Cross-Cultural Comparison of Gender Differences in Adolescents’ Attitudes Toward Computers and Selected School Subjects

Collis, Betty; Williams, Richard L.

doi:10.1080/00220671.1987.10885792

Cited by 77 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Moreover, it has traditionally been found that males are more competent with computer technology and consistently outperform females on computer-based tasks (e.g. Collis and Williams, 1987;Makrakis and Sawada, 1996). However, a growing number of reports in recent years suggest this 'gender gap' is diminishing (e.g.…”

Section: Individual Differencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficient electronic navigation: A metaphorical question?

Dorum

Garland

2011

Interacting with Computers

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a b s t r a c tDifferences in navigation performance have been found for variation in the metaphor used to structure information layout within websites. Our study extends this work by examining three metaphors to clarify further whether differences can be attributed to the metaphor's structure being spatial (versus non-spatial) or because it has greater familiarity. Participants were assigned a website and completed a structurally identical navigation task based on a specific metaphor description. Effects of metaphor were found for total task time, disorientation, and a combined accuracy measure. The house metaphor (spatial/familiar) produced significantly faster task times and more accurately retained metal models than both the town (spatial/unfamiliar) and social (non-spatial/unfamiliar) metaphors. Cognitive style, spatial ability and confidence had mixed and limited influence on the findings. The results suggest that navigation in website environments is facilitated more by the degree of familiarly perceived in the structure of the metaphor, than the spatial or non-spatial nature of the metaphor. This has major implications for the design of hypertext material, especially where the ability to locate information and recall it accurately is important rather than speed per se.

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Section: Individual Differencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficient electronic navigation: A metaphorical question?

Dorum

Garland

2011

Interacting with Computers

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“…The populations that have been studied are diverse, including Italian and American university students (Sensales and Greenfield, 1995), Middle Eastern and American college students (Omar, 1992), Chinese and English female undergraduates (Li, Kirkup, and Hodgson, 2001), Japanese, Mexican, and American young children (Knezek, Miyashita, and Sakamoto, 1996), Russian and American school children (Martin, Heller, and Mahmoud, 1992), Romanians and Scottish college students (Durndell and others, 1997), and Chinese and Canadian teenagers (Collis and Williams, 1987).…”

Section: Diverse Cultural Pathways Of Interacting With Computersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the substantial differences in attitudes toward computers, however, there exists an interesting pattern: computer learners from less technologically advanced cultures tended to have more positive attitudes toward computers than their counterparts in more technologically advanced cultures (Collis and Williams, 1987;Durndell and others, 1997;Martin, Heller, and Mahmoud, 1992;Li, Kirkup, and Hodgson, 2001). This pattern observed across cultures could be associated with the novelty effect, a psychological phenomenon observed within the same culture when individuals who initially have positive emotional responses to the new technology but gradually lose the initial excitement (Knezek, Miyashita, and Sakamoto, 1996;Krendl and Broihier, 1992;Salomon, 1984).…”

Section: Diverse Cultural Pathways Of Interacting With Computersmentioning

confidence: 99%

How children and adults learn to use computers: A developmental approach

Yan

Fischer

2004

New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development

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What is the relation between information technology and human development? This is one of the big questions for contemporary developmental scientists. An enormous research literature has documented how information technologies shape human development cognitively (Papert, 1980(Papert, , 1993, socially (Turkle, 1984(Turkle, , 1995, and physically (Harwin and Haynes, 1992). However, how human beings, particularly ordinary children and adults, master information technology cognitively (understanding the Internet, for example), socially (such as building social network), and physically (for example, learning to use a mouse) has not yet been studied adequately and systematically. As a result, dynamic reciprocal interactions between information technology and human development have been often oversimplified as a static one-way process in which information technology controls human beings. While computer scientists are designing human-centered computers that adapt to people rather than the other way around (Dertouzos, 2001), developmental research will soon fall far behind the technological advances if the research continues to focus on how technology affects people rather than on how people interact with technology.We thank Joshua Smith and Heping Hao for their feedback on the early version of this chapter

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“…Many international studies reported that males had significantly more positive attitudes toward computers than females did (Makrakis and Sawada, 1996;Collis and Williams, 1987;Smith and Necessary, 1996). Also, it was suggested that women have to increase their level of involvement with computers and both teachers and parents have to support them in this (Shashaani and Khalili, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%