Computer Communication Modes and Their Effect on Student Attitudes Towards Programming.

The effect of different communicating modes to computers on students' attitudes toward programing was studied. In a computer-related course, 13 students used batch processing mode to solve problems on the computer, while 12 other students used conversational mode to solve the same problems. It was found that those students accessing the computer in conversational mode developed more positive attitudes toward programing (as measured by the author's attitude test) than the students using batch processing. Also the grades obtained in the time-sharing environment did not seem to affect the students' final attitudes towards programing. The majority of two-year college computer centers operate under batch processing mode. This could be a factor in the high student attrition rate in introductory programing classes. To lower this rate, and to make the computer more accessible to the campus classroom, it is suggested that minisystems with numerous learner consoles be used. (Author)