Computer Knowledge, Skills, and Experiences of Students Enrolled in Undergraduate Courses in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

NACTA Journal, Mar 2004 by Smith, James H, Villareal, Vanessa, Akers, Cindy, Haygood, Jacqui

The target population for this study included students enrolled in undergraduate CASNR courses during the Spring 2002 semester. The total student enrollment, which includes each CASNR course taught during the Spring 2002 semester, was 3,605. This number does not exclude students that were enrolled in more than one CASNR course. Therefore, consideration should be taken of the fact that the total enrollment includes duplication. The researcher used cluster sampling in this study and also eliminated participant duplication.

The sample consisted of non-duplicated students (n = 740) enrolled in undergraduate CASNR courses at Texas Tech University during the Spring 2002 semester. These courses were identified using an official list supplied by the dean's office. Faculty teaching one course during the semester were automatically chosen to participate in the study. Those teaching two or more courses had only one course randomly selected to participate in the study. Faculty members teaching multiple sections of one course had each section participate in the study. Internship and special problems courses were not included in the study since these courses did not have a scheduled time to meet. The researcher met with the executive associate dean and individually with the department chairpersons representing each of the six departments in the CASNR in order to request support and permission to conduct the study. A memorandum, which was signed by the researcher and executive associate dean, was then sent to faculty members in the CASNR on February 12, 2002, requesting their cooperation and participation in this study. The researcher then corresponded with each faculty member to schedule a date and time when the CEKI would be administered in the respective course. From March 4, 2002, through April 19, 2002, data was collected in the selected CASNR courses.

Statistical analysis was completed using a statistical software program, SPSS, version 10.0. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data pertaining to: (a) the demographic variables of students, (b) their computer experiences, (c) their self-perceived level of computer skills, and (d) their computer knowledge. Pearson product moment correlations were used to examine data pertaining to the relationship between demographic characteristics, computer experiences, self-perceived level of skills, and scores on the exam portion of the CEKI

Resuits and Findings

Of the 740 respondents providing usable data, ages ranged from 17 to 38 years, with a mean of 20.9. There were 159 (21.8%) participants that were 20 years old and 153 (20.7%) participants that were 21. Twenty-three participants had no response to this item. Of the survey participants, 39.2% (290) were female and 60.8% (450) were male. There were 256 (34.6 %) seniors that participated in the study. A little over one-fourth (186) of the participants reported their classification as junior. The percentage of those taking the CEKI that were sophomores was 21.2% (157). Freshmen represented 17.7% (131) of the sample taking the questionnaire.