The attitudes of Chinese students at The University of Tennessee toward the computer

As computer literacy and computer use become more and more important in the educational environment, the attitudes of international students toward computers may play an important role in their academic success in this country. The study investigated the attitudes of Chinese students at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville toward computers and explored the possible effects of gender, age and computer experience on these students’ attitudes toward computers.

The primary instrument used in the study was Drs. Loyd and Gressard’s Computer Attitude Scale. The scoring strategy results in higher scores on the computer anxiety subscale corresponding to lower anxiety, and higher scores on the confidence and computer liking subscale corresponding to higher confidence and liking. The demographic questions in the survey provided information regarding subjects’ gender, age, and their experience with computers .

The collected data were analyzed by using the SPSS computer statistics program SPSS. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) were conducted for subscores of computer attitudes on each of the factors examined in the current study (e.g. age, computer experience, and gender). The study found that the general computer attitudes of Chinese students currently studying at The University of Tennessee were positive. The study found that the age factor doesn’t appear to make any difference on the Chinese students’ attitudes toward computers. Nor does gender appear to have any effect on Chinese students’ attitudes toward computers when the factor of computer experience was ruled out. However, the study found that there were significant differences among the groups of Chinese students with difference levels of computer experience on their attitudes toward computers, with those who had more computer experience having more positive attitudes toward computers.

The current study confirmed the results of many previous studies that claim computer experience is important in determining computer attitudes. The researcher of the current study suggests that specially designed computer literacy courses for the international students could be a great help for them to quickly adapt to their new academic environment.