Diagnosis of the Technological Competencies of Students Entering
Engineering Educative Program in Computational Systems
Julio César González Mariño
Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas
México
jmarino@uat.edu.mx
Teresa de Jesús Guzmán Acuña
Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas
México
tjguzman@uat.edu.mx
Josefina Guzmán Acuña
Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas
México
jguzman@uat.edu.mx
Abstract: This paper highlights the most relevant preliminary findings of a study to identify
technological competencies and attitudes toward ICT, of students entering a higher education
program of Engineering in Computational Systems at the Autonomous University of
Tamaulipas (UAT) in Mexico.
Introduction
The distinctive trait of present-day society is the changes. Accelerated transformations in the social,
political, economic, and cultural ambit represent signs of the times. The effects on work, education, and daily life
of the informatics revolution and globalization are elements that should be taken into account, for planning an
integrated educative innovation that will respond to the challenges posed by quality, pertinence, coverage, and
equity.
The digital era, the technological revolution, the information society, the knowledge society, these are some of the
denominations that current society receives in its endeavors to emphasize that technologies, information, and
knowledge are considered basic for development. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as
essentials tools that contribute in great measure in order for these elements to play the primordial role assigned to
them. The present generation of students beginning higher education is considered a native ICT population.
(Prensky, 2000) they grew up and were formed by the Internet, multimedia, 3D video games, simulators, portable
video and audio reproducers, cell phones, etc. The generation Net 2.0 (Brown, 2008) are experienced users of
Internet search engines, they publish multimedia information on social Web sites, they have at their fingertips a
sea of information and tools for knowledge. Without doubt, having grown up in this environment surrounded by
technologies has transformed their way of learning and acceding to knowledge. They possess skills and
knowledge in ICT that they learned outside of school with the daily use of these tools to which other generations
did not have access. Youth are found to be in full experimentation with new forms of socialization and acquisition
of social capital, to which Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are contributing to a great degree.
The latter represent a challenge for institutions of higher education and especially for informatics and
computational systems programs due to the frequency with which the knowledge and competencies of the
students entering the university are greater than the curricular content indicated in study plans and even than the
competencies and skills of the professors. González (2010), describes the predominant characteristics in students
entering higher education, who belong to the so-called generation net (Tapscott, 2009), and the importance is
highlighted of procuring a diagnosis of the technological competencies and attitudes toward ICT for educative
programs in ICT. As in the case of the Engineering in Computational Systems Program of the Autonomous
University of Tamaulipas (UAT) in Mexico, this need has been observed in exacerbated form due to the very
nature of the curricular contents of academic subjects that integrate the plan of studies. The main objective of this
study is to identify the technological competencies that students possess on entering the educative program. Based
on this knowledge, it is possible to reflect on the course and actions that should be implemented, curricular level
as well as that of the continuing formation of the professors (Prensky, 2010), in order to offer a pertinent and
quality education.
Before entering into the study findings in detail, it is fitting to note other needs regarding the concept of
competency.
Skill And Competency
Due to that these terms are used indistinctly, probably because of the translation of the English term
“skills”, and also to that in addition definitions of competency vary among distinct countries and regions we
reviewed the definitions proposed by different studies that we considered to approximate to a greater extent the
conceptualization of the technological competency of the present work.
The Tuning Project defines competence as what graduates are expected to know, understand or do. Posada (2004)
defines competence simply as knowing what to do within a certain context, assuming that knowing implies
theoretical knowledge and practice, affectivity, commitment, cooperation, and compliance. Tejada (1999)
considers competence as the entirety of knowledge (knowing, knowing how, knowing how to be, and knowing
how to exist) procedures, and attitudes, which are combined, coordinated, and integrated into the professional
exercise.
Although the terms skill and competency are frequently employed as synonyms, according to the
Organization of Cooperation and Development (OCDE, 1999) skill is defined as the capacity to carry out tasks
and to resolve problems, while the concept of competency refers to the capacity to apply the results of learning
within a determined context and it is not limited to a cognitive elements such as theory, concepts, or implicit
knowledge. Thus, we can say that the competency concept is much broader than that of skill; it can comprise, in
addition to implicit knowledge, technical skills, interpersonal attributes, and ethical values (OCDE, 2010).
