Australian Journal of Educational Technology
1997, 13(1), 40-53. 		AJET 13

Preparatory IT practices and skills of transition Business students (1997)

Andrew Stein, Annemieke Craig and Angela Scollary
Victoria University of Technology
Transition students come to universities with a need to be information competent but typically lack basic information literacy skills. This research report presents the findings of a study of the IT profile of transition students within the Faculty of Business at Victoria University of Technology. Two definitions were used to categorise information technology usage. General IT practices looked at the availability of IT to the student, including home and work access, usage at home, previous information systems courses studied and computer competency. Specific IT skills referred to the use of business information technology, including word processing, spreadsheet and database as well as Internet, email and multimedia packages. Major findings showed that home access to a computer has peaked, access to a work related computer is increasing, and gender and student geography seem to have an effect upon the students IT practices and skills. Use of the Internet and multimedia is increasing in transition students.

Introduction

In each of the above examples we see the potential for curriculum design to be impacted by technology. With the rapid change in technology, university Information Systems departments need to obey two masters; the changing external information systems environment, and the changing needs of their students. This paper seeks to add to the dialogue looking at the changing technology imperative in universities by surveying the information technology (IT) skills of university entrance students.

Information competency, education and employee skills

A review of the Australian economy and labour market has shown that patterns of employment and skill needs are affected by demographic, educational, domestic, economic and political forces. The Department of Education, Employment and Training (DEET) Workforce reports (1991, 1995) both chart the projected employment growth and changes expected as we near the year 2000. Two of the major business imperatives identified in the 1995 report were the globalisation of the Australian industrial landscape and the convergence of the communication and computer technologies. Karpin (1995) emphasised this globalisation of the Australian economy and suggested that:
Australian enterprises will deliver such world competitive products and services only through enhanced productivity of their people and technology....There is no sign these competitive pressures will decrease, in fact they will increase as more countries industrialise and trade barriers fall.
The NBEET report (1995b) identified the convergence of communications and computers as giving rise to a plethora of new job skills. These new job skills impact upon all levels of the organisation from the blue collar worker up into the management suite. The general skills as required by the labour force included: keyboard skills; information formatting skills; 'intelligent' use of computer communications facilities; library and information retrieval skills; and data analysis skills. The report went further and highlighted new skills in the emerging communications industries: understanding of organisational information requirements; understanding client/server architectures; knowledge of international telecommunication standards; document management in a paperless environment; and translation of business cases into information technology design. The term information competency (NBEET 1995a) seeks to name the skills needed to operate within the business world of today. It covers the technology competence, information research skills and the development of higher order thinking skills. The computer is a major tool in developing this competency. Information literacy is one component of information competency and is defined as the ability:
...to use information and information technologies effectively to find, select, and use information to create knowledge and insight...
The importance of the concept of information competence is displayed in recommendation 12 of the NBEET (1995b) report;
Standards of information competence to be clearly identified within the key competency of 'using technology' and where these are not achieved to a Year 12 level of learning, they should be built into the Australian Vocational Training System or higher qualifications.
Government bodies and the business world are recognising the need for new and enhanced information processing and information technology skills. Schools are modelling curricula to adapt to the changing needs of their students. An extensive study by Sherwood (1993) found that wide variations exist between computer use and access within secondary schools Australia wide. The major impediment to computer use was "too few computers for students needing access". Transition students come to universities with a need to be information competent but typically lack basic information literacy skills through circumstances at their at secondary schools (Curriculum Corporation, 1995; NECF, 1991). University departments must recognise this problem and be able to measure the information competency of transition students.

Increased funding by the government has seen an explosion in the number of places for local students along with an increase in the number of students from overseas. In 1983 there were 348,500 students enrolled in Australian Universities and this has now soared to 622,048 in 1995 (Maslen 1995). Professor Tinto (1995), an international expert on first year university students, has argued that it is critical for Universities to collect and analyse both quantitative and qualitative data about students. He considers that this will enable a university to learn more about students' needs and thus be able to more effectively address them. This paper looks at the transition student with an emphasis on the IT skills that the incoming student possesses. Many studies (Sherwood 1993, Oliver 1993, McCormick 1992, Birnbaum 1990, Andersen 1991, Martinez 1986, Atweh 1989) both in Australia and overseas have charted the IT skills of transition students. These studies all yielded results that showed that IT skills of transition students had increased significantly in recent years and it is anticipated IT skills of students will always be escalating, matching the general trend within society.

