The effect of participation in a computer -based course on attendance, discipline, and selected attitudinal variables among secondary at -risk students

Integral to the concept of using computers to promote positive attitudes toward school for at-risk students, is the idea that students' participation in a Keyboarding/Word Processing course will have potential long-term benefits for educational achievement. This study sought to determine the extent to which participation in a computer-based course (Keyboarding/Word Processing) affects attitudes toward school of ninth grade students identified as being at risk of school failure. Attitude-behavior theory provided the theoretical framework for the study.;The population for this study was 300 ninth grade students in Hall County, Georgia identified as being at risk of school failure. A convenience sample of 120 participants was used, including 74 females and 46 males. There were 88 Caucasian students, 19 Hispanic students, 14 African American students and 2 Asian students.;Attitudes toward school of ninth grade at-risk students were measured using the School Attitude Measure (SAM; Wick, 1990). The SAM measures school attitudes based on five sub-scales (motivation for schooling, academic self-concept-performance based, academic self-concept-referenced based, students' sense of control over performance, and students' instructional mastery).;Participation in an intensive computer-based course (Keyboarding/Word Processing) resulted in a modest decrease in student absences and discipline referrals. Students who participated in the Keyboarding/Word Processing course had more positive attitudes on four of the five sub-scales of the SAM (motivation for schooling, academic self-concept-performance based, academic self-concept-referenced based, and students' sense of control over performance) than students who did not participate. There was no statistically significant difference between groups on the students' instructional mastery sub-scale scores. These findings suggest that the Keyboarding/Word Processing course may be an effective means for promoting positive attitudes toward school for ninth grade students identified as being at risk of school failure.