the Brewster programs, past and present, in a broader context with respect to technology access and use. The STAR assessment involves a system of classification of schools according to the evolution of their technology programs. The assessment focuses on access, network capability, age of technology, internet capability and programmatic integration. The designations in the STAR Assessment are Low, Mid, High and Target. The Brewster program prior to the introduction of the SDM fit the classification for a Mid-level Technology Program (MLP). "Mid-Tech" schools are characterized by moderate access ratios, 8 students/computer, a mix of new and old technologies, and a moderate number of networked computers, 45% do not have access to a campus LAN, as was the case at Brewster. In these schools, computer use is routine and often not integrated into the curriculum. The current Brewster program exceeds the requirements identified by the CEO Forum STAR Assessment for a Target Technology School (TTP). This designation is applied to less than 3% of schools and includes those schools where the learning process has been redefined to take advantage of technology including access levels in excess of 3:1, a redefined physical layout of classrooms with online access to digital resources from within and outside of the school.

The School Design Model and associated TTP was introduced at Brewster in a step wise fashion one grade level at a time. The step wise implementation provided a unique opportunity to examine the effects of two different programs within a single operational school setting. The program of implementation at Brewster enabled a within-school comparison between students at one grade level who had participated at the TTP level with those who had not. Students in the tenth grade who participated in a MLP technology experience acted as a comparison group for a ninth grade TTP class. Specifically, the study sought to answer the following questions:

• What differences existed between the students with respect to their computer knowledge and experience prior to participation in the program?
• Would males outperform females as indicated by the research literature under both conditions?
• Would a school context with a TTP program characterized by high levels of access and integration result in improved technological competency among participating women?
• Would females in the TTP program outperform male participants in the MLP program?
• Would participation in a TTP program improve performance irrespective of gender?

Method

Subjects

The sample was comprised of 60 students, 30 males and 30 females. The student were members of the ninth and tenth grade classes at Brewster Academy. Thirty students were randomly selected from each of the two grades. Of the ninth grade students 15 were male and 15 female, while of the 30 tenth graders, 16 were male and 14 female. Students ranged in age from 14 to 16 years.

Design

The students experienced one of two experimental conditions. The random sample of ninth grade students experienced the TT program (TTP) while the tenth grade cohort students experienced the ML program (MLP) in a ex post facto post-test comparison group design. A questionnaire was used to establish student's technology profile in order to account for any experience beyond participation in the school programs that may account for differences in performance on the post test.

Dependent Measures

Questionnaire.  The questionnaire was comprised of 14 questions including three likert type items pertaining to frequency of use, three open ended items describing computer courses and computer ownership and 8 forced choice yes/no items also pertaining to ownership and usage patterns.

Computer Competency Test.  The computer competency test employed in the study was derived from the Student Technology Competencies Scope and Sequence Matrix- High School (Center for Educational Leadership and Technology, 1994) and included the domains of technology awareness, identification and operation, and application skills expected of a secondary school student. The test included four sections: The first a test of knowledge required students to define commonly used computer terminology; the second a matching test which called upon students to match a common problem or application with the appropriate technology; the third section pertaining to ethics and appropriate use and the fourth a practical application test which called upon students to demonstrate their ability to use basic productivity tools, access and use a network bulletin board, use CD based resources and employ an e-mail program to communicate across a network.

Materials

A Sharp LCD panel and Macintosh Powerbook were used to introduce the practical applications section of the competency test which was also undertaken by students using Macintosh Powerbooks connected to the school's campus network at each of 10 stations in a small teaching amphitheater.

Treatment

Students experienced one of two technology programs for a period of nine consecutive months prior to completing the competency test.

The Target Technology program called upon students to use computers on a daily basis in both classroom and dormitory for the conduct of their educational experience. Student Computer ratios were 1:1 as were faculty:computer ratios.

Each student had access to a campus network, a suite of basic productivity tools for word processing, spreadsheeting and presentation software. The campus network afforded access to the on-line resources, and the Intranet by way of teachers' class presentations. Each of the teachers participated in a week long training program prior to beginning work in the TTP program. The program was designed to ensure that the technology would be used routinely in the delivery of instruction. Teachers were equipped with the same suite of productivity software as students and used computer based tools as part of their day to day teaching for the purpose of presentation, communication, research and problem-solving. Students and teachers communicated outside of the classroom, exchanging homework and grading, answering questions over the network and accessing classroom resources including assignments, data for science experiments, publishing projects and Powerpoint presentations. The TTP program did not include courses in technology per se where students would be taught about productivity tools. All teaching about technology occurred within the context of the classroom instruction.

The MLP program served as the comparison for the study. In this condition students used the computer lab for the purpose of assignment completion and elective courses. Teachers and students used computers less frequently and more for the purposes of classroom demonstration. Technology usage in the MLP program was not part of the students regular instructional routine. Students and teachers did not have regular access to the campus LAN on a routine basis, although it was an option for those students who wanted to avail themselves of it. As is the case with other MLP programs, computer ratios approximated 8:1.

Procedure

The students rotated through three testing settings assigned in the following sequence to all students. Each student completed the questionnaire and then moved to an adjoining room to complete the written component of the competency test before completing the practical sequence in a networked amphitheater. Each setting was proctored by one of the authors who ensured the independence of student responding and the overall integrity of the testing situation. In the practical testing situation one of the authors presented the task while an assistant moved around the room checking student responses and scoring performance.

