Blignaut, P. J.Nel, Wynand2017-02-032017-02-032006-05http://hdl.handle.net/11660/5494English: Computer use is transforming the lives of many South Africans and is fast changing the way organisations communicate and do business. It also means that thousands of people in South Africa, from different cultures, races and age groups, are coming into contact with and using computers, either at home, at school or university, at the office and even in shopping malls. In order for a user to become computer literate he/she needs to know how to use the computer application effectively. This can only be achieved if he/she knows, inter alia, how to use the computer mouse as an input device. It has been noticed that many previously disadvantaged students (this includes all people that were discriminated against according to race and include all black and coloured people) have no idea of how to use a computer mouse. Even after they have been shown how to hold and move the mouse, many of them still struggle for some time to use the mouse effectively. They find it difficult to master the movement of the mouse cursor and they struggle to click the mouse buttons. Such a user may fall behind the rest of the students in a computer literacy class and often hinders the progress of the class as the lecturer has to give special attention to the struggling individual. The main focus of this study was to determine how long it takes a person to learn how to use a computer mouse effectively, and also, specifically in terms of mouse skills, whether mouse-orientated computer games enhance the value that a user draws from an office package in a graphical user interface environment. The study was done in two phases. In phase one the students played six mouse-orientated computer games. Three questions were investigated in this phase: - Does race play a significant role? - Do difficulty levels play a significant role? - Does computer use frequency play a significant role? Phase two of the study focused on only three of the computer games used in phase one, and also on Microsoft Word tests. Six questions were investigated in this phase: - Is there a difference between the average total completion times for the two MS Word tests within a session? - Is there a difference in the average total completion times between the different sessions? - Is there a difference between the average total marks for the MS Word tests in any session? - Is there a difference in the average total marks between the different sessions? - Does the student's score in any of the three games remain constant through different attempts and sessions? - Is there a correlation between the score that a user obtains in one of the games and the total completion time for the MS Word test in the different sessions? Various statistical tests were done on the captured data to answer the above questions. The tests included the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Tukey's test for the honestly significant differences and Spearman's correlation. This study proved that playing mouse-orientated computer games improves a user's fine motor skills and enhances his/her computer mouse hand-eye coordination. Furthermore it proved that three of the six mouse-orientated computer games enhanced the value that the users drew from the MS Word tests. A positive relationship between the scores of the games and the completion time of the MS Word tests was encountered indicating that a high score in the games compared with a short completion time in the MS Word tests. The games provide a relaxed and enjoyable environment for users to improve their computer mouse skills, and users are able to gain more value from an office package within a short time.Afrikaans: Die gebruik van rekenaars is besig om die lewens van baie Suid-Afrikaners te verander en is vinnig besig om die manier waarop organisasies kommunikeer en besigheid doen, te verander. Dit beteken ook dat duisende mense in Suid-Afrika, van verskillende kulture, rasse en ouderdomsgroepe in kotnak kom met rekenaars by die huis, skool of universiteit, by die kantoor of selfs by winkelsentrums. 'n Persoon moet weet hoe om 'n rekenaarpakket effektief te gebruik voordat hy beskou kan word as rekenaargeletterd. 'n Persoon kan slegs rekenaargeletterd word as hy/sy weet hoe die rekenaarmuis as toevoerstelsel werk. Dit is waargeneem dat heelwat voorheen benadeelde studente (dit sluit alle persone in waarteen gediskrimineer was ten opsigte van ras en sluit alle swart en gekleurde persone in) geen idee gehad het hoe om met 'n rekenaarmuis te werk nie. Baie van hulle sukkel nog steeds om die muis effektief te gebruik, selfs nadat hulle gewys is hoe om die muis vas te hou en te beweeg. Hulle sukkel om die beweging van die muisloper en die druk van die muisknoppies te bemeester. So 'n gebruiker raka agter in 'n rekenaargeletterdheidsklas en strem somtyds die vordering van die klas, aangesien die dosent spesiale aandag aan die sukkelende student moet gee. Die hooffokus van die studie was om te bepaal hoe lank dit 'n persoon neem om te leer hoe om 'n rekenaarmuis effektief te gebruik. Die studie het verder ook gepoog om, spesifiek in terme van muisvaardigheid, te bepaal of muis georiënteerde rekenaarspeletjies die waarde wat 'n gebruiker uit 'n kantoorpakket in 'n grafiese koppelvlakomgeweing verkry, verhoog. Die studie is in twee fases gedoen. In die eerste fase het die studente slegs ses muis georiënteerde rekenaarspeletjies gespeel. Drie vrae is in die fase ondersoek: - Speel ras 'n beduidende rol? - Speel moeilikheidsgraad 'n beduidende rol? - Speel die frekwensie van rekenaargebruik 'n beduidende rol? Fase twee van die studie het gefokus op drie van die ses rekenaarspeletjies sowel as op Microsoft Word (MS Word) toetse. Ses vrae is in die fase ondersoek: - Is daar 'n verskil tussen die gemiddelde totale afhandelingstye van die twee MS Word toetse in 'n sessie? - Is daar 'n verskil in die gemiddelde totale afhandelingstye tussen die verskillende sessies? - Is daar 'n verskil tussen die gemiddelde totale punte vir die MS Word toetse in enige sessie? - Is daar 'n verskil in die gemiddelde totale punt tussen die verskillende sessies? - Bly 'n student se punt in enige van die drie speletjies konstant oor die verskillende pogings en siessies heen? - Is daar 'n korrelasie tussen die punt wat 'n gebruiker verkry in een van die speletjies en die totale voltooiingstyd vir die MS Word toets binne 'n sessie oor die verskillende sessies heen? Verskeie statistiese toetse is op die versamelde data gedoen om die bogenoemde vrae te beantwoord. Die toetse sluit variansie-analise, Tukey se toets vir werklik beduidende verskil en Spearman se korrelasie in. Die studie het bewys dat die speel van muisge-oriënteerde rekenaarspeletjies 'n gebruiker se fynmotoriese vaardighede en hand-oog koördinasie m.b.t. die rekenaarmuis verbeter. Verder het dit ook bewys dat drie van die ses muis georiënteerde rekenaarspeletjies die waarde wat die gebruiker van die MS Word toets gekry het, verhoog het. 'n Positiewe verwantskap tussen die punte van die speletjies en die voltooiings tye van die MS Word toetse is gevind, wat aandui dat 'n hoë punt in die speletjies ooreenstem met 'n kort voltooiingstyd in die MS Word toetse. Die speletjies voorsien verder 'n ontspanne en genotvolle omgewing vir gebruikers om vinnig hulle rekenaarmuisvaardighede te verbeter. Binne 'n kort tyd kan gebruikers meer waarde uit 'n kantoorpakket put.enDissertation (M.Com. (Computer Science and Informatics))--University of the Free State, 2006Computer gamesComputer literacyMouse proficiencyOffice packageComputer mouse hand-eye coordinationGraphical user interfaceInput deviceFine motor abilityReaction timeGraphical user interfaces (Computer systems)Human-computer interactionDissertationUniversity of the Free State