Vol. 10, No. 3, September 1994

Evaluating the impact of IT on pupils' achievements

D.C. Johnson, M.J. Cox and D.M. Watson, Centre for Educational Studies, King's College London d.johnson@kcl.ac.uk

Abstract It is proposed than any large scale investigation of this multi-faceted phenomena requires a range of methodologies and data types. The ImpacT study, an evaluation of pupils' achieve-ments, teachers' practices, and schools' policies and resources, was conducted with 2300 pupils from 87 classrooms in primary and secondary schools in England and Wales. The work focussed on the school subjects of mathematics, science, geography, and English, and extends the research base to include longitudinal effects within subjects, cross-subject considerations of classroom use of IT, and the provision and use of hardware and software resources. Results from the component parts of the work were integrated to address the main theme(s). Overall indications were that in particular circumstances the use of IT had a highly positive impact on children's achievement, but this was not without substantial demands on teachers and schools.

Keywords English; Geography; Information technology; Learning; Mathematics; Primary education; Secondary education; Science; Teaching.

Information Technology and new Primary School teachers

J.J. Kay and H.G. Mellar, Institute of Education, University of London

Abstract This paper looks at the use of IT by teachers in their first year of teaching. Students on a Primary PGCE course were followed up in their first year of teaching, data was collected through questionnaires and interviews, and an interview with the Primary PGCE IT tutor provided a picture of the training they had received. It was found that the training had provided a limited preparation, enabling a start to be made with subject-related games and word processing, but had left the teachers reliant on school support, to develop further use of IT. Suggestions for course improvement are made.

Keywords Information technology; Initial training; New teachers; Primary.

Computer mediated communication in distance education

S.D. Gregor* and E.F. Cuskelly+
* Faculty of Business, Central Queensland University
+ Division of Distance and Continuing Education, Central Queensland University

Abstract This paper describes experiences with computer mediated communication (CMC) in a postgraduate information systems module over two successive years. CMC was introduced primarily for pedagogical reasons, although a further aim was to carry out an exploratory investigation into factors affecting its successful adoption and the benefits to students. Students participated in a case study discussion through a bulletin board. Student participation, though not compulsory, was high at 82%. Over 80% of students surveyed thought their experience with electronic mail assisted learning, that the case study discussion was more useful than a conventional assignment, that the instructor seemed more accessible and that further use of electronic mail in their studies was desirable. Problems encountered included difficulties in learning to use the communications software and inadequacies in documentation. Social interaction amongst students and between students and the instructor was relatively low. Recommendations are that future work should concentrate on the quality of documentation and technical support, the ease of use of software chosen and the integration of technology across the organization.

Keywords Australia; Computer mediated communication; Distance education; Management education; Postgraduate.

Sixth form students' ability to engage in computational modelling

A.C. Kurtz dos Santos* and J. Ogborn**
Fundaçåo Universidade do Rio Grande, Brasil* & Institute of Education, University of London**

Abstract The paper presents the main conclusions of an exploratory study of the ability of Sixth form students in England to use some different approaches to computational modelling. The research involves a questionnaire survey of causal diagraming and mathematical knowledge, which aims at characterizing students' model building capability. Also, it includes an intensive study with pairs of students doing exploratory and expressive tasks using two modelling systems: IQON and STELLA. Data was gathered through written notes from observation, written answers given to questionnaires and data recorded in the computer. Over-lapping questionnaires connected the survey and the intensive study, and comparisons between the use of causal diagrams and IQON were carried out. Results suggest that Sixth form students can undertake valuable work with both computational systems.

Keywords Causal-loop diagram; IQON; Modelling; STELLA.