What Drives Students' Loyalty-Formation in Social Media Learning Within a Personal Learning Environment Approach? The Moderating Role of Need for Cognition

Our study analyzes an educational experience based on the integrated use of social media within a higher education course under a personal learning environment approach and investigates the factors that determine students' loyalty to social media learning. We examined the moderating role of need for cognition (NFC) in students' formation of attitudes, satisfaction, and loyalty toward this learning experience. The results indicate that NFC has an influence on these variables, significantly moderating how loyalty toward social media learning is formed. For high-NFC students, satisfaction with the learning experience is the most important variable to explain loyalty; whereas for low-NFC students, attitudes have a stronger effect. Different strategies are suggested, according to the learners' NFC levels, for increasing the use of social media in personal learning environments. Practical implications for improving the integration of such informal resources into formal education are discussed.Junta de Andalucía – Programa Andaluz de I + D P12 SEJ 259

Auditing the TPACK confidence of Australian pre-service teachers: the TPACK confidence survey (TCS)

This chapter describes the construction and validation of an instrument to measure teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). The TPACK Confidence Survey (TCS) contains scales that measure teachers’ attitudes toward using ICT; confidence to use ICT for teaching and learning tasks (TPACK); competency with ICT; Technology Knowledge (TK); and TPACK Vocational Self-efficacy. The scale measuring TPACK confidence uses the Learning With ICTs: Measuring ICT Use in the Curriculum instrument that has been evaluated and reported previously. This paper proposes that the TCS provides a valid and reliable instrument with which to audit teachers’ TPACK confidence

The students’ acceptance and use of their university’s virtual learning environment

The proliferation of digital and mobile devices, including; smartphones and tablets has led policy makers and practitioners to include these ubiquitous technologies in the realms of education. A thorough review of the relevant literature suggests that both students as well as their course instructors are becoming increasingly acquainted with the adoption of education technologies in the higher educational context. Hence, this study explores the university students’ readiness to engage with the virtual learning environment (VLE). The methodology has integrated measuring items that were drawn from the educational technology literature, including the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, to better understand the students’ perceptions towards VLE. It investigated whether they were influenced by their instructors or by fellow students to use VLE. The results suggest that most of the research participants were using this technology as they believed that it supported them in their learning outcomes. The findings also revealed that the students were not coerced by their course instructors or by other individuals to engage with VLE. Moreover, the university’s facilitating conditions had a significant effect on the participants’ usage of VLE. In conclusion, this contribution puts forward key implications to practitioners. It also clarifies the limitations of this study and proposes future research directions.peer-reviewe

Evaluation of a computing and engineering outreach program for girls in grades 8–10

An outreach program of workshops and guided group activities for New Hampshire\u27s eighth, ninth and tenth grade girls was offered to stimulate the girls\u27 interest in computing and engineering coursework and careers. Attitude changes before and after participation were measured using a survey instrument adapted from one developed by the Georgia Tech\u27s Institute for Computing and Education. Eight attitudinal themes were surveyed. With suitable adjustments for simultaneous testing of multiple hypotheses, statistically significant changes with moderate effect sizes were detected for three of the themes: enjoyment of technology-related activities, motivation to succeed in technical problem solving, and intention to persist in computing and engineering courses and careers

An examination of sex differences in computing behaviour and intentions to enrol in a computer studies course using the Fishbein-Ajzen and self-efficacy models : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

This study aimed to investigate sex differences in secondary school students' intentions to enrol in a computer studies course, and in the relative contributions of the attitudinal and normative components of the Fishbein-Ajzen model and self-efficacy expectations, to explaining variance in these intentions. Sex differences in other dimensions of computing behaviour were also examined. The study also provided the opportunity to test both the Fishbein-Ajzen and Self-Efficacy models per se. Participants were 363 Form 5 students attending seven schools (two single-sex male, two single-sex female, three co-educational) in the lower half of the North Island. The high school students were administered two questionnaires during the two separate phases of the study, measuring Fishbein-Ajzen (1980) model constructs, self-efficacy expectations, past computing behaviour, demographic variables and an estimate of ability. Results unexpectedly revealed that girls' behavioural intentions to enrol in a computer studies course were not significantly lower. In fact, girls were slightly more likely than boys to express intentions to enrol in computer studies courses when assessed at Phase 2. No significant sex differences emerged in the relative contributions of the attitudinal and normative components of the Fishbein-Ajzen model and self-efficacy expectations to intentions. In contrast, strong sex differences in the expected direction were found in access to computers in general including access to home computers. Boys also used computers more frequently, had more past computing experience and higher levels of computing self-efficacy expectations. The results of the present study provided empirical support for both the Fishbein-Ajzen model as well as for self-efficacy theory. However the independent contributions of two variables external to the Fishbein-Ajzen model to explaining the variance in behavioural intentions, were inconsistent with the Fishbein-Ajzen model. The failure to find predicted sex differences in behavioural intentions was discussed in light of a number of possible explanations. The importance of intervention efforts based on countering traditional views about women's occupational role was highlighted. Results were also discussed in terms of their relationship to previous studies and the adequacy of some of the measures used. Finally some suggestions for future research were offered

A validity and reliability study of the Attitudes toward Sustainable Development scale

This article describes the development and validation of the Attitudes toward Sustainable Development scale, a quantitative 20-item scale that measures Italian university students\u2019 attitudes toward sustainable development. A total of 484 undergraduate students completed the questionnaire. The validity and reliability of the scale was statistically tested by computing the KMO and Bartlett tests and via an exploratory factor analysis, descriptive statistics, Cronbach\u2019s alpha, a confirmatory factor analysis and a multi-group invariance testing. The results of the principal components factor analysis show that the scale consists of the following four dimensions, with five items in each: environment, economy, society and education. The overall structure and measurement of the scale are confirmed by the confirmatory factor analysis and by the multi-group invariance testing. Internal reliability, which was found using Cronbach\u2019s alpha, varies between .660 and .854. The results show that the instrument meets the validity and reliability criteria. To demonstrate its utility, the scale was applied to detect differences in sustainable development attitudes among students pursuing degrees in psychology and in agriculture. Relevant differences were detected for the dimensions of environment and society. The Attitudes toward Sustainable Development scale could be useful for understanding the ways in which students think about sustainability issues and could be used to investigate the relationship between sustainability attitudes and other variables