Self-Assessment and Student Improvement in an Introductory Computer Course at the Community College Level.

The purpose of this study was to determine a student’s computer knowledge upon course entry and if there was a difference in college students’ improvement scores as measured by the difference in pretest and post-test scores of new or novice users, moderate users, and expert users at the end of a college level introductory computing class. This study also determined whether there were differences in improvement scores by gender or age group. The results of this study were used to determine whether there was a difference in improvement scores among the three campus locations participating in this study. Four hundred sixty-nine students participated in this study at a community college located in Northeast Tennessee. A survey, pretest, and post-test were administered to students in a college level introductory computing class. The survey consisted of demographic data that included gender, age category, location, Internet access, educational experience and the self-rated user category, while the pretest and post-test explored the student’s knowledge of computer terminology, hardware, the current operating system, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint. The data analysis revealed significant differences in pretest scores between educational experience categories. In each instance, the pretest mean for first semester freshmen students was lower than second semester freshmen and sophomores. The study also reported significant differences between the self-rated user categories and pretest scores as well as differences in improvement scores (post-test scores minus pretest scores). However, the improvement scores (post-test scores minus pretest scores) were higher than the other self-rated user categories. Of the three participating campus locations, students at Location 1 earned higher improvement scores than did students at Location 2. The results also indicated that there was a significant difference between the types of course delivery and course improvement scores (post-test scores minus pretest scores). The improvement scores for on ground delivery was 5 points higher than the hybrid course delivery. Finally, study revealed no significant differences according to the gender and age categories. Jama Spicer-Sutton, James Lampley, & Donald W. Good Self-Assessment and Student Improvement in an Introductory Computer Course at the Community College Level 60 Journal of Learning in Higher Education 61 Spring 2014 (Volume 10 Issue 1) ther by taking a competency exam or by the completion of a college level introductory computing class. Approximately 97% of the students chose to take the introductory class to satisfy this competency requirement. Assessment methods used to evaluate students in the introductory class included hands-on project tutorials, a research paper, and multiple-choice quizzes. The purpose of this study was to determine a student’s computer knowledge upon course entry and if there was a difference in college students’ improvement scores as measured by the difference in pretest and post-test scores of new or novice users, moderate users, and expert users at the end of a college level introductory computing class. This study also determined whether there were differences in improvement scores by gender or age group. The results of this study were used to determine whether there was a difference in improvement scores among the three campus locations participating in this study. This study focused on student improvement in a college level introductory computing class using a pretest and a post-test at the participating community college. The assessment of the pretests and post-tests and the results of these tests were the criterion variables for the study. These independent variables included: gender, age, campus location, prior higher education experience, residential Internet access, and user’s self-rated computer skill level.