Behind the screen : an exploration of college students' practice of intellectual self-efficacy in computer lab classrooms

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore how undergraduate students’ belief in their knowledge impacts their learning while sitting behind a computer screen. While more and more traditional classrooms have computers (personal laptops or computer labs) in schools and universities, instructors strive to implement active learning strategies that increase interaction and engagement in learning. Yet, the design of computer lab classrooms typically suggest individualized student work at the computer. In this mixed methods research, the quantitative data explored undergraduate students’ perception of engagement, interaction, and self-efficacy in computer lab classrooms. The qualitative observation data presents students’ interactions in the classroom in order to provide further analysis and allow students’ to define engagement in three computer lab classrooms, arranged differently by rows. The triangulation of the data sets provides further cross verification of students’ perceptions regarding engagement and interactions that contribute to a student’s self-efficacy in a computer lab classroom.