Worldwide, there is a decline in interest in the computer science profession and in the subject at secondary school level. Novice programmers struggle to understand introductory programming concepts and this difficulty of learning to program is contributing to the lack of interest in the field of computer science. Information Technology (IT) learners in South African secondary schools are novice programmers, introduced to introductory programming concepts in the subject which also includes topics on hardware and system software, e-communication, social and ethical issues, spreadsheets and databases. The difficulties faced by IT learners are worsened by the lack of suitably qualified teachers, a saturated learning programme that allocates very little time to the understanding of complex programming concepts and limited class time where practical examples can be implemented with the support of the IT teacher. This research proposes that IT learners could be supported by a programming assistance tool (PAT). A PAT is a software program that can be used by novice programmers to learn how to program and/or improve their understanding of programming concepts. PATs use different techniques to assist novice programmers. The main objective of this research was to determine whether the use of a PAT impacted IT learners’ understanding of programming concepts and motivation towards programming. The literature study and feedback from IT learners and teachers were used to identify novice programming difficulties and IT learner programming difficulties, respectively. Selection criteria were derived from the programming difficulties identified. The selection criteria were grouped into three categories, namely, programming concepts, programming knowledge and programming skills. Existing PATs were evaluated using the selection criteria and three PATs, namely, RoboMind, Scratch and B#, were selected as suitable for use by IT learners. RoboMind was adapted in this research study, allowing it to support the Delphi programming language. The three PATs were evaluated by participating IT learners at four schools. The findings of this research provided no conclusive evidence that IT learners who used a PAT had a significantly better understanding of programming concepts and motivation towards programming than learners who did not use a PAT. IT learner feedback was used to identify the strengths and shortcomings of the three PATs and to provide recommendations for the development of PATs specifically to support IT learners. This research study has provided several theoretical and practical contributions, including the research design, selection criteria, adaptations to RoboMind and the evaluation of the three PATs. In addition, IT teachers and learners have been made aware of PATs and the support that can be provided by these PATs. IT teachers have also been provided with a means of selecting PATs applicable to the IT curriculum. All the research contributions have formed the basis for future work, such as improving and extending RoboMind’s functionality and support of programming concepts, the refinement of the selection criteria and, ultimately, the development of a new PAT, specifically designed to support IT learner understanding of programming concepts and motivation towards programming.

The purpose of this study was to investigate and analyze computer literacy and general attitudes toward computers of students at Thai public unversities. The comparative study of computer literacy levels and attitudes toward computers among Thai students with various demographic classification was performed followed by the study of relationships between the two variables among the samples. A fifty-eight-item questionnaire was adapted from the computer literacy questionnaire developed by the researchers at the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium. The items were designed to assess knowledge and attitudes relative to computers. The questionnaire was administered to a random sample of 492 students who took at least one computer course from thirteen public universities in Thailand. Statistical tests used to analyze the data included t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson product moment correlations. Based on the research findings, the following conclusions were drawn: (1) Thai university students exhibited a moderate computer literacy level. (2) While a higher proportion of female students enrolled in computer classes, male and female students reported similar computer literacy levels. (3) Graduate students had higher computer literacy levels than did other students from different educational levels. (4) Academic majors and academic performance (GPAs) were also factors affecting computer literacy levels. Education majors displayed higher computer literacy levels than mathematics majors and science majors. (5) Students with higher GPAs had higher levels of computer literacy than the groups with lower GPAs. (6) Computer literacy was not age dependent. (7) Generally, Thai university students showed positive attitudes toward computers. (8) Males and females both showed positive attitudes toward computers. (9) Graduate students exhibited more positive attitudes toward computers than all other groups. (10) The groups of students with lower GPAs displayed lower positive attitudes toward computers. (11) There was a strong positive relationship between students' knowledge and their attitudes toward computers. It is recommended that computer education should be viewed in relation to its contribution to educational process as a whole. It should be relevant to the local environment, work, individuals and. society needs sis well as development of positive attitude toward manual skills. More research is needed in the areas of teacher education, evaluation techniques to assess students' progress in a new teaching context, and ethical values relative to computers.

The problem with which this study was concerned is the association between exposure to computer instruction and changes in attitudes toward computers. The study had a two-fold purpose. The first was to determine the attitudes of undergraduate students toward computers. The second was to determine whether exposure to information about computers and their uses is associated with changes in students' attitudes toward computers. A computer literacy test was administered to subjects as a pre-and post-test. The major findings of the study indicate that there were significant, positive attitude changes among students exposed to computer instruction. There were also significant increases in knowledge about computers among participants exposed to computer instruction. The major conclusions are that attitudes are not fixed and develop in the process of need satisfaction. Participants in the study experienced attitude changes, which supports the suggestion that attitudes are developmental. Futhermore, the attitude changes observed in the study occurred in the process of learning about computers, a process assumed to be rooted in the educational and/or career needs of the participants. Attitudes are shaped by the information to which people are exposed. Attitude modification seldom, if ever, occurs in a vacuum. Instead, it most often takes place in the context of information dissemination and exposure. In this study, attitudes toward computers changed positively and significantly as participants were exposed to information about computers.

