ERIC Number: EJ842992
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Sep
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0360-1315
EISSN: N/A
Changing Middle-School Students' Attitudes and Performance regarding Engineering with Computer-Based Social Models
Plant, E. Ashby; Baylor, Amy L.; Doerr, Celeste E.; Rosenberg-Kima, Rinat B.
Computers & Education, v53 n2 p209-215 Sep 2009
Women's under-representation in fields such as engineering may result in part from female students' negative beliefs regarding these fields and their low self-efficacy for these fields. In this experiment, we investigated the use of animated interface agents as social models for changing male and female middle-school students' attitudes toward engineering-related fields, their self-efficacy for these fields, and their math performance. Students interacted with either a female or a male computer-based agent or they did not interact with an agent. The female agent increased interest, utility beliefs, self-efficacy, and math performance compared to control and, for boys, decreased stereotyping. Mediational analyses indicated that the female agent facilitated interest and math performance by enhancing self-efficacy. The findings indicate that interface agents may be used effectively as social models for influencing attitudes and beliefs and supporting performance. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)
Descriptors: Student Attitudes, Self Efficacy, Computer Interfaces, Engineering, Negative Attitudes, Attitude Change, Females, Sex Stereotypes, Mathematics Achievement, Computer Uses in Education, Computer Software, Animation, Social Attitudes, Role Models, Middle School Students
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education; Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A