For the effects of this work, we refer to technological competencies (Raposo, 2006) as the knowledge,
skills, and attitudes that refer to Informational and Communication Technology (ICT) that the young people have
acquired, formally and informally, in their academic trajectory up to the moment of entering higher education in
the particular case of beginning the Engineering in Computational Systems (ISC) educative program of the
Autonomous University of Tamaulipas (UAT) in México.
Under the following heading, we describe in broad terms the principal attributes of this educative
program with the purpose of contextualizing the study.
The Educative Program ISC.
Currently the Autonomous University of Tamaulipas in Mexico is making efforts to build its own model
that allows implement a competency base model in all academic programs that offer. Through the creation and
training of institutional working groups in the conceptual, methodological and instrumental approach, in order to
promote the transition of its academic programs to the professional competence base approach. (UAT, 2011). In
this context it is imperative for all the majors to know, the competencies that the entering students already possess.
For the ISC program, it is a priority challenge to identify the technological competencies that students
have on entering the program in order to entertain the possibility of differentiating with full accuracy the specific
competencies that the graduating student in this profession should possess.
The UAT-dependent ISC program is located at Matamoros City in northeastern Tamaulipas state on the
U.S. border with the city of Brownsville, Texas. Approximately three hundred students are enrolled on campus
and between eighty and one hundred students come on campus each year, the latter mainly from higher
middle-school public education institutions of the city and neighboring populations.
The curricular design was updated in 2005 and consists of a flexible, nine-period study plan made up of
academic subjects in basic formation, discipline formation, and professional formation. Flexibility allows the
student to select the number of courses to study during each period that covers a certain minimum amount of
credits.
The general objective of this program is to form professionals capable of resolving the needs related with
the design and development of systems, computer architecture, and the configuration of computer and
teleprocessing networks, which render possible the integration, administration, and protection of the informatics
function in national and international organizations. (UAT, 2005).
The subjects researched in this study are the young people who entered the program in the fall 2010
academic period, a universe of 84 students whose ages range between 17 and 33 years old, with a lower middle
socioeconomic level.
We employed an adapted instrument based on two validated instruments utilized in similar studies in
different contexts. (Salaway y Caruso, 2008), (Cabero y Llorente, 2008) redesigned the questionnaire with the
objective of identifying the following technological competencies: knowledge of software and knowledge on
computer networks. Skills for specific applications; network management skills, and attitudes toward the use of
ICT.
We applied the questionnaire instrument as a pilot test to the objective group. Under the following
heading, we discuss the main findings in detail.
Findings
Hardware knowledge. With regard to knowledge of hardware, the curricular contents of the academic
subjects suppose that the student does not possess previous knowledge. We found that a significant majority can
identify elements and have appropriated competencies with respect to the use of equipment such as the following:
Scanner; portable computer; Web camera; digital projector, etc.
Empirically, we assumed that young people at this age essentially utilize the computer for entertainment
and communications. In this study, we found that 37% of the students considered the computer as a research
support resource and only 7% considered it as a recreational tool.
Knowledge on computer network. The basic concepts of computer networks are integrated into the plans
of study from the fifth period of study; however, 80% of students have well-considered knowledge of the
elements necessary to connect a personal computer to a wireless network. One relevant datum was found in terms
of the urgent need to redesign the thematic contents of computer networks in the study plans of these subjects.
Knowledge on software. More than 80% of the research subjects have sufficient knowledge for
identifying an operative system, and the same percentage is capable of distinguishing among specific design
software, administrative applications, and tools for development. They can associate the file’s extension with the
corresponding software and can distinguish between free software and license software.
In this first part of the analysis concerning knowledge in ICT, we found that a significant majority of the
subjects under investigation possess sufficient knowledge on hardware, computer networks, and software. It is
important to underscore that a great number of these themes are integrated into the curricular contents of different
academic subjects of the program.
