Two cohorts of university students were surveyed at the start of the 2001 academic year. In each case, every student enrolled in a particular university unit (subject) was required to complete the survey.
The University of Western Australia (UWA) cohort was comprised of all students in the first year of the medical degree (MBBS) program. The total sample size was 130 with 53% female and 47% male. Approximately 23% had had prior university education, but the survey did not identify these students. The survey was administered online through the locally developed FlyingFish courseware, and students were required to complete the survey immediately after logging in for the first time. Students were able to complete the survey independently if they felt able, and others were given assistance to log-in and begin the survey at an introductory training session early in semester. As students were required to access learning materials through the FlyingFish, all students completed the survey.
The Deakin University (DU) cohort was comprised of all students in the first-year unit (subject) SBC 111 (Chemistry A) within the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at Deakin University (Geelong campus). The total sample size was 84. The survey was printed on the front and back of a single sheet of paper: 3 students failed to respond to the questions on the back of the sheet, which included information on the student demographics. Hence analysis of the data used either 81 or 84 students as the sample size, as appropriate. The majority of students (82%) were enrolled in various degree programs (BSc, BForensicSc) within the Faculty of Science and Technology, 18% were enrolled in double-degree programs (BSc/BE, BSc/BA, BSc/BCom, BSc/BTeach, BSc/LLB), while 4% did not declare their enrolment details. 78% of students had no previous tertiary education, 5% had one or more years of non-university tertiary education, 10% had one or more years of university education, while 4% did not provide their educational background. 62% of the class were female and 38% were male.
Other researchers have noted that for voluntary surveys, there is a higher response rate from females (3). However, since the surveys in this paper were conducted in class time, the predominance of females in both the DU and UWA cohorts reflects actual enrolment numbers.
The surveys used in this study were based on the previous design (1) and intended to investigate the level of students' knowledge in the usage of IT. Survey-response options covered the range from no awareness to varying levels of expertise: see Reference (1):
(a) No awareness or knowledge;
(b) Awareness but no knowledge of usage;
(c) Knowledge to use the technology;
(d),(e) Expert knowledge to use the technology.
Responses (a) and (b) indicate that the student has no ability with the skill in question, while responses (c), (d) and (e) indicate varying levels of skill.
The use of databases, the use of spreadsheets in capabilities apart from analysing and plotting numerical data, the use of (multimedia) presentation packages (eg PowerPoint), the ability to create web pages, and other general skills were not addressed.
In addition to the general skills, the survey addressed several specific IT skills such as the use of keyword searches on the WWW, or the use of super- and subscripts within word-processing programs. The version of the survey used at the University of Western Australia examined a smaller range of specific IT skills, than the Deakin University survey. (Copies of both the UWA and DU versions from available on request from the authors.)
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CEJ Vol. 5, No. 2, Contents