Research questions

The purpose of this study was to provide the IT profile of the transition student within the Faculty of Business at Victoria University of Technology. The information relating to IT skills will enable us to plan where to commence our own IT/IS teaching to build on the existing skills base. Two definitions are used to categorise information technology usage of students. General IT practices look at the availability of IT to the student. This included home and work access, usage at home, previous information systems courses studied and computer competency. Specific IT applications referred to the use of business information technology. This included the familiar word processing, spreadsheet and database as well as the emerging Internet, email and multimedia packages. The general research question for this study involves ascertaining the IT skills/practices that commencing students bring to the University. More specific research questions were:

RQ1.
RQ2.
RQ3.		 Are transition student IT practices changing with time?
Are transition student IT skills changing with time?
Are transition student IT practices/skills correlated with educational and social background?

Methodology

Data was gathered in this study through the administration of a survey to all first year commencing business undergraduate students on all of the five undergraduate campuses of the university. From a possible 860 students, 566 students completed the survey giving a response rate of 70%. The nature of the questionnaire is described below together with a sample question.

Students

Students were surveyed in either the orientation week or the first week of their first semester at Vic Uni. Questionnaires were distributed and collected in lectures. Distribution through these early lectures was chosen to maximise the participation by students at the critical interface of their transition into tertiary studies.

The questionnaire

The questionnaire comprised four parts. The first section gathered information concerning each student. This included: campus; study mode; student/parent birthplace; languages spoken at home; family history of participation in higher education and course studied. The second section gathered information on the students' immediate past educational experiences. The student selected options by tick box. The third section focused on the students selection of course and university.

The last section gathered information on computer related issues and IT skill levels. This included: home use of computer; student self-perception of computer competency and keyboard skills; VCE Information Technology based subjects undertaken; previous experience in the use of computers and IT packages that the students had used. The question relating to their use of IT packages required the student to select their use of packages from None, 2 hours and > 2 hours. This data collection was felt to be more objective rather than asking for the students self-perception of their knowledge of packages.

For each question students responded to either preselected options or a 5 point Likert scale together with an option for additional comment. Questions 1 & 2 will be tested by time series comparative frequencies and question 3 will be analysed by cross-tabulation frequency.

Sample question

Sample question

Results

Assumption Testing

The large sample size (N=566) gave support to the assumption that the distribution was a normal one. Investigation by Histogram, Boxplot, Normal Probability Plots and Detrended Normal Plots further supported the assumption of normality.

Demography

The majority of students (85%) were located on the two largest campuses of the university, Footscray and St Albans. The remaining 15% were located on the Melton campus. The proportion of female students (47%) is slightly lower than the proportion of females in the first year undergraduate population as a whole (50%). Students born overseas accounted for 34% of the cohort with higher proportions coming from families whose parents were overseas born (mother) 65% and (father) 70%. These figures should be considered together with the number of students who speak a language other than English at home (56%). Students who completed Year 12 in 1996 accounted for 61% of the cohort with 10% being ex-TAFE. This breakdown is in line with faculty projections of TAFE articulators forming a substantial section of commencing students. This also implied students commence with a variety of IT skills developed in TAFE.

Student IT practices: Computer access

The PC was released in 1983 and the home market has always been predicted to escalate to become all pervading. A high proportion of the student cohort (86%) had access to a home PC, slightly more than the 1995 result of 76% (Stein, Craig & Scollary, 1997). This high level of home access gives rise to questions of expected standards of assignments and access to software for University based assignments. At another level however, we see a gap opening up between students who have home computers and those who do not. This gap has the potential to become significant when we consider the ramifications of the Internet and information access.