Results

Table 1 describes the mean and standard deviation scores for student performance on the questionnaire. Twenty one of the ninth grade (TTP) students and 22 of the tenth grade (MLP) owned a computer prior to participating in the Brewster experience. Nineteen (TTP) students and twenty one (MLP) students had taken a computer class prior to coming to Brewster. Students who owned computers frequently reported relatively low usage levels. The predominant school-based computer experience for both groups was instruction in typing and introductory computing classes. There was considerable variability within each group associated with what was a relatively consistent bimodal pattern of either low or moderate usage. Student responses to individual items tended to follow these patterns across items resulting in relatively high, but nonetheless comparable standard deviation scores for each subgroup. A two factor analysis of variance employing the factors of program and gender was used to determine whether any differences existed between the mean scores for the groups. The analysis revealed no statistically significant difference between groups according to program (F (1,56 ) = .067, p=.797) or gender (F (1,56) = 1.35, p=.249) with respect to extra-program computer experience and knowledge.

Table 1

Mean Scores on Questionnaire (D)

Table 2 describes the mean and standard deviation scores for student performance on the computer competency test. A two factor analysis of variance revealed a statistically significant main effect for both gender (F (1,56 ) = 5.134, p=.0273) and program. The effect size (ES) was calculated for the program factor using the method described by Smith and Glass (1977) yielding an ES of 1.76 for the effects of the program on the performance of both male and female students.

Table 2

Mean Scores on Computer Competency Test (D)

A separate one way analysis of variance comparing MLP male students with TTP females yielded a statistically significant effect (F (1,27) =20.74, p= .0001), indicating the strong effects of the immersion program on TTP females when compared to their male MLP counterparts. A second one way analysis of variance revealed a statistically significant effect (F (1,28) =27.93, p< .0001) for a comparison between the females in the TTP program and the females in the MLP program in favor of the TTP participants.

Discussion

The discussion of findings focuses on the original research questions.

The first question pertained to differences between student performance prior to participation in each of the TTP or MLP program experiences. The results indicate a high degree of consistency in experience across the sub groups. The majority of students had some experience with computers, although the overall usage was low to moderate. Student experience levels were not homogeneous although the pattern of experience did not vary significantly across the grade and gender sub groups. This was an interesting finding which provided a strong foundation for the ex post facto analysis of the effects of the program, given the similarity in the performance of all groups on the questionnaire. Overall males did score higher then females in computer knowledge and experience, although not to the extent that those differences were statistically significant.

The main effect for the gender factor supported research showing differences in technology skill between males and females. In both MLP and TTP conditions males outperformed females, although by relatively small margins. Males outperformed females in the TTP program by a margin of approximately 4 points or 7% and 5 points points or approximately 9% in the MLP condition.

The study's third question pertained to the effects of the TTP program on the performance of female students. Would a school context with a TTP program characterized by high levels of access and integration result in higher levels of technological skill than an MLP program for participating women? The results strongly support an affirmative answer to this question suggesting that despite virtually no difference in the results for women in either group in the original questionnaire, the female participants in the TTP program outperformed their counterparts in the MLP program by 14.8 points or approximately 26%.

Would females in the TTP program outperform male participants in the MLP program? The females in the TTP program outperformed their male counterparts in the MLP program by approximately 10 points or 17%. This finding supports the views of Linn and Hyde (1989) which emphasize the importance of the educational context in the determination of gender differences in technology. In this case a profoundly altered educational experience enabled women to improve their technological skills beyond the levels of their male counterparts who experienced what could be described as a more standard technological experience. The results lend support to the view that embedding technology in the normal instructional routine may reduce the opportunity for gender-stereotyping in student decisions about technology. This is consistent with recent findings from a preliminary study by Sova and Hacker (1997) which showed that when technology is embedded in an instructional context females perform as well as males.

The study also sought to establish whether the effects of the TTP program would result in improved performance irrespective of gender. The findings indicate that the effects of the program were consistent for both genders, resulting in improved performance for both males and females. The effect size of 1.76 reflects the strong contribution of the educational context to the performance of both males and females. Overall, the results of this study support the benefits of improved access to technology in improving the technological skills of women. The findings also suggest that improved access when embedded within a meaningful curriculum context can improve the technological competence of all students.

This study represents the performance of students within one school setting. Further replication across schools and programs is necessary in order to make generalizations about the effect of educational contexts on gender differences and computer competency. 

References

Bain, A. (1996). The School Design Model at Brewster Academy: Technology serving teaching and learning. Technological Horizons in Education, 23, (10), 72-79.

CEO Forum (1997). School Technology and Readiness Report: From Pillars to Progress [on-line]. Available: http://www.ceoforum.org/

Center for Educational Leadership and Technology (1994). Information Technology: New Dimensions in Communication, Administration and Instruction.  Marlborough, MA: CELT.

Hattie, J.A., & Fitzgerald, D. (1987). Sex differences in attitude, achievement and use of computers. Australian Journal of Education ,31 (1), 3-26.

Kirk, D. (1992). Gender issues in information technology as found in schools: Authentic, Synthetic, Fantastic? Educational Technology,32 (4), 28-35.

Linn, M. C. and Hyde J. S. (1989). Gender, Mathematics, and Science. Educational Researcher, 18 (8), 17-19, 22-27.

Mangione, M. (1995). Understanding the critics of educational technology: Gender inequalities and computers. Proceedings of the 1995 Annual National convention of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), Anaheim, CA. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 383 311).

Shashaani, L. (1995). Gender Differences in Mathematics Experience and Attitude and Their Relation to Computer Attitude. Educational Technology, 35 (3), 32-38 May-Jun 1995.

Sova, B.M., and Hacker, R. G. (in press). Flexible learning in a partnership context for beginning teachers. ALT Journal.

Trotter, A. (1997). Taking technology's measure. Education Week, 17 (11), 6-11.

Viadero, D. (1997). A tool for learning. Education Week, 17 (11), 12-18.

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