The literature on computer literacy (CI) courses in higher education was reviewed. A survey was completed of components of CI courses from three populations. Results of the literature review, survey results, and most popular CI course components are presented, along with implications for CI course revisions.

Computer literacy revisited: a comprehensive investigation of computer literacy

Recent advances in Internet technology such as broadband access in the home have prompted a reconsideration of what a computer literacy course ought to be. We conducted a course where, similar to a university committee, students considered the question. Student committees reviewed relevant literature and standards, constructed syllabi, and designed and administered assignments. We present results and observations from the course. In addition to recommendations students consider valuable, we provide insights into how a course might be designed to evolve.

Computer literacy: a student-oriented perspective

Although computer literacy is hard to define and means different things to different people, the advancement of information and communication technologies and the ubiquitous computing environment have made it a necessity for everyone to be computer literate. Computer literacy is a fundamental part of undergraduate education. The assessment of computer literacy remains to be a challenging issue faced by educators. This study focuses on a comparison of two computer literacy testing approaches. Two testing tools, the Computer Skills Placement (CSP) test and the Prentice Hall Train & Assess IT (TAIT) testing tool, were selected and investigated. A qualitative comparison of two testing tools was made. The differences in basic computer skills or sets of knowledgebase covered were discussed and the advantages and disadvantages of each testing tools were examined. As a case study, a quantitative comparison of two testing tools was done using data collected from a freshman-level computer literacy course in fall 2006 semester. In this freshman-level computer literacy course required for all majors at an urban university, students were tested on their computer literacy knowledgebase and computer skills at the end of the semester utilizing the two testing tools. Our study analyzed the performance of 132 students in this course. Correlations between the scores from the two testing instruments were analyzed. A paired sample t test was conducted to compare the students’ performance among the examination scores. For the colleges that plan to use Computer Skills Placement (CSP) test or Prentice Hall Train & Assess IT (TAIT) test as a testing tool for credit-by-exam, we made some recommendations on setting the cut scores. Limitations of this study were discussed and future works and directions were included.

A comparison of two computer literacy testing approaches

This systematic review aims to consolidate the understanding of the term "Computer Literacy", which corresponds to the classification of the first stage of learning skills and knowledge about the aspects of information and communication technology (ICT). In addition to this concept, the study also aims to assess the range of knowledge and skills related to computer literacy. This review was based on ACM and ERIC research bases, comprising the period of the last 10 years, and adding some extra articles that were deemed relevant. The conclusion indicates that Computer Literacy has a dynamic nature - exhibiting evolution over time - and an inherent need to upgrade constantly in order to keep up with information and communication technology's evolutionary curve.

Systematic Review on Computer Literacy

This paper reports on the findings of a study of first year students studying a fully online computer literacy module on a Real Estate Agency and Property Economics degree programme at Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland. In addition to the cohort of entrants to higher education without prior computer literacy skills, there will also be a cohort who are unfamiliar with learning in an online mode. Those students well versed with internet and social media network skills do not necessarily have good office/desktop software skills. "Digital natives" they may be but are they really computer literate? Fully online learning systems in themselves do not foster the type of supportive environments that would encourage students to succeed. In this study a scaffolding approach was adopted with the inclusion of a number of learning supports (ranging from regular e-mails through to face-to-face tutorials) to provide a more likely opportunity to succeed. The results indicate that those students who navigated the unfamiliar online terrain and availed of the supports succeeded in this module.

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Scaffolding Fully Online First Year Computer Literacy Students for Success

Computer Science 101 at Winthrop University is a three credit-hour course that serves as the general education computer literacy requirement for many of the university's degree programs. Approximately 600 students in various majors take the course each year. The course contains both a lecture component and a laboratory component. For the Fall of 2006, the computer science department changed the format of this service course from a single 3 hours of credit, to separate 1.5 hours of credit for the lecture component and .5 credits for each five-week lab component. The objective of this paper is to discuss the rationale and benefits of this change in course structure. Lecture and lab module contents also are described.

Reengineering a computer literacy course

Searching a file of records or list of values for a particular member of the file or list is a fundamental problem in computing. Unless the file has a known organization or structure there seems to be just one solution to the search procedure which is to search through the records sequentially. If the file has a known organization, then more efficient search techniques are possible. For example, if the file is ordered (by the search key), then a very simple and relatively efficient search tecllniqrrc is the binary search, which successively subdivides the file into halves, and then continues the scarc11 on the half that would contain the target record. In contrast, if the fiIe has a binary tree orga.nization then the tree search technique can be used. The search problem considered in this paper ~SSIIIIIOS that the file is ordered (by key). Problems of the latter type are not discussed.

Kent E. Foster

Papers

Reengineering a computer literacy course

A statistical model for the search problem