Student IT practices: Computer competency and confidence

The five elements of the competency scale were combined into three levels; low competency, average competency, and high competency. The cohort indicated that 26% felt they were of low competency with 50% average competency and 24% having high levels of competency. This result when compared to previous studies by Stein (1996) and Oliver (1991) showed the expected increasing levels of competency.

Table 1: Computer competency % (N = 566)
Note: * adapted from 7 point Likert to 5 point Likert.(Stein et al, 1996)
** averaged from Oliver's 4 measures of computer competence.

1997
cohort		 1996
cohort		 1995
(Stein et al 1996)
cohort*		 Oliver
1991**
Low Competency
Average Competency
High Competency		 26
50
24		 49
37
10		 48
30
22		 45
40
15

Table 2: Computer competency by gender and westernality % (N=566)

199719971997

 cohort malefemaleWest SchoolOther School
Low Competency
Average Competency
High Competency		 26
50
24		 22
46
31		 30
52
15		 28
50
22		 25
50
25

t-test (.000)
at p = .681		 t-test (.685)
at p = .271

There is a significant gender difference (t < .05) in the student self perception of computer competency. There is no significant geographic difference (t = .685) in the student self perception of computer competency.

Table 3: Computer confidence by gender and westernality % (N=566)

199719971997

 cohort malefemaleWest SchoolOther School
Low Confidence
Average Confidence
High Confidence		 24
40
35		 19
37
44		 29
43
27		 23
41
35		 24
40
35

t-test ( .000)
at p = .099		 t-test (.292)
at p = .428

There is a significant gender difference (t < .05) in the student self perception of computer confidence. There is no significant geographic difference (t = .292) in the student self perception of computer confidence.

Student IT practices: Computer background

The students were asked to rate their use of a computer in secondary school, place of employment and home. These results are displayed in Table 4.

Table 4: Computer background % (N=566)
Background Yes
(used)
All
Studs		 Yes
97
West
Subs		 Yes
97
Ex
Y12		 Yes
97
Ex Tafe		 Yes
97
Male		 Yes
97
Female
Yrs 7-10
VCE Information P & M Yr12
VCE Information Tech Yr11
VCE Information Sys Yr12
VCE Info Tech in Soc Yr 12
Computer at work
Computer at home
Home use of Internet
WIN95		 76
19
38
8
4
50
86
23
52		 82
21
47
13
4
45
88
17
50		 86
26
44
10
4
46
89
22
50		 87
na
na
na
na
57
87
28
54		 75
18
35
13
4
53
86
26
53		 78
20
41
4
3
47
87
19
48

The use of the home computer contrasted to Oliver (1991) where 56% of students replied use of home computers and 32% reported use of school computers. The trend showed that students are indicating high levels of computer use both at home and at school. This would be in line with expectations. Use of a computer in a work environment introduces a new element in the computer experience of the student.

This feature raises questions exploring the link between the IT skills developed in work situations and the extent to which these will have to be accounted for in course design. A general economic trend is for an increase in part time employment by students and if students are therefore developing organisational computing skills how are we to accommodate them?

Several trends are evident in Table 4 and 5. There was a marked decrease in the number of Yr 12 students taking the IT based subjects in VCE. This trend is important as these subjects develop information systems skills revisited in many university based subjects. This goes against 1996 VTAC figures where the subject Information Processing and Management had a 12% increase in enrolment from 1994 to 1996 (Houghton 1996, Ainley 1994).

Table 5: Comparison of computer background by Year 12 completion % (N=345)
Background 1996 Year12
cohort n=345		 1995 Year12
cohort n=491
Yrs 7-10
VCE Information Processing & Man
VCE Information Technology
VCE Information Systems
VCE Information Tech in Society
Computer at work
Computer at home
Home use of internet
Win95		 76
19
38
8
4
50
86
23
52		 79
45
39
13
4
42
80
na
na

Internet usage at home shows both a gender (male 26% female 19%) and geographic (west 17% other 22%) gap opening up between student populations.

