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CHAPTER 6
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction
One of the concerns in higher education institutions is determining if students
entering post-secondary enrollment have the technology skills to be successful in their
post-secondary endeavors. Are students graduating from high school with the necessary
computer skills, or does a need exist for a general education course to provide basic
knowledge and skill training in the technology area?
This study surveyed faculty members across the state of Missouri in regards to
what computer literacy/skills were deemed valuable for students to possess to be
academically successful in post-secondary education. The study also involved the
assessment of undergraduate students entering post-secondary education to determine
their technology skills prior to taking a computer literacy/skills course at the postsecondary level. This chapter presents a summary of the study, conclusions reached, and
recommendations for future research.
Summary
The purpose of this study was to identify general computer literacy skills needed
for all students at the college level, to assess the computer literacy/skills of incoming
college freshmen to evaluate their technological readiness for post-secondary education,
and to determine if a need exists for a general computer literacy/skills course for all
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undergraduate students. The study was designed to answer the following research
questions.
1. What technology skills do post-secondary faculty members deem important for all
students to possess at the college level?
2. Are there differences between the student technology skills post-secondary
faculty members deem important when grouped by subject/content area,
institution/stratum, gender, years of faculty experience?
3. What technology skills can students demonstrate proficiently upon entering a
post-secondary institution?
4. Are there differences between the proficiency level of students’ technology skills
when grouped by home state, number of high school computer courses, gender, or
major field of study?
5. Are students technologically ready entering post-secondary education or does a
need exist for a computer literacy/skills course for all undergraduate students?
Conclusions
The faculty survey indicated that computer concepts, word processing skills, and
presentation skills are considered important, while spreadsheet skills and database skills
tend to be less important. These results demonstrate a need for all undergraduate students
to be proficient in computer concepts, word processing skills, and presentation skills.
Since spreadsheet and database skills tend to be less important, it may be appropriate to
require these skills in specific content areas and not necessarily require them for all
undergraduate students.
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In addition, the Education Department seemed to have significantly higher ratings
in many areas than other departments indicating a high need for technology skills. This
might indicate a need for the Education department to have a computer literacy course
designed specifically for their needs rather than a generic, one-size-fits-all course. In
order to have a larger impact on how technology is used in the classrooms of the future, it
is imperative that education majors not only be able to demonstrate mastery of
technology skills but also to be able to integrate technology skills into their curriculum
area.
In regards to the student assessment, if the goal is for students to show proficiency
at 60% or higher, student assessment results indicate that the majority of students
demonstrate proficiency in word processing and presentation skills, but do not show
proficiency on computer concepts, spreadsheet, or database skills. If the goal is for
students to show mastery at 80% or higher, student assessment results provide evidence
that the majority of students have not mastered computer concepts, word processing
skills, spreadsheet skills, presentation skills, or database skills.
According to phone conversations with the registrar’s office and/or admissions of
the 13 institutions being studied (personal communication, May 31, 2005), seven
institutions require a computer course of all undergraduate students as either a general
education requirement or graduation requirement. Six of the 13 institutions do not require
a computer course of all undergraduate students, but requirement of such a course
depends on the student’s major field of study. Faculty survey results indicated that 185
respondents (45.7%) require a computer course for majors within their department, while
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220 respondents (54.3%) do not require a computer course for majors within their
department. However, 345 faculty respondents (85.1%) agreed or strongly agreed that a
computer literacy/skills course or equivalent test out should be required of all
undergraduate students.
Educational surveys often are used to assist in planning and decision making, as
well as to evaluate the effectiveness of an implemented program (McNamara, 1994; Borg
& Gall, 1989). The results of this study provide documented evidence that a need does
exist for a computer literacy/skills course for all undergraduate students. The content of
such a course may vary depending on the major fields of study, but all students do need
to have some basic computer literacy/skills to be successful at the post-secondary level.
Recommendations for Future Research
Survey research portrays a brief moment in time to enhance our understanding of
the present (Leedy & Ormrod, 2001). However, technology is ever-changing and these
changes have and will affect the computer literacy/skills needed for undergraduate
students to be successful. It is therefore important that future research continues to
address the technology needs of undergraduate students.
Follow up studies of this research might include a study examining the students
who participated in this research study to see how many of these students successfully
completed the computer literacy course. A follow up study in four-five years could also
be conducted to examine these same students to see who successfully graduated and if
they felt the computer literacy/skills course successfully prepared them technologically
for their academic journeys.
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Future research might involve testing incoming freshmen students each year to
see if their technology skills entering post-secondary education change over time. As
more and more technology skills are integrated into high school curriculum, the
technology skills needed by undergraduate students to be academically successful may
change. The skills needed may also change due to technology advances in our society.
Research could also be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of providing
individual test out modules. In other words, if students demonstrated proficiency in some
technology areas, but not others, they would be allowed to partially test out of a computer
literacy/skills course and take individualized modules for the specific areas of need.
Standardized technology related assessments are beginning to emerge. Future
studies could utilize these standardized technology assessments to compare technology
skills of students throughout the nation.
Final Thoughts
As noted earlier, Roblyer and Edwards (as cited in Roblyer, 2000) sums it up
nicely, “…the future of educational technology rests to a great degree on us (educators):
how we view technology, how we respond to the challenge it presents, and how we see it
helping us accomplish our own informed vision of what teaching and learning should
be.”