INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AIDED PROGRAM : ITS EFFECTS ON SELF CONCEPT OF THE DISABLED COLLEGE STUDENTS

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AIDED PROGRAM: ITS EFFECTS
ON SELF-CONCEPT OF THE DISABLED COLLEGE STUDENTS.
Rebecca V. Purpura-Go, MA in Psychology*

INTRODUCTION


The integration of the disabled students with the rest of the students is
faced with a problem on social acceptance of the disabled since an essential factor
of acceptance is physical attractiveness. Being physically different from the rest
will make one feel inferior thus affect self-acceptance.
This study is anchored on Carl Rogers’ self- concept theory that revolves
around the concept of self. His theory states that most people have considerable
difficulty accepting their own true, innately positive feelings. Acceptance is
difficult because as people grew up their lives are conditioned by important
people to move away from positive feelings. These important people are parents,
siblings, teachers, and peers who all place constraints and contingencies on ones
behavior. Rogers was concerned with the environment or situation in which a
person operates since an individual is exposed to numerous sources of
experiences with the technological revolution included. As an individual face
more complex experimental field, due to social interactions, at one point, his or
her experience becomes differentiated from the rest. This differentiation leads to
the concept of self or self-concept. Self-concept is the person’s image of who he,
should be, and might like to be. As the self-concept emerges, the individual also
develops a need for what Rogers called positive regard- includes love, acceptance
and approval from society. A person with a favorable conception of oneself due to
experiences with society is perceived as mature, well adjusted, and fully
functioning individual.
Advancement in the field of information technology is one positive
experience an individual. The disabled included, may opt to go through that may
result in an improved self-concept following Sullivan’s theory that self-concept is
learned as a function of experiences that can be taught or achieved through
accumulated experiences.
The disabled are stereotyped as dependent and helpless, thus they often
have low value for themselves. However, the disabled individual can be made to
realized that he or she is useful in the society and capable of improving himself or
herself resulting in an improved self-concept. The schema of the society that is
rapidly changing due to technological advancement and moving to a new
paradigm of information society and how a disabled individual can cope with the
dynamic change and be not continuously left out and prejudiced. The fig shows
that as a person faces complex experiences and interaction in the society, his
experiences become differentiated from others. This differentiation leads to the
concept of self. Further, a person’s positive regard of oneself is constrained by the
people in the society.
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*Rebecca Purpura-Go, M.A. in Psychology
Professor in Psychology
University of the East-Calooccan City, Philippines

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A disabled individual maybe be subjected to an experience that may make
him not different from others (people from the information society). For a
disabled individual to cope with the dynamic changes in information technology
make him realize his usefulness in the society, Information Technology Aided
Program (ITAP) was used as an intervention, thus, enhancing his self- concept.
Some of the disabled learned to cope and even go beyond their disabilities and
pursued college education despite the hostile environment in school. The onset of
the 21st century signaled the start of information technology revolution, the age of
computers, making computer literacy a job critical skill, necessitating the
integration of computer technology into the so-called traditional curriculum.
Noteworthy is the presence of computer technology in almost every aspect of the
present day life from the microwave to games to entertainment to military
equipment to astronomy to psychology. As there is a rising need for psychologist
in the rehabilitation of the physically disabled, there is likewise, a need for
psychologist to understand the self-concept of this unique population and improve
the same utilizing the advances in information technology.

THE PROBLEM

This study determined the effect of Information Technology Aided
Program on the self-concept of the disabled college students. Specifically this
study answered the following questions: 1) What is the demographic profile of the
disabled college students in terms of gender and age? 2) What is the self- concept
of the disabled students before and after the Information technology Aided
Program. 3) Is there significant difference between the pre-test and posttest mean
scores in the Researcher Constructed Self-concept Rating Scale?

METHODOLOGY


The study utilized the descriptive and experimental design particularly the
pre and post test mean scores of the RCSRS design in the determination of the
effect of ITAP on the self-concept of the college disabled students. The subjects
of this study were 72 disabled college students for the second semester of the
school yr.1999-2000 of a private university in Caloocan City. The data collected
were statistically processed using the descriptive and inferential phases of
statistics with the aid of Statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS).

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

The Profile of the Respondents: 1.a. a little more than half of the
respondents are males while the females are a little less than half of the
respondents (45.16% and 45.45% respectively). The proportion of male and
female in both groups are almost equal indicating that disability among college
students is not affected by gender. b. There were more than 18 years old and
above subjects (59.38%) than the below 18 years old subjects (62%). The oldest

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subject is 24 years old implying that some of the subjects may have started late in
going to school which could be due to their disability.2.The pre-test mean scores
is 84.35 which indicates an average self-concept. The Post –test mean score 94.35
reveals high self-concept. 3. There is significant difference between the pre-test
mean score and post- mean score of RSCRS which shows a marked improvement
in self-concept of the subjects from average to high; denoting a positive effect of
the program on the self-concept of the experimental subjects.

The Self Concept of the College Disabled Students
Based on the findings of this study that evaluated the effectiveness of
ITAP in enhance the self-concept, the following conclusions were arrived at:
1.The ITAP is an effective tool in improving self- concept of the disabled students.
2.The ITAP is more effective on male disabled students than females in
improving self-concept. 3.The ITAP is more effective on 18 years old and above
disabled college students than those below 18 years old in improving self-
concept,4.The researcher-Constructed Self-Concept Rating Scale is effective tool
in measuring the self –concept of the disabled students.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The ITA may be used as a booster to improved the self-concept of the
disabled college students. 2. The Researcher Constructed Self Concept rating
Scale may be used in the determination of the level of self- concept after further
validation and extensive sampling. 3. The self-concept of the non-disabled
students taking computer classes may also be determined by the RCSCRS before
and after the course program. 4. A similar study may be conducted for other
disabled groups such as deaf- mute and blind. 5. A comparative study of the self-
concept of the different disabilities may be cond ucted.

Bibliography

Calhoun, J. and Acocella, J. Psychology of Adjustment and Human Relations.
New York: Random House 1978. (Cited Carl Roger’s and Sullivan’s
Self Concept Theory ).

Long, Jerry. Introduction to Computers and Information Processing. New Jersey:
Prentice Hall Inc., 1994.

Capron, H.L. Computers: Tools for an Information Age. Massachussets:
Addison-Wesley, 1998.

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