A study of self-efficacy beliefs in computer use of undergraduate maths students’ and its relationship to their computer experiences in SHS

Abstract

This study investigated Self-efficacy Beliefs in Computer use of Undergraduate maths Students‟ and its Relationship to their Computer Experiences in SHS. The study used quantitative methodology which employed survey design as an approach of inquiry. Bandura self-efficacy beliefs theory was used as a conceptual model to assess the extent of students‟ computer competence and constructivist teaching and learning principle as a theoretical framework to assess SHS students‟ computer experience. The population was first year undergraduate maths students from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi in the Ashanti Region during 2017/2018 academic year. The sample consisted of students from three programmes of study; BSc Statistics, BSc Actuarial Science and BSc Mathematics. A sample of 258 undergraduate students participated in the study (159 males, 97 females and 2 missing gender data). The researcher used questionnaire for data collection. The study revealed that, majority (75%) of the students had High self-efficacy beliefs in computer use and 25% had Low self-efficacy beliefs in computer use. Another notable finding made was that there was no gender difference in undergraduate students‟ self-efficacy beliefs in computer use. It was also found that majority (55%) of respondents had low computer experience in SHS and 45% respondents had high computer experience in SHS. Finally, it was observed that respondents with higher computer experience in SHS had high self-efficacy beliefs in computer use and respondents with low computer experience in SHS had low self-efficacy beliefs in computer use presently. The Pearson Correlation analysis showed that there was a relationship between undergraduate students‟ self-efficacy beliefs in computer use and their computer experiences in SHS. A more remarkable finding is the impact of the previous computer experience on current computer competence.