Parent Technology Workshops

Workshop Evaluation Assessment

2001 - 2002

The Marcus Foster Institute provided a series of parent technology workshops for the Urban Dreams Project during the 2001 – 2002 academic year. Over the year, 295 parents participated in the workshops and completed a Workshop Evaluation Assessment. To measure gains in specific competencies related to computer use, trainers revised and administered the Workshop Evaluation Assessment in English and Spanish.

As Table 1 demonstrates, almost half of the respondents were female African-Americans:

Table 1. Ethnicity and Gender of Parents Completing a Workshop Evaluation Assessment (N=287)

		African-American	Asian	Hispanic	Other	Total
Gender	Female	142	28	31	7	208
	Male	46	15	14	4	79
Total		188	43	45	11	287

Marcus Foster staff, teachers, and project staff undertook multiple school and community recruitment efforts. Families participating in the Earn a Computer program were required to attend at least one of the workshops which were held in high schools and community centers. As Table 2 demonstrates, parents (or caregivers) identified several schools when asked to identify their child’s school:

Table 2. Workshop Participation Rates by High Schools (N=295)

Schools	Number of Participants	Valid Percent
Castlemont	48	16.3%
Dewey	11	3.7%
Far West	3	1%
Fremont	58	19.6%
Life Academy	9	3.1%
McClymonds	23	7.8%
Oakland High	56	19%
Oakland Technical	15	5%
Skyline	23	7.8%
Other	49	16.7%
Total	295	100%

An analysis of individual respondents revealed that 295 parents had taken both the pre and post assessments and answered at least one of the 14 questions. The following table provides an overview of results for both the pre and post workshop evaluation assessments. The scale is 1 = No Knowledge to 4 = Good Knowledge. Missing values were excluded case by case.

Table 3. Descriptive Results of Pre and Post Workshop Evaluation Assessments (N=291)

	N	Pre Mean	Post Mean	Std. Deviation (Post Only)
Q1. I have general knowledge of computers. **	281	2.88	3.47	.83
Q2. I can turn on a computer. **	291	3.52	3.74	.63
Q3. I know how to use a mouse. *	288	3.59	3.71	.67
Q4. I know what a hard drive is. **	289	2.98	3.47	.88
Q5. I am familiar with the keyboard and/or know how to type a document. **	292	3.14	3.55	.83
Q6. I use word processing applications at home, work, or school. **	289	3.02	3.40	1.04
Q7. I know how to copy and paste. *	286	3.12	3.52	.87
Q8. I know how to print a document from my computer.	290	3.36	3.47	.94
Q9. I know how to save a document. **	289	3.39	3.60	.79
Q10. I know how to use pull down menus. **	286	3.19	3.53	.85
Q11. I am familiar with New Deal Office Software. **	287	2.64	3.26	1.03
Q12. I am familiar with Microsoft Works/Word. **	285	3.10	3.32	1.06
Q12a. I am familiar with Microsoft Access. **	257	2.75	3.10	1.21
Q12b. I am familiar with Word Perfect. **	259	2.84	3.14	1.19
Q12c. I am familiar with Apple Macintosh programs. **	258	2.62	3.05	1.29
Q13. I am familiar with the Internet. **	286	3.21	3.39	1.01
Q14. I know how to use e-mail on the Internet. **	286	3.09	3.38	1.03

*Statistically Significant (p<.05)

**Statistically Significant (p<.01)

Using a nonparametric test of significance for matched pairs demonstrates that there were statistically significant gains for every competency with the exception of question 8: I know how to print a document from a computer.

In addition to the above fourteen questions, the Workshop Evaluation Assessment contained two open-ended questions. The first question asked respondents to list “other application they were familiar with.” The second questions asked respondents to provide additional comments. The following table contains the results of those open-ended responses.

Table 4. Aggregate Responses To The Open-Ended Question: Other Application I am Familiar With (pre assessment only; N=28)

Types of Applications	Number of Respondents
Excel	10
PowerPoint	10
SASI	1
Netscape	1
Lotus	1
Photoshop	1
CD Creator	1
Adobe Illustrator	1
Omnipage	1
Visual Basic	1
Clip Art	1
Bryce 3D/S, AutoCAD	1
Spread Sheet	1
Video Games	1
Video editing applications animations	1

Table 5. Aggregate Responses To The Open-Ended Question: Comments

Additional Comments ( Pre Assessment)

#1 - Do you have any other additional computer classes during Saturday?

#20 - This program is very beneficial for us, my children and myself. Thanks. It’s a blessing.

#23 - I appreciate this program to help our children and parents to become more knowledgeable about computers.

#28 – No se nada de computers.

#41 - I have disks on Create A Card, the Bible, how to make business cards.

#61 - Please teach me. Thank you.

#65 - I am very appreciative. I’M glad to have been a part of this program.

#67 - I feel happy working w/computers and I hope I can learn more about it.

#73 - I am excited that our family will finally have a computer at home to assist my daughter with their school work and bring them into the new age.

#102 – Thank you very much

#125 – PowerPoint

#161 – This is a good class, I did learn about computer. Thank you. Urban Dream you made my dream.

#165 – I would like to learn more about computers such as database, data entry, spread sheets and Microsoft Excel.

#193 – It’s a great class. This is very helpful for us as parents to teach the students to use the program for their elective.

#194 – I need computers to play games with.

#197 – I need to know more about using a computer.

#198 – I love it.

#222 – I am here to learn.

Additional Comments ( Post Assessment)

#20 - I appreciate the program.

#23 - Thanks for the program.

#24 - I’m really happy and thankful.

#49 - The class was helpful and the instructor was clear.

#56 - Excel

#61 - It’s great – Thank you!

#61 - Thanks for the help. It increased my computer knowledge.

#72 - This was a very good training. The programs installed in the computer are very educational.

#73 - The class was informative and interesting.

#100 – Good presentation.

I#117 – I liked it, very easy to learn. They made it educational very proficient.

#125 – The noise next door was distracting.

#143 – Page Maker

#157 – I liked this program and will teach it to others.

#162 – Thank you very much.

#194 – Still want to play games.

#197 – Thank you for today’s session.

#198 – I like, this is ok.

#213 – Very well

#219 – Really enjoyed instructors.

#260 – Learn a lot.

#265 – I learned a lot about how to copy and the single words mean.

#277 – Good class. . . clearly delivered and well presented.