The effects of a computer skill training programme adopting social comparison and self-efficacy enhancement strategies on self-concept and skill outcome in trainees with physical disabilities

Purpose : The aim of this controlled, quasi-experimental study was to evalu ate the effects of both self-efficacy enhancement and social comparison tra ining strategy on computer skills learning and self-concept outcome of trai nees with physical disabilities. Method: The self-efficacy enhancement group comprised 16 trainees, the tuto rial training group comprised 15 trainees, and there were 25 subjects in th e control group. Both the self-efficacy enhancement group and the tutorial training group received a 15 week computer skills training course, includin g generic Chinese computer operation, Chinese word processing and Chinese d esktop publishing skills. The self-efficacy enhancement group received trai ning with tutorial instructions that incorporated self-efficacy enhancement strategies and experienced self-enhancing social comparisons. The tutorial training group received behavioural learning-based tutorials only, and the control group did not receive any training. The following measurements wer e employed to evaluate the outcomes: the Self-Concept Questionnaire for the Physically Disabled Hong Kong Chinese (SCQPD), the computer self-efficacy rating scale and the computer performance rating scale. Results : The self-efficacy enhancement group showed significantly better c omputer skills learning outcome, total self-concept, and social self-concep t than the tutorial training group. The self-efficacy enhancement group did not show significant changes in their computer self-efficacy; however, the tutorial training group showed a significant lowering of their computer se lf-efficacy. Conclusions : The training strategy that incorporated self-efficacy enhance ment and positive social comparison experiences maintained the computer sel f-efficacy of trainees with physical disabilities. This strategy was more e ffective in improving the learning outcome (p=0.01) and self-concept (p=0.0 5) of the trainees than the conventional tutorial-based training strategy.