World Wide Web and Secondary Students - A Link to their Future

Cranston M, Department of Mathematics and Computing, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Qld, 4702, Australia. Phone +61 79 30 9029 Fax: +61 79 309729 Email: m.cranston@cqu.edu.au Home Page: Mary Cranston [HREF 2]

Introduction

Female enrolments at universities have exceeded those of males in all areas except in computer science and engineering courses (Birrell et al, reported by Marslen, 1995). Cobbin (1995) reported the female participation rates for computer science courses in 1993 was 24% in Australian universities. The Department of Employment, Education, and Training (DEET) set a target of 40% female participation in tertiary computing courses by 1995. The 1996 female participation rate in the mainstream Bachelor of Information Technology degree at CQU is 16.6% (Clayton et al, 1996).

The Women In Computing (WIC) Committee, [HREF 3] based in the Department of Mathematics and Computing, Central Queensland University (CQU) [HREF 4] have undertaken several initiatives (Clayton et al 1994a, Clayton et al 1994b, Clayton et al 1993) to try to increase the female participation rate in this University's computing courses. This paper discusses a WIC initiative that focused on providing secondary students with a positive computing experience using World Wide Web (WWW/Web) and email in a workshop situation. The intention was to develop a presentation that would appeal to a wide section of students regardless of gender and whether or not they were technically or computer oriented. Our aim was to raise the students' level of self confidence in interacting with computers in the hope that some of them would consider computing as a career option.

Setting the Scene

With this in mind, WWW and email workshops were run by the WIC committee for two separate visiting groups of secondary students. The first group consisted of female students from western schools, while the second group consisted of students attending a Siemens Science School. The workshops with the female only students from the western schools (August 1995) were identified as being an initiative of the WIC committee. However, the Siemens workshops (January 1996), consisting of both male and female students, were deliberately not identified as being an initiative of the WIC committee. This approach to the mixed gender group was in direct response to evidence reported by Copeland (1995) indicating that both females and males respond negatively to continual focus on the female student. The female students feel embarrassed at the additional attention given to them and their needs, while the male students resent the fact that the females get all the consideration.

Given the background research, our own experience in these areas, and the limited time available with students, it was our intention to find an activity that captivated the students' interest and allowed the students to have a positive interaction with computers. A fun activity that could achieve the desired result of a positive, empowering experience, rather than a more structured University type experience seemed appropriate. In the authors' opinion WWW and email were obvious choices for workshop activities.

The aim was to design sessions that were non-threatening. The approach taken involved:

• step-by-step instruction sheets,
• lack of computer jargon,
• hands on experience, and
• explanation of some complex computing concepts through the use of simple analogies.

Students at the Siemens workshops completed feedback forms on their experience. Information collated from these forms indicate that this approach was successful. One student commented that:

It was great to discover the web. The instructions were easy to follow
and I had fun using it for the first time.

The Workshops

'Counting Girls In' group

The Counting Girls In Conference involved 60 females at year 9 level. They were from state schools in the Central Queensland inland region and the students spent 3 days at CQU. The intention of this conference was to encourage students to consider careers involving university qualifications, especially those girls from rural and low socio-economic areas. The students had exposure to different disciplines while at CQU including Applied Science, Engineering, Mathematics, and Computing.

This was a good opportunity to allow female students from country schools to have a non-threatening and supportive experience with computers. The authors were confident that these students would have little or no previous experience using email or WWW. Feedback received from students indicated the authors' assumptions were correct. Computer resources are often limited in rural communities.

'Siemens' group

A group of 72 students visited CQU in January 1996 for the 3 day Siemens Science School. The major sponsor of these national schools is Siemens. The CQU school was 1 of 31 schools conducted across Australia involving over 3000 students. The Siemens students were highly motivated, attending a Science School during the summer school vacation. They came from all over Queensland, both state and private schools. The female participation rate in the Siemens Science School at CQU was 57%.

The students were exposed to different activities from many disciplines. The WWW session was 1 of 4 workshops offered. Other workshops were in Biology, Engineering, and Physics.

Prior to the workshops no information was available on the students' access to the WWW and email. Some of these students may have had extensive WWW and email experience. To ensure that all Siemens students gained something from the workshops a template of the 'Siemens Experience' was provided. If any students had extensive Web experience they could add information about the various sessions to this Web template. In this way they would learn how to use HTML and the processes involved in placing a page on the Web. To make the pages more visually appealing digital images of the students at the various workshops conducted during the 3 day Science School were captured and included on the Siemens Web pages [HREF 5].

