Fall 1997: Transitions classes

Comparison group: Center for Innovation in Learning Study

Demographics: Student-athletes in the Study

Computer experience — before beginning the program

Computer Ownership

Computer attitudes

Introduction

This report primarily examines characteristics of incoming student-athletes for Fall 1997. We administered two surveys (in early September and December) to 117 students in the "Transitions" classes, which is a Freshman Year Experience course that enrolled approximately half of all the 240 incoming athletes. When considering the survey results, please note that the first criteria for selecting students for the Transitions classes was their "at-risk" status. Although there were a few special A-Tech classes for student-athletes, their small enrollment meant that surveys would not have been appropriate. However, several students in these classes were interviewed on videotape in order to capture their impressions of the experience.

In analyzing the results and preparing this report, we compared the A-Tech students with freshman students from another project (Center for Innovation in Learning, CIL), who were drawn from all parts of the university. Our office (Educational Technologies) is conducting a similar study of CIL and we used many of the same survey items for that assessment.

The surveys covered five main topics:

• Computer background of incoming student-athletes
• Attitudes toward different ways of learning
• Student use of the technology
• Learning attitudes of student-athletes
• Unique social/academic pressures on student-athletes

Student-athletes rated themselves significantly less familiar with six key computer applications (word processing, e-mail, the internet, listservs, online discussions and dowloading software) than did CIL freshmen. Following a typical national pattern, males were significantly more familiar with these computer applications than females, and white athletes were significantly more familiar than the "non-white" group (87% of whom were African-American).

There were large differences in computer ownership between athletes and CIL freshmen, a fact that could pose a challenge given the new freshman computer requirement at Virginia Tech. 88% of CIL freshmen owned computers, but only 42% of this group of student-athletes owned their own computers. Again, breakdowns by gender were significant: 49% of males owned, but only 25% of females; 49% of whites and 29% of non-whites owned their own computers.

As part of the two surveys, we included a scale measuring attitude toward computers (specifically anxiety and alienation toward computers). The athletes' computer attitude, though positive, was less favorable than that of CIL freshmen in both surveys. Interestingly, the athletes' computer attitude stayed the same across the semester, while that of CIL freshmen became significantly more positive, a shift we have found in most of the other technologically-enhanced classes we have examined (see the ACCESS Final Report, July 1997). Again, males expressed less anxiety/alienation than females, but there was no difference between whites and non-whites on this measure.

At the beginning and end of the semester, student-athletes and CIL students were asked about their feelings toward different approaches to learning and study in order to gauge their willingness to adapt to the greater demands of university academic life.

Student-athletes were generally positive toward working in small groups. During their first semester the attitude of A-Tech students became significantly more negative (p<.05), but nevertheless remained positive. Both student-athletes and CIL students were neutral to positive at the beginning of the semester regarding the importance of discussion to really understanding a new topic. By the end of the semester, their attitudes had moved in opposite directions: CIL students were decidedly neutral, while the student-athletes were more positive. At the beginning of the semester, both CIL students and student-athletes students felt that having the instructor available to answer questions was fairly important. By the end of the semester both groups still considered it important, but less so for A-Tech and much less so for CIL freshman.

Both student-athletes and CIL students disagreed with the assertion that the lecture is more important than the lab in learning science, with student-athletes disagreeing more. Both groups thought that understanding the "big picture" was more important than learning a lot of facts, but the CIL freshmen were more positive toward this statement.

At the first of the semester, student-athletes were neutral toward taking an independent study course, although they were significantly more positive than the CIL freshmen. However, by the end of the semester, both groups were decidedly negative toward independent studies and self-paced learning. Both groups were decidedly negative toward the idea of taking a distance learning summer school course using computers.

In rating the adequacy of their own computer skills for classes at Virginia Tech, the groups differed considerably. Student-athletes were less than positive about their skills, while CIL students were decidedly more confident in their abilities. This finding re-affirms the students' self-assessment of their computer skills described previously in the report.

The most striking differences between the groups were in the use of e-mail to send notes to a professor and to contact other students about a class. Student-athletes reported using e-mail for class purposes on average between once a month and twice a week, while CIL students said they used e-mail once or maybe twice a semester for these purposes, on average. However, both groups were heavy users of e-mail for other purposes (e.g., personal correspondence), averaging between several times per week to once per day.

Both groups used the Internet (Worldwide Web) fairly often, both for class (slightly less than once/week) and for any purpose (from 1 to several times per week), with the student-athletes using the web slightly more often. Both groups were heavy users of computers for any purpose. CIL students averaged using computers more than once per day, while student-athletes used computers significantly less (p<.045), between once per day and several times per week.

Neither group seems to have used computer technical support (4-HELP) much at all — on average, slightly less than once per semester.

It is impressive that the student-athletes' lack of knowledge and skills (as reported in the first survey) does not seem to have hampered their eventual heavy use of e-mail, the internet and computers in general. Remarkably, the Transitions student-athletes report using computers for class purposes significantly more often than CIL students. One possible explanation for this increased use of e-mail is that athletes, because they must miss classes due to travel, tend to introduce themselves to faculty and must contact faculty to make up missed assignments and tests.