Table 6: Use of IT (%) applications (N=566)

None<2 2+1997
Combined
<2 & 2+		 1996 cohort
Stein et al,
1997		 1995 cohort
Stein et al,
1996		 1993
Sherwood,
1993
Word Proc
Spreadsheet
DataBase
Windows
Internet
Graphics
Games
Email
Program'g
Laptops
Multi-media		 21
51
65
25
72
66
35
75
79
81
69		 42
40
28
36
15
23
35
17
16
11
18		 36
8
6
38
12
10
30
7
4
7
12		 78
48
34
74
27
33
65
25
20
18
30		 74
52
33
73
22
33
57
28
19
14
31		 87
68
48
76
7
na
65
na
13
na
na		 90
na
55
na
na
62
69
23
33 (logo, basic)
na
17

Student IT skills: IT applications

Students were then asked to report their use of common IT applications with the hours of use as reported in Table 6. The 1995 and 1996 survey cohorts are included. Windows and the common packages all showed high levels of use.

The Internet at 22% compared with 7% in the previous survey. The "big 4" were in common usage with database being the least used. Games were used extensively with the email and multimedia providing baseline data for future analysis.

Table 7: Use of IT (%) applications by gender and westernality (N=566)

1997
Used IT
Combined
<2 & 2+ hrs		 1997
Used IT by Gender
<2 & 2+ hrs		 1997
Used IT by Westernality
<2 & 2+ hrs
Male% Female% West School % Other School %
Word Proc
Spreadsheets
DataBase
Windows
Internet
Graphics
Games
Email
Programming
Laptops
Multimedia		 78
48
34
74
27
33
65
25
20
18
30		 78
50
37
75
32
39
71
27
22
21
37		 81
46
31
73
20
27
56
21
15
13
22		 83
52
36
82
26
32
69
23
22
10
32		 77
46
33
71
26
33
61
24
19
20
29

Discussion and Conclusion

RQ1. Are transition student IT practices changing with time?

Home access seems to have reached a plateau figure of about 86%. The access to a home computer is in line with common perceptions. Use of a work computer is higher for male and ex-TAFE students but even for 1996 Y12 students, figures of 50% shows this factor to be important. Work access showed students are increasingly coming to universities with organisational computing skill sets. If we accept that more students are meshing University workloads with part time work then should University departments take account of this level of IT experience in subject offerings?

The example of the rapid growth of Web technology within organisations could impact upon University departments when this technology is used to deliver student work. Two years ago introducing students to the design and development of Web pages was cutting edge. Today Year 11 & 12 students do this work. Today introducing students to the tools that allow Web based electronic commerce to be developed is cutting edge. When will our incoming students tell us about their Web based business they run from home?

RQ2. Are student IT skills changing with time?

For an information systems department providing in-depth IS instruction to students and general IT teaching for business students there are several important findings. The "big 4" applications all compared closely with the 1995 and 1993 surveys. Spreadsheets are now used by about half of incoming students whilst programming is used by about 20% of students. A possible strategy to find the appropriate level of IT instruction for the commonly used packages would to use refresher or enabling courses for non-users (Word Processing = 22%). Increasingly, enabling courses for spreadsheet, database and multimedia/Internet tools may be necessary. Comparison with the 1993 survey shows an increase in the use of email and multimedia tools. A further question to be asked is the use of the latest IT package to deliver the IT principle. Students with enhanced IT skills are often being asked to develop assignment work and then backload to previous versions of software. Students seem to be saying they want the IT/IS principles taught with the latest packages/platforms to enhance their employability. The question of developing the resources to give the students what they want is going to be increasingly more crucial as packages/platforms evolve.

RQ3. Are transition student IT practices/skills correlated with educational and social background?

The results of t-tests show there was a significant gender difference in the students self perception of computer competence and confidence. Whilst self-perception is a subjective measure the gender difference could be explained in the enrolment patterns in computer based subjects in higher secondary studies and the increased usage of computers by male transition students. This is supported in table 7 where on the eleven IT tools only word processing showed increased usage by female students. There was a substantial gender gap in the usage of IT tools in the games, multi-media and graphics areas. Potentially more important was the gender gap in the use of the internet. Enabling programs may be necessary again to refresh or introduce these IT practices and skills in the transition cohort. It is the policy of University to put resources into assisting disadvantaged cohorts within the student body, it may well be necessary to extend this program into the gender cohort. The use of laptops showed a significant difference between western suburbs and other schools. This could be due to the resource advantage offered by non-western suburbs schools. There are several well documented examples of schools employing laptop technology to give their students the "technological edge". If in fact these students are IT rich then what strategies can we employ to employ to aid the student from the IT poor educational sector? Again, enabling courses specifically targeted for females and western suburbs students in the IT skills areas seems to be justified.