Students indicated that they were not experienced Web or email users. The further development of the Siemens Web pages was, therefore, undertaken by the authors. This lack of exposure to the Internet by Queensland secondary school students supported the selection of the workshop topics.

Workshop Format

Each workshop session ran for one and a half hours and the format was similar for both the Counting Girls In and the Siemens groups (Table 1).

The major differences between the groups were that the Siemens group:

• had their Siemens Science School experience placed onto the Web,
• provided written feedback on their workshop experience, and
• provided written information regarding computer access at their schools.

Worksheets stepped the students through each of the activities. The presenter guided students through interactions where appropriate. There were five experienced Web users to assist the students. The students were informed that staff were there to help them and to raise their hands as soon as they had a problem. Students were encouraged to seek help.

The five staff consisted of two lecturers, a technical support person, and two advanced level computing students. Staff were selected because of their non-threatening style and the fact that they were able to talk to the students without using computer jargon. Three of the staff were in their early twenties. The younger staff members were chosen in the belief that the secondary students would identify with and relate well to them. The advanced level computing students were particularly helpful in identifying Web sites that were of interest to the students.

As indicated in Table 1, the students sent an email message to themselves, to someone outside the laboratory, and to each other. We observed that the students enjoyed this activity, were relaxed, and confidently using the computer by the end of the email session.

Following this, the students were given a brief introduction to the Web. Both the positive and negative aspects of the Web were discussed. The students used Netscape to access the Web via the CQ-PAN home page [HREF 6] (Jones 1995). CQ-PAN (Central Queensland Public Access Network) is a research project that has been providing Internet access to CQU students and Central Queensland primary and secondary schools since the middle of 1993. Among the users taking advantage of its offline facilities are over 880 students and teachers from 21 schools.

For the Siemens workshops a link was included on the CQ-PAN home page to the Siemens Science School home page. As the students entered the Siemens page they were informed of our intention to add information to this page on each of the Siemens events. They were later asked to provide feedback on the sessions they had attended. Some of this information can be seen on the Siemens Web pages (URL=http://mc.cqu.edu.au/siemens) [HREF 5]. Information was collected anonymously and so the students felt comfortable about expressing their true feelings on all the sessions. The only negative comment received about the WWW and email session was that it was not long enough!

The staff were enthusiastic and encouraged the students to search the Web for subjects that were of interest to each student. This ranged from information on how to transfer mangrove specimens, Nirvana music, X-files information, and our own Siemens page.

The Siemens worksheets contained the URLs of some of the Web sites visited. It was hoped that students may find a way of accessing the Siemens page once they returned to their respective schools. Rather than just talking about their Siemens and Web experience, the students would be able to show other students and teachers their Siemens experience by visiting the Siemens home page. The students took with them their worksheets on how to use email and how to access the Web. As well as this, students from both groups were provided with a copy of the article, Hanging out on the Net - a teenagers guide to Cyberspace (Mussared, 1995). The intention was to provide the students with the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the Web.

The Students' Experience

As indicated below, students enjoyed the sessions. Some students apologised if they experienced problems and were initially tentative. The staff were supportive and helpful to these students and we observed that they soon gained confidence to explore the software and the Web. Some eagerly asked questions about printing out information and viewing source files.

The following provides a sample of the comments received.

Computer Access at Schools

 *  Indicates same school

**  Indicates same school

The Ripple Effect

Some students sought information on how they could connect to the Web from home and school. The questions centred around the speed of modems and how to contact commercial Internet Service Providers for their area. We could foresee the ripple effect that the experience of the students visiting CQU would have on their local community.

There is no information available about the influence these students may have in their community. Considering the window of opportunity they glimpsed at the workshops, it is most likely that they will now seek access to similar facilities and hopefully encourage other students.

Caught on the Web

A presentation demonstrating the Siemens page was given on the last day of the Siemens school to all participants and attending parents. The audience was shown the updated Siemens Web pages. These pages now included images of some of the students at the various workshops. Also included were the students' comments on the various sessions and workshops they had attended in the course of the Science School. As the pages were displayed onto a large overhead screen the excitement level in the lecture theatre increased. The students were delighted to see their images and comments on the screen.

