AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN C

DublinCityUniversity,Glasnevin,Dublin9,IRELAND.AnExploratoryStudyoftheRelationshipBetweenComputerUsageandtheDevelopmentofSelf-EsteeminaChosenSampleofSevenandEightYearOldChildrenEileenWardTonyMoynihanMCE-08981ANEXPLORATORYSTUDYOFTHERELATIONSHIPBETWEENCOMPUTERUSAGEANDTHEDEVELOPMENTOFSELF-ESTEEMINACHOSENSAMPLEOFSEVENANDEIGHTYEAROLDCHILDRENEileenWard,[e-mail],[e-mail]:Thisexploratorystudysoughttoinvestigateifcomputerscouldbeusedasanagentofchangetoenhancetheself-esteemofchildren.1INTRODUCTIONWhatisSelf-Esteem?TheviewsoftheoristsrangingfromJames(1890)toDr.TonyHumphreys(1993)andGordon&Browne(1993)areconsidered.Itisdifficulttogetconsensusonadefinitionofself-esteembutCoopersmith’s(1967)statementthatself-esteemwas“theevaluationwhichtheindividualmakesandcustomarilymaintainswithregardtohimself/herself”incorporatestheideasofmanywriters.Frequentlyself-esteemisseenasacomponentofamoreinclusiveconstruct,typicallylabeledself-conceptorself-perception(Beane&Lipka,1980;Calhoun&Morse,1977;Dickstein,1977;Rosenberg,1979).Forthepurposesofempiricalstudythetermsself-esteemandself-conceptarenotempiricallyseparableShavelsonetal(1976)“asfarasweknow,thedistinctionsbetweenself-descriptionandself-evaluationhasnotbeenclarifiedeitherconceptuallyorempirically”.Thisisonereasonwhythetermsself-conceptandself-esteemappeartobeinterchangeableintheliterature(Gurney,1986).Theconceptualdifferencebetweenself-esteem,self-conceptandself-efficacyisnotalwayscleartoresearchersorininvestigations.Someresearchersusethetermssynonymously(Reyes1984).Othersdescribeself-esteemasageneralisedformofself-efficacy.(Harter1993)FactorswhichaffectSelf-EsteemLiteraturereviewhasenumeratedmanyfactorswhichaffectself-esteem.AmongtheseareParentalInfluence:Stott(1939),Coopersmith(1967),Reasoner(1992),andHumphreys(1993)alltestifytotheimportanceofparentalinfluenceinthedevelopmentofself-esteeminchildren.PeerinfluenceisdiscussedbyMaudryetal(1934)andBurns(1982).TeacherInfluence:Theresearchontheimpactofteachersonstudentself-esteemhasbeenextensive.Nelson(1984)andCoopersmith(1967)agreewithHumphreys(1993)that2“ateacherinaclassroomisinapowerfulpositiontoinfluencehowstudentsfeelaboutthemselves”.Physicalappearance(Burns,1982)andacademicachievement(Staines(1958),(Piers-Harris(1969))werealsofoundtohaveaninfluence.Enhancementofselfesteem:Burns(1984),Hattie(1992)andKatz(1992)allconcurthatpositivefeedbackisamongthemostpowerfulmodifiersofself-concept.Somewriters(Katz1992,Shaw1994)warnagainstthedangersofnarcissismandpride.Computersandself-esteem:Clementsetal(1993),Carmichael,(1987),Beatty&Tucker(1987)allagreethattechnologycanhaveapositiveeffectonchildren’sself-esteem.AreviewoftheliteratureoncooperativelearningandcomputersshowsthatLight&Bayle(1990),Turner&Diptino,(1995)andHaughland(1992),amongothers,believethatcooperativegroupworkwithcomputerscanenhanceselfesteeminchildren.2RESEARCHMETHODOLOGYThemodelchosenforthisresearchwasofpre-test/post-test,controlgroup,structure.Theempiricalresearchproposestomeasuretheself-esteemlevelsofachosengroupoffifty-five7-8yearoldsandtoinvestigatetheinfluence,ifany,ofcomputerusageonthisself-esteemlevel.HypothesisThehypothesisbeingtestedisthatasignificantpositiverelationshipexistsbetweenself-esteemandguidedcomputerusage.SubjectsThesubjectschosenforthisresearchconsistoftwogroupsof7-8yearoldchildreninsecondclassintwoseparateschools.Onegrouphadaccesstocomputersinschool,theotherhadnot.Theschoolschosenareinthesamegeographicalareatoreducethesocio-economicvariables.Thesetwoclasseswerethoughttobeparticularlysuitableastheteachersinbothareveryconsciousoftheimportanceofself-esteemandhaveprogramsinoperationtoendeavourtoenhancethisattribute.Inonecasetheteacheruses“CircleTime”andintheothertheteacherpractices“ThinkingTime”.Oneschoolissinglesex,theotherisco-ed.Thesocio-economicbackgroundismiddleclass.Beforeanytestingwascarriedoutpermissionwassoughtandobtainedfromprincipalsandclassteachersinvolved.Aletterwasalsosenttoparentsinformingthemofthestudy.Noparentsrefusedtohavetheirchildparticipate.Allchildreninbothclassestookpartinthestudy.TheclassinschoolAconsistedofthirty-twogirls.Threetestsweredisallowedinthisgroupbecauseofincompletedata.3TheclassinschoolBconsistedofthirtychildren,sixteenboysandfourteengirls.Fourtestsweredisallowedinthisgroup,threeboys’andonegirl’s,duetoabsenteeismandincompletedata.Thereforethetotalvalidsampleconsistedofforty-twogirlsandthirteenboys.InstrumentEveryeffortwasmadetofindthemostvalidandreliableinstrumentformeasuringself-esteemavailableinIreland.TheTennesseeSelf-ConceptScaleTSCS:2waschosen.Thisself-conceptscalehasachildformsuitableforchildrenfromage7yearsold.Thechildformconsistsofstatementsthatallowtheindividualtoportrayhisorherownselfpictureusingfiveresponsecategories:alwaysfalse;mostlyfalse;partlyfalse/partlytrue;mostlytrue;alwaystrue.Thechildformisstandardisedon1784children,aged7-14yearsold,fromawiderangeofsettingsthroughouttheUnitedStatesincludingelementary,middleandjuniorhighschoolstudents.Therevisededitionisnormedin1996.