Enhancing Physical Education and Sport Science students' self-efficacy and attitudes regarding Information and Communication Technologies through a computer literacy course

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have become an integral component of Physical Education (PE) and Sport Science (SS) curricula and professions. It is thus imperative that PE and SS students develop ICT skills, self-efficacy in ICT and positive attitudes towards ICT. This study was aimed at designing a computer literacy course targeted at equipping PE and SS students with core ICT skills, and at evaluating its impact on students' computer and Internet self-efficacy, attitudes towards computers and the Internet, and computer anxiety. The study also explored students' responses to the course, students' perceptions of the relevance of ICT for PE and SS professionals as well as eventual differences in the course's impact in relation to students' prior ICT experience. Participants were 89 PE and SS undergraduate students. Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through pretest/posttest questionnaires and transcripts of an online discussion forum. Data analysis showed that the course significantly enhanced students' computer and Internet self-efficacy and their positive attitudes towards computers and the Internet, while significantly reducing their computer anxiety. The course was very well-received by the students, who were found to fully perceive the pervasiveness of ICT in today's PE and SS professions, and who felt that they had developed valuable ICT skills. The course elicited positive responses regardless of students' prior ICT experience, although it had significantly more positive effects, in terms of computer self-efficacy, Internet self-efficacy and computer attitudes, with the students who were most in need of the course, namely those with low prior ICT experience. The findings are discussed in relation to training PE and SS students in ICT within academic settings. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.