Computer Science Student Selection – A Scoping Review and a National Entrance Examination Reform

Abstract

Background: Higher education student selection has significant impact both on lives of young individuals but also on national economies. Current digital era calls for digital professionals. Countless applicants apply to study Computer Science (CS) and Information Technology (IT) each year worldwide. Thousands of them are left without the university place they aspire to. At the same time, these disciplines suffer from numerous dropouts. Objective: Could performance and persistence in CS and IT higher education be fostered by more accurate acceptance criteria? Academic studies on skills assessed in entrance examinations along with their predictive power were systematically reviewed in this study to ultimately propose evidence based student selection criteria for the discipline. Methods: Scoping review gathered peer-reviewed studies from four academic databases. Their findings on skills assessed in entrance examinations and their predictive value were extracted and synthesized. The results were evaluated in a national consultation round utilizing the Delphi method. Findings: The review discovered seven skill categories assessed in CS and IT entrance examinations. However, the predictive values of these skills were contradictory. The Delphi process agreed on reasoning skills, verbal skills and mathematics as the most important skills to be assessed in the reformed national entrance examination. Discussion: The skills studied were usually limited to mathematics and verbal skills. Reasoning and problem solving skills were seldom examined separately. Critical thinking skills were not mentioned in any of the articles reviewed. It seems that research is tethered with school subjects learned at secondary level and tested by the legacy methods.