A Comparison of Two Computer Literacy Testing Approaches

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.