Technological skills. Among the technological skills for the management of specific applications, we
found results from the skill level at which the subjects perceive themselves. In the first question, the student was
required to indicate the skill level percentage that corresponded to his/her capacity in the management of specific
software that the student him/herself. In this regard, the most significant result indicates that only in two specific
applications did 60% of students consider that they had a skill of 100%; Internet, and email. On the other hand, the
specific applications of the least frequencies of 100% of skill possessed by the students were network systems and
programming, with 5%.
The result of the remainder of applications (word processor, spread sheet, local area networks, data
base development, graphs, and multimedia) is very varied; thus, it is not possible to identify a bias but we can
observe that in no case did skill perception at 100% exceed 40 frequencies in the responses of the subjects being
researched.
Text Processors. As we noted under the previous heading, in terms of managing word processors fewer
than 50% of the students considered that they had a 100% skill; however, in applications for measuring the skills
of this specific software type, we noted that nearly 90% of students have the capacity to copy and paste texts and
images in documents.
Data Bases. This application type requires a certain level of specialization. In the results analysis, we
were able to infer that 60% of students know the concept of data bases and are capable of identifying a relational
model diagram; however, there was a low percentage, up to 40%, when an attempt was made to identify
consultative functions and different data base management programs.
We can infer that this is due to that within the objective group, there are some young people who studied
a technological preparatory-school program with a specialty in Informatics; thus, these students possess a higher
level of data base knowledge than those from general preparatory schools.
Spread Sheets. As in the case of the previous heading, skill with spread sheets reduces the knowledge of
basic concepts in the majority of students in functions that are slightly less specialized, such as the application of
different formulas; fewer than 50% cited having utilized more than 4 formulas.
Only in data import and export functionalities, between applications, did the percentage rise above 80%
of the subjects being researched.
Computer Network Management. In terms of skills for managing computer networks, we found that a
significant majority identified the elements necessary for configuring a network (routers, switches, modems,
cables, access points).
The result of the application with regard to the different types of Internet connections is noteworthy: we
found that more than 80% of the subjects consider telephone access as a non-valid option for connecting to the
Internet. This can be explained from the review of the literature carried out to sustain this study, in which we
found that the majority of these competencies are learned outside of school, by means of interaction with these
tools in the student’s daily lives. Telephone access was obsolete years ago with the development of broad-band
Internet access. Because it is now a connection type in disuse, it lies outside of the knowledge among the young
subjects of the study.
Attitudes toward the use of ICT.
Search Engines. A significant majority of the research subjects were 18 years of age; however, they
exhibit a mature attitude and interest in the functionality of citing the characteristics of a good search engine.
More than 80% of research subjects consider facility of access, speed, quality of results, advanced search options,
and availability as characteristics that define a good search engine.
Interest in knowing about software. We assumed empirically that students were most interested in having
knowledge of video game programs and simulators; however, we found that this type of software is that which
registers the lowest frequency in number of interested students.
Contrariwise, the majority of students exhibit interest in specific applications, such as data bases, spread
sheets.
Conclusions
According to analysis of the results, we observe that the students under investigation have certainly
appropriated a series of technological competencies as a consequence of their interaction with these tools.
The fact that they perceive themselves that they have 100% skill in Internet and email use speaks to their
feeling comfortable and assured of their skill level in terms of these technologies due to the great number of hours
that they spend surfing the Web. Likewise, this can explain the attitude of their preferring functionality to show
design in a search engine.
In the case of technologies that are somewhat more specialized, such as data bases, spread sheets, and
programming languages, because these are not frequently and commonly used tools, the students possess less
knowledge on these.
In counterpoint to skills for computer network management, the majority demonstrate sufficient
competencies, given their facility for interacting with these devices for Internet access.
Without doubt, the knowledge generated with this research work is essential for planning and
instrumenting a process of change and updating of the objectives, thematic contents, and profiles of the educative
program. In order to redefine and differentiate among the specific competencies of this discipline which should
dominate the professional specializing in Computer Systems.
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