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The master‘s final paper analyzes the concept of computer literacy and it‘s change. The paper characterizes the obligatory content of computer literacy for teachers described in the standart of teacher computer literacy. The thorough analysis of teachers’ computer literacy strategy is made while analyzing the documents of Lithuanian Republic. The paper presents the analyzed strategy based on the K. Andrews conceptual strategy model. The teachers’ opinion about the integration of IT in educational process, computer literacy and its perception, development strategy is discussed on the grounds of the results of the carried out research. The master‘s final paper proves the hypothesis that computer literacy strategy is optimally carried out in Lithuania, therefore every teacher has an opportunity to achieve computer literacy and to master the knowledge gained.

In this study I explore the extent of computer literacy in South Africa, the correlates of computer literacy, and the relationship between computer literacy and labour market outcomes, namely the probability of employment and earnings among working-age South Africans. I use data from the first wave of the National Income Dynamics Panel survey of 2008, the first national household survey to collect information on computer skills. This study focuses on computer literacy as it has become an integral skill in today’s world of fast technological change. Understanding the unequal distribution of this form of human capital and the benefits it affords those in the labour market, is important particularly in South Africa, where there is a growing gap between the rich and the poor. I find that the distribution of computer skills in South Africa tends to mirror existing inequalities; females, Africans, those with low levels of schooling and those living outside of formal urban areas, for instance, are less likely to be computer literate. Further, I find that there is a positive association between computer literacy and the probability of employment among working-age adults, and a positive relationship between computer literacy and earnings among the employed in South Africa. These associations hold after controlling for a variety of demographic, human capital, family background, and in the case of the earnings regressions, job characteristics. The results also suggest that, as would be expected, those who are highly computer literate do better than those who have basic use skills. I also consider the limitations of my methods and the data I use, and the implications of the results for education and skills development policy in South Africa. / M.A. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Canterbury, 2005. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 302-317). Also available via the World Wide Web.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Thesis (M. Tech. Information and Communications Technology)--Vaal University of Technology. / The personal computer has changed the way people think and live and has found its way into every area of life. The ability to work with computer technology is a requirement for today's world. The number of virtual learning environments (VLE's), is increasing and e-learning has been promoted as a solution for remote education. Computer literacy, the ability to use computers to perform a variety of tasks, is becoming fundamental to the learning process. Students need to be computer literate, because they are expected to use the computer in most of their subjects, by completing projects, perform electronic searches or typing assignments, to name a few. Many of the learners, who enrol at Vaal University of Technology (VUT), do not have this basic skill, and a great number of them do not have their own computers. It is thus still necessary for VUT to offer a subject such as Computer End Using to provide the learners with the basic level of computer literacy. According to the South African Qualifications Authority, computer literacy is on NQF level 4. Although computer literacy is regarded as being at a lower level than the first year in higher education, it remains a vital prerequisite for completing qualifications. It is therefore important that higher education institutions offer training for fundamental computer skills. This is also supported by the National Plan for Higher Education (NPHE), which emphasizes the mainstreaming of academic development. VUT faces a challenge in terms of providing computer literacy training through online learning. The exact skills the students need in order to engage in online learning, are the same skills taught online, subsequently these programmes require motivated learners with fundamental computer skills. The two online learning packages that were investigated in this study were a national product (HS Training) and an international product (SimNet). An informed recommendation was made with regard to the software

M.Ed. / South Africa's democratic government inherited a divided and unequal system of education. Under apartheid, South Africa had nineteen different educational departments separated by race, geography and ideology (Department of Education, 2002:4). In this education system, teachers taught a syllabus and learners were required to meet certain objectives. These objectives were normally fixed and had to be achieved by all learners within a certain time frame. Assessment was based mainly on knowledge by means of a test. This system did not serve the needs of all learners in the country (Pretorius, 1998:1). Curriculum change in post-apartheid South Africa started immediately after the election in 1994 when the National Education and Training Forum began a process of syllabus revision and subject rationalisation (Department of Education, 2002:4). The purpose of this process was mainly to lay the foundation for a single national core syllabus. This brought about the implementation of Curriculum 2005 in 1998 which marked a watershed in the educational history of South Africa. The Outcomes-based education (OBE) approach represents a paradigm shift in education. / Prof. Duan Van der Westhuizen