Review of Data Gathered During Engl. 1101-T Summer Pilot

 

 

 

Thirty-Eight students responded to the optional online questionnaire. [1]  They were asked a variety of questions, twenty in all. Of the thirty-eight respondents, thirty-four said they had a computer. Oddly enough, when asked if they had either a desktop or laptop, 20 said desktop and 18 said laptop. The distribution of operating systems is indicated in figure one, with the preponderance being Windows XP, indicating that most of the computers are relatively new.   

It is also clear from the data that  these students spend a considerable amount of time online, nearly half of them spend eight or more hours online, and only 3 report spending less than an hour a week online. While fourteen students report having dsl Internet access and eight report having cable access, fully sixteen indicate that they

use a dialup connection. If these numbers prove consistent with subsequent data collection, faculty should carefully consider using graphics or server intensive applications, as they will prove a painfully slow experience for a considerable proportion of our students.

 

 

What our students report doing while online is worth noting also. Many do research, read news, and exchange email. A smaller proportion exchange instant messages (im), shop, and play games. Very few use the Internet to meet other people. 

 

I found it interesting to note that nearly three quarters of the respondents said they had used a computer by the age of 13 and one was plugged in by the age of 4. At the other end of the spectrum, were four people who were as old as 23 before they used a computer. We need, I think, to keep in mind that   while most of our students are ready  to start using computers more consistently in first year composition, there will be a small percentage who will need extra help.

 

 

[1] The survey is available at http://rhetcomp.gsu.edu/fyc/forms. I have reduced the number of questions to ten, to make the survey easier to complete, and removed the questions that might have served as a pre-post test gathering tool, questions like “do you know what ftp stands for?” and “what is hypertext?”. It may prove useful to have a post test eventually, but we may decide that experience with computer communications alone is sufficient.

 

 


[1] The survey is available at http://rhetcomp.gsu.edu/fyc/forms. I have reduced the number of questions to ten, to make the survey easier to complete, and removed the questions that might have served as a pre-post test gathering tool, questions like “do you know what ftp stands for?” and “what is hypertext?”. It may prove useful to have a post test eventually, but we may decide that experience with computer communications alone is sufficient.