Print      Print
Search    

The Computers in Education Study

COMPED 1987–1993

Stage 1 of the study, with data collection in 1989, was a descriptive survey that focused on how computers are used, the extent and availability of computers in schools, the nature of instruction about computers, estimates of the effects that computers have on students, the curriculum, and the school as an institution. The second stage of the study, with data collection in 1992, consisted of two parts. The first part of Stage 2 was a follow-up of Stage 1 and studied changes over time. The second part of Stage 2 involved assessing the effects of school, teacher, and teaching variables on student outcomes in the domain of computer usage in schools (functional computer knowledge and skills).

Target Population

The study included three populations: modal grade for 10-year-old students, modal grade for 13-year-old students and students in a final year of secondary education.

Participating Educational Systems

Stage 1:

Austria, Belgium (Flemish), Belgium (French), Canada (British Columbia), China, France, Germany (FRG), Greece, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, United States.

Stage 2:

Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Netherlands, Slovenia, Thailand, United States.

Key Findings

  1. Rapid changes occurred between 1985, 1989, and 1992 in the percentage of schools that had access to computers in all participating countries and at all grade levels. The increases were the results of governmental programs as well as support by local communities and the efforts of individual schools.
  2. In both 1989 and 1992, the major use of computers in schools was for teaching about computers, their applications, and how to handle them. Only a minority of students used computers regularly as a part of instruction in the subjects of mathematics, science, and mother tongue.
  3. Opportunities provided outside school were a major factor influencing student learning about computers. At all three school levels, students’ computer-related knowledge was weakly associated with the opportunities that students had to acquire that knowledge within schools.
  4. In 1989, in most systems, computer use in schools was male dominated. Only the French-speaking systems and Greece employed in the majority of schools special gender-related policies on computer usage. These policies consisted of training female teachers in computer education and selecting females to supervise computer activities.
  5. The amount of information teachers received in training courses was strongly related to their knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards computers. Staff development was one of the factors most strongly associated with the implementation of computers in schools.

Major Publications

Pelgrum, W.J., Janssen Reinen, I.A.M., & Plomp, T. (Eds.). (1993).

Schools, Teachers, Students, and Computers: A Cross-National Perspective.

The Hague: IEA.

 

Pelgrum, W.J., & Plomp, T. (Ed.). (1991).

The Use of Computers in Education Worldwide: Results from the IEA Computers in Education Survey in 19 Education Systems.

Oxford: Pergamon Press.

 

Pelgrum, W.J., & Plomp, T. (Ed.). (1993).

The IEA Study of Computers in Education: Implementation of an Innovation in 21 Education Systems.

Oxford: Pergamon Press.

 

Plomp, T., Anderson, R.E., & Kontogiannopoulou-Polydorides, G. (Eds.). (1996).

Cross-National Policies and Practices on Computers in Education.

Dordrecht, Boston, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

 

< < prev     next > >