ICT for Children of Immigrants: Indirect and Total Effects via Self-Efficacy on Math Performance

Abstract

This study compared the direct, indirect, and total effects of information, communication, and technology (ICT) variables on math achievement for second-generation immigrant, first-generation immigrant, and nonimmigrant students. A path model was used to analyze U.S. nationally representative data from the Program for International Student Assessment to examine the effects of ICT access and computer use for schoolwork practice and for programming, with self-efficacy as a mediator. The results indicate that second-generation students with two foreign-born parents demonstrated significantly lower mathematics performance than nonimmigrant students. However, the first-generation students did not show any difference from nonimmigrant students. ICT access had significantly positive effects for all three groups, while computer use for schoolwork practice showed overall negative effects. Importantly, computer use for programming showed a differential effect across the three groups, with positive indirect and total effects for second-generation students but overall negative effects for the first-generation and nonimmigrant students.