The students had not only interacted with the Web, they were now an integral part of it. They were 'Caught on the Web'.

Conclusion

Drawing from our experience in conducting these workshops, a wide cross section of students can enjoy using WWW and email. If the instructions are presented in an easy to follow manner and help is available at all times, the students' experience is positive and rewarding and creates an interest to revisit the Web again.

With the onset of the connection of all schools to the Internet (EdNA 1996 [HREF 7]), the opportunity is there to increase the students' perception of themselves as confident and competent users of modern technology and software. Given this, it is more likely that they will be eager to go on and explore these resources to enhance their educational experience.

The concern is that if the staff at the schools are not comfortable with the technology themselves then this presents a greater challenge to them as teachers. If Australia is to advance as the clever country it is important that we have a vibrant and large group of young enthusiastic information technology professionals and teachers, particularly at the primary and secondary teaching levels. If staff have to struggle to learn how to network computers and access the Internet, the potential is there for students to have a negative and frustrating computing experience. It is our view that if experiences at schools cause some students not to consider computing courses at the tertiary level, then the potential human resource loss to the information technology industry in this country is enormous.

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of Debbie Clayton and David Jones of the Department of Mathematics and Computing along with Aaron Besch, Renay Buchanan, Bruce Jamieson, and Elizabeth Tansley who assisted with the Workshops.

Apart from the authors, current members of the WIC Committee are Debbie Clayton (Chair), Michael Crock, Kathy Egea, Renay Buchanan, Melinda Midgley, Peter Robinson, Alison Turner.

References

Birrell B, Centre for Population and Urban Research, reported by Marslen G, 'Gender roles swapped', Campus Review, March 30 - April 5, 1995.

Clayton D, Cranston M, and Lynch T, 1994a, 'Development of an Introductory Computing Skills Bridging Course', Women in Computing Conference - Broadening the Network, Brisbane, 25-34.

Clayton D, Cranston M, Crock M, Egea K, Lynch T, Orchard R, Robinson P, and Turner A, (1994b), 'A Computing Careers Information Pack for Females', Women in Computing Conference - Broadening the Network, Brisbane, 18-24.

Clayton D, Cranston M, Crock M, Egea K, Lynch T, Orchard R, Robinson P, and Turner A, (1993), 'Strategies to Increase Female Participation in Computing Courses: Current University of Central Queensland Initiatives', In Fisher J (Ed), Networking for the Nineties, Proceedings 2nd National Women in Computing Conference, Melbourne, July, 14-20.

Clayton D, Cranston M, and Lynch T, (1996), 'Attracting and Retaining Females in Information Technology Courses', accepted for the 1st Australasian Conference on Computer Science Education, Sydney, July.

Cobbin D, Women's participation in Nontraditional Fields of Study at the Undergraduate Level of Higher Education 1989 - 1993, Australian Government Publishing Services, Canberra, 1995, 65-84.

Copeland J, 'Not stirring up trouble', presented at Women in Engineering Forum, Melbourne 1995, reported in Gender Matters, Swinburne University of Technology, Summer 1996.

EdNA - Update on the establishment of Education Network Australia, 1996, http://www.deet.gov.au/edna/ednaup1.htm

Jones D, '100-Users on a 486', SAGE-AU'95, Wollongong, and AAUG'95, Sydney.

Mussared D, 'Hanging out on the Net - a teenager's guide to Cyberspace', The Helix, No 43 Aug/Sept 1995, 11-15.

Hypertext References

HREF 1

http://mc.cqu.edu.au/staff/teresa-lynch/ - Teresa Lynch's Home Page.

HREF 2

http://mc.cqu.edu.au/staff/mary-cranston/ - Mary Cranston's Home Page.

HREF 3

http://mc.cqu.edu.au/wic/ - The Women In Computing Committee's Home Page.

HREF 4

http://www.cqu.edu.au/ - Central Queensland University's Home Page.

HREF 5

http://mc.cqu.edu.au/siemens/ - Siemens Home Page.

HREF 6

http://cq-pan.cqu.edu.au/ - CQ-PAN's Home Page.

HREF 7

http:www.deet.gov.au/edna/ednaup1.htm - EdNA 1996.

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