A study of students’ attitudes towards using ICT in a social constructivist environment

Abstract

This study aims to examine the factors that support or hinder students’ attitudes towards using information and communication technology (ICT) in problem-based learning (PBL) using the technology acceptance model (TAM) (Davis, 1989) among polytechnic students. A total of 737 first-year polytechnic students in Singapore participated in the cross-sectional survey study by completing a questionnaire (The assessment of attitude and intention to use ICT tools among polytechnic students), which gathered both quantitative and qualitative data. Based on the analysis of the quantitative data, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are found to be significantly and positively correlated with attitudes towards using ICT. Results from the analysis of the qualitative data suggest five major themes (engagement, communication, information gathering, collaboration and efficiency) on what students enjoyed most about using ICT. On the other hand, Internet connectivity, usability, technical issues and ICT competency are the four other themes that categorised the difficulties students faced using ICT. An important implication is to develop polytechnic lecturers’ competency in the use of ICT-enabled learning tools as a priority to enable them to successfully integrate ICT in their PBL lessons.