The Influence of Programming Training on the Computer Literacy and Attitudes of Preservice Teachers

This pretest/posttest study measured the change in knowledge of computers and attitudes toward computers among 36 preservice teachers enrolled in an introductory computer training course. This course was oriented towards developing basic computer programming skills. Significant gains were achieved in attitudes toward computers, both in the overall Computer Attitude Index and in five of the six component attitude dimensions of this Index. Moreover, attitude gains were correlated with achievement in the course. Most students entered the course with relatively high levels of computer literacy. Nevertheless, gains in this domain were significant in all measured dimensions except that of Knowledge of Computer Uses. Gains in the Computer Literacy Index were correlated with course achievement. No gender effects were detected, and only one age-related correlation was found.