Further research

Information technology is having an impact both upon our transition students and the subjects and courses we present. Access to the Internet and multimedia developments need to be studied and charted. It is proposed that the study that formed the basis of this paper will be continued in 1998 with revised questionnaire and possible extension into other Universities.

References

Ainley, J., Robinson, L., Harvey-Beavis, A., Elsworth, G. and Fleming, M. (1994). Subject Choice in Years 11 and 12. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Andersen, J. (1991). Information technology- a cross curricula competence for all pupils. Computers and Education, 16(1).

Atweh, B. (1989). Patterns of student access to and use of computers by gender, social class, type of school and geographical location in Queensland schools. Australian Association for Research in Education, Adelaide, November 1989.

Birnbaum, I. (1990). The assessment of IT capability. Journal of Comp Education, Vol. 6.

Clark, E. (1990). Problems of retention in tertiary education. Education Research & Perspectives, 17(2).

Curriculum Corporation (1995). As reported in The Australian Financial Review, 3rd. February, 1995.

DEET (1991). Australia's Workforce in the Year 2001 (Workforce 2001). Department of Education Employment and Training, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

DEET (1995). Australia's Workforce 2005: Jobs in the Future. Department of Education Employment and Training, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Houghton, J. (1996). 1996 VCE Enrolments: An Initial Report. Research/ Evaluation Unit.

Karpin, D. (1995). Enterprising Nation. Report of the Industry Task Force on Leadership and Management Skills, April 1995.

Martinez, M. (1988). Computer competence: The first national assessment. Office of Educational Progress, Princetown, NJ.

Maslen, Geoff (1995). Enrolments rocket as demand diversifies. Campus News, August 17th; 5: 5 (32).

McCormick, R. (1992). Curriculum development and new information technology. Journal of Information Technology for Teacher Education, 1(1).

NBEET (1995a). Education and Technology Convergence:A survey of technology infrastructure in education and the professional development and support of educators and trainers in information and communication technologies. National Board Employment Education & Training Commissioned Report No.41, AGPS, January 1995, Canberra.

NBEET (1995b). Converging: Technology, work and learning. National Board Employment Education & Training, AGPS, November 1995, Canberra.

NECF (1991). National Education and Communications Framework. Unpublished report of Working Party, March, 1992.

Oliver, R. (1992). The perceptions of school leavers towards information technology skills. Australian Educational Computing, May 1993.

Sherwood, C. (1993). A national survey on the integration of computers into schools: Teachers' current practices and experiences (years 1-12). Faculty of Education, Griffith University, Queensland.

Stein, A., Craig, A .and Scollary, A. (1996). In Transition - The profile of commencing business faculty students for 1995. Paper presented at the Second Pacific Rim Conference, Melbourne University, 3-5 July, 1996.

Stein, A., Craig, A. and Scollary, A. (1997). In Transition - The profile of commencing business faculty students for 1995. Unpublished paper, 3-5 July, 1997.

Tinto, V. (1995). Reported in "Helping first year students stay the course". Nexus, 5(15), August 1995, p.3.

Authors: Andrew Stein, Annemieke Craig and Angela Scollary are in the Department of Information Systems, Victoria University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria. Contact address: andrew=stein@vut.edu.au
PO Box 14428, MCMC, Melbourne, Victoria 8001, Australia
Tel +61 3 9688 4332 Fax +61 3 9688 5024

Please cite as: Stein, A., Craig, A. and Scollary, A. (1997). Preparatory IT practices and skills of transition Business students (1997). Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 13(1), 40-53. http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet13/stein.html

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