Computer Supported Instruction and Student Characteristics: An Experimental Study

Abstract

The extensive use of computers by businesses makes it imperative for most business graduates to possess a fair amount of computer skills to effectively perform in today's work environment. Business schools are integrating computers into their curricula to provide their students with these skills. While many studies in education have evaluated the effect of computer-based education, there are very few in the field of business education. This study evaluates the influence of a computer-based support system on the decision-making skills of students in a introductory financial management course. It also evaluates the impact of various personal characteristics of the student on decision-making performance. An experimental design combined with a survey instrument is used to collect data from forty-two graduate students. Discriminant analysis is used to derive a profile of students classifiable into groups based on quality of performance and degree of satisfaction. The results of the study indicate that the computer support system does indeed improve the performance of the students. The results of discriminant analyses suggest aptitude to be an important variable that emerged consistently in all the discriminant models. The other important predictors of improved performance and satisfaction with computer-supported instruction were observed to be domain expertise, domain experience, system experience, and the gender of the students.