On both surveys (September and December, 1997), student-athletes were asked "What is your greatest concern about doing well in your studies?", and 62% of the students wrote something in the small space provided on the form. Time management was by far the largest single issue mentioned from the beginning to the end of the semester. Doing well in their studies ("General performance") was the only area to show a significant increase in concern during the semester. 12 students (10.3%) mentioned self-motivation in September, but only 1 student mentioned that as a concern in December. Interestingly, none of the students seemed to be concerned about their capability with computers by the end of the semester.

A series of questions were asked in the second survey concerning 5 topics:

• Time management and scarcity of time
• Rigor of being a student-athlete
• Importance of athletics vs. studies
• Faculty-student interaction, isolation
• Other academic topics

When asked about their ability to handle time pressures, students seemed to be evenly split over their ability to cope adequately with this problem.

The student-athletes were adamant in asserting that they had to work harder than other students. They were also sensitive to prejudice from other students that athletes "had it easier" than regular students. It should be noted that two-thirds of these freshman athletes reported that emotional stress connected with their sport had interfered with their schoolwork.

A majority of athletes rate studies as more important than their sport; most expressed strong agreement with the greater importance of studies. However, a substantial number were neutral when asked if they had to choose between sports and studies.

Most student-athletes seem to have made significant out-of-class contact with their professors, although they seem to be less certain whether their teachers know them personally. This group of student-athletes seemed to be ambivalent about feeling "left out or left behind" in their classes.

At the end of their first semester, a significant majority of these students felt that their high schools had prepared them adequately for college work. They seemed to appreciate strongly the tutorial program provided for them by the athletic department. As a group, these students seemed to recognize that learning about computers was important to their future.

• Lucinda Roy's Black studies class (womens' track and football; n=10)
• Fred and Barbara Carliles' English/Drama class (womens' track and football; n=6)
• Penelope Gleeson's English 1106 class (football, softball, women's basketball; n=6)

• Student-athletes and CIL students were generally positive toward working in small groups. During their first semester the attitude of A-Tech students became significantly more negative (p<..05), but nevertheless remained positive.
• Regarding the importance of discussion to really understanding a new topic, both student-athletes and CIL students were neutral to positive at the beginning of the semester. By the end of the semester, their attitudes had moved in opposite directions and the difference between the two groups was significant (p<.05): CIL students were decidedly neutral, while the student-athletes were more positive toward the importance of discussion (however, the actual change within each group was not significant for either group).
• At the beginning of the semester. both CIL students and student-athletes students felt that having the instructor available to answer questions was fairly important. By the end of the semester both groups still considered it important, but less so for A-Tech and much less so for CIL freshman. For students who responded to both surveys, the change within both groups were not significant for A-Tech, but were significant for CIL (p<.001).
• At the first of the semester, student-athletes were neutral toward taking an independent study course, although they were significantly more positive than the CIL freshmen. However, by the end of the semester, both groups were decidedly cool toward independent studies and self-paced learning. The negative change for the student-athletes was significant (p<.01).

• Both student-athletes and CIL students disagreed with the assertion that the lecture is more important than the lab in learning science, with student-athletes disagreeing more.
• Both groups thought that understanding the "big picture" was more important than a lot of facts, but the CIL freshmen were more positive toward this statement.
• Both groups were decidedly negative toward the idea of taking a distance learning summer school course using computers.
• In rating the adequacy of their own computer skills for classes at Virginia Tech, the groups differed considerably. Student-athletes were less than sanguine about their skills, while CIL students were decidedly more confident in their abilities. This finding re-affirms the students' self-assessment of their computer skills presented in the first part of the report.

• The most striking differences between the groups were in the use of e-mail to send notes to a professor and to contact other students about a class. Student-athletes reported using e-mail for class purposes on average between once a month and twice a week, while CIL students said they used e-mail once or maybe twice a semester for these purposes, on average.
• Both groups used the Internet (Worldwide Web) fairly often, both for class (slightly less than once/week) and for any purpose (from 1 to several times per week), with the student-athletes using the web slightly more often.
• Both groups were heavy users of e-mail for other purposes (e.g., personal correspondence), averaging between several times per week and once per day.
• Both groups were heavy users of computers for any purpose. CIL students averaged using computers more than once per day, while student-athletes used computers significantly less (p<.045), between once per day and several times per week.
• Neither group seems to have used computer technical support (4-HELP) much at all -- on average, slightly less than once per semester.

• "I manage my time well for studying"
• "My practice schedule has interfered with registering for classes I want."
• "Traveling to out-of-town events does NOT interfere with my schoolwork"
• "I never have enough time to do my school work."

• " Athletes must work harder than other students."
• "Student-athletes have an easier time in school than other students."
• "The emotional stress from my sport can interfere with my schoolwork."
• "Most people think athletes have an easier time in school than other students"

• "Excelling in my studies is more important to me than excelling in sports."
• "If I had to make a choice, I would choose doing well in my sport over my studies."

• "Most of my professors don't know who I am."
• "Most of my professors know me personally."
• "I have spoken personally to most of my professors (i.e., after class, during office hours."
• "I often feel "left out" or "left behind" in my courses."

• "My high school did a good job preparing me for college academic work."
• "Learning about computers is important to my future career."
• "The tutorial support for student athletes is excellent."