What is Learned in an After-School Computer Club?

This research was designed to increase the awareness of female students with regard to Computer Science (CS) as both a major and a career field. Five female students from a high school in a northeastern state were voluntarily recruited for a weekly, after-school computer club curriculum for one academic year. Over the project period, participants ventured through tasks relating to various technologies, thereby increasing their computer confidence. Collaboration preferences increased only when faced with both technical and content knowledge. Participants’ understanding of CS changed from abstract and superficial to more concrete, but disinterest in the major persisted. Finally, while the participants’ perceptions of gender differences changed, some of the self-reflections did not match their responses to structured questions. While the project impacted only a small sample, increased knowledge of the field of CS prevailed. If females are educated earlier, this may cause a noticeable shift in gender inequity amongst CS majors.

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Girls and Computers - Yes We Can!

Computer Engineering ◽

10.4018/978-1-61350-456-7.ch504 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 1126-1143

Author(s):

Misook Heo ◽

L. Monique Spradley-Myrick

Keyword(s):

Small Sample ◽

Female Students ◽

The Self ◽

After School ◽

Gender Inequity ◽

Computer Club ◽

Computer Confidence ◽

Northeastern State ◽

Academic Year ◽

School Computer

This research was designed to increase the awareness of female students with regard to Computer Science (CS) as both a major and a career field. Five female students from a high school in a northeastern state were voluntarily recruited for a weekly, after-school computer club curriculum for one academic year. Over the project period, participants ventured through tasks relating to various technologies, thereby increasing their computer confidence. Collaboration preferences increased only when faced with both technical and content knowledge. Participants’ understanding of CS changed from abstract and superficial to more concrete, but disinterest in the major persisted. Finally, while the participants’ perceptions of gender differences changed, some of the self-reflections did not match their responses to structured questions. While the project impacted only a small sample, increased knowledge of the field of CS prevailed. If females are educated earlier, this may cause a noticeable shift in gender inequity amongst CS majors.

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Cognitive Consequences of Participation in a “Fifth Dimension” after-School Computer Club

Journal of Educational Computing Research ◽

10.2190/p3jq-2b5f-ytwe-jlwv ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 353-369 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Richard E. Mayer ◽

Jill Quilici ◽

Roxana Moreno ◽

Richard Duran ◽

Scott Woodbridge ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Treatment Group ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

School Teacher ◽

Computer Software ◽

After School ◽

Cognitive Changes ◽

Fifth Dimension ◽

Computer Club ◽

Matching Techniques ◽

School Computer

The Fifth Dimension is an after-school computer club aimed at improving the literacy of English- and Spanish-speaking elementary school children. Children who attended the club at least ten times during the 1994–95 school year (treatment group) showed larger pretest-to-posttest gains on tests of word problem comprehension than did non-participating children matched for grade, gender, school teacher, and language proficiency (comparison group). The same effect was noted for both Spanish and English versions of the test, and under a variety of matching techniques. The superiority of the treatment group was still present when the children were retested after the summer in the fall of the next year. These results provide support for the hypothesis that experience in using computer software in the Fifth Dimension computer club produces measurable, resilient, and sustained cognitive changes related to children's literacy.

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Study on students' background and attitudes towards computer skills in selected secondary schools in Segamat

Social and Management Research Journal ◽

10.24191/smrj.v4i1.5120 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

Azizah Aris ◽

Ruhana Zainuddin ◽

Rafidah Kamarudin ◽

Norzaidi Mohd Daud

Keyword(s):

Computer Anxiety ◽

Pearson Correlation ◽

Computer Skills ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Computer Ownership ◽

Club Membership ◽

Computer Club ◽

Computer Confidence ◽

Students Attitudes ◽

School Computer

This study is carried out to identify whether students ofdifferent backgrounds differ in their computer skills and at the same time to identify whether there is a correlation between students' attitudes and their computer skills. Thefinal objective of this study is to investigate which variable (background or attitudes) has a greater influence on the students' computer skills. All the Form Five students from the three different types ofschools in the Segamat district were chosen as samples. T-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation and regression analyses were used to analyze the data. The study showed that there was a significant difference between the types ofschools the students were in, students' computer ownership and the students' computer club membership with their computer skills. In addition, the findings also revealed that there was a significant correlation between the computer attitude subscales with the students' computer skills. The multiple regression analysis showed that there was a relationship between the students' computer confidence, computer ownership, computer anxiety, school computer club membership and type ofschools towardsthe students'computer skills. However, we found that students' confidence in using the computer had a greater influence than computer ownership and other characteristics.

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