Computer Competence Research Articles

Practicality of Authentic Instruments Computer Competency Assessment for Students of Vocational High School

This study aims to develop authentic instruments in the assessment of Digital simulations to measure student learning skills that are practical and effective. This research uses Research and Development with ADDIE development models. Through the stages of analysis (analysis), design (design), development (development), implementation (implementation), evaluation (evaluation). The research subjects were students of class X SMK Negeri 05 Padang, digital simulation subjects. The research data was obtained through validation instrument sheets, practical questionnaires, and observations. The practicality test results show that the authentic assessment that was developed was very practical with the percentage of practicality of teachers on lesson plans being 88.3% and authentic assessments at 82.3%. This developmental research produced an authentic practical and effective assessment instrument that can be used by teachers in assessing students' skills in school in the learning process.

Forming Computational Thinking and Computer Modeling Project Activities in the Physics Course of the Technical University

The article discusses contextual technology of teaching and learning physics of IT students at the Technical University. The main goal of this research is development and analysis contextual technology to maintain and increase IT students’ interest in physics with parallel formation of computational thinking and competencies in computer science applications. This technology takes place in several contexts: the scientific method and modeling of physical processes, computational thinking and professional competence. The all contexts are present in four stages of the training cycle: lectures, seminars, lab works, and computer modeling of physical processes. As an example we demonstrate using the contextual technology for the physics course topic “Dynamics of a rigid body rotational motion” in all four stages of the training cycle. The example of student’s team development of the virtual lab work “Precession and nutation of a gyroscope” is given. According to the Novosibirsk State Technical University professors and students, the author’s technology has demonstrated its effectiveness in the formation of professional thinking and competencies of the IT students in teaching physics at the Technical University.

Patchworking Response-ability in Science and Technology Education

Within science and technology education, concepts of justice, in/equity, and ethics within science education are simultaneously ubiquitous, necessary, yet un(der)theorized. Consequently, the potential for reproducing and reifying systems of power remains ever present. In response, there is a recent but growing movement within science and technology education that follows the call by Kayumova and colleagues (2019) to move “from empowerment to response-ability.” It is a call to collectively organize, reconfigure, and reimagine science and technology education by taking seriously critiques of Western modern science and technology from its co-constitutive exteriority (e.g., feminist critiques). Herein, we pursue the (re)opening of responsiveness with/in methodology by juxtaposing differential, partial, and situated accounts of response-ability: de/colonizing the Anthropocene in science teacher education in Canada (Higgins); speculative fiction at the science-ethics nexus in secondary schooling in Australia (Mahy); and a reciprocal model for teaching and learning computational competencies with Latinx youth in the US (Aghasaleh and Enderle).

Формування інформаційної компетентності в майбутніх докторів філософії

It is defined in the article that the issue of formation is topical given the increasing requirements for education. It is stated that in the present context the formation of a future Ph.D. as a scientist and academician is impossible without a clear definition of knowledge system, skills, personal qualities and professional competencies among which holds a prominent place. Such basic concepts as informative competence, information processing competence, information retrieval competence, information and technological competence, computer competence etc. have been revealed. It has been determined that it is necessary to understand as a quality of a personality which is a set of knowledge, skills and values-based attitude to the effective carrying out of activities, in particular the use of new technologies to solve socially significant tasks that arise in everyday life of a person in the society. We have defined of a Ph. D. as an integrative (complex) quality of a personality that is the ability to navigate the space, acquire information, operate it and make good use of and communication technologies in the scientific and teaching activity. It has been established that researchers assign informative, technological and communicative components to the main components of competence. The educational and professional training program of future Doctors of Philosophy at Nizhyn Mykola Gogol State University has been considered. It includes such cycles of preparation as general, professional, practical and scientific. The importance of each cycle in the process of forming postgraduates` has been outlined.

Computer Competency Level of Elementary Teachers of Southern Tabuk District-1

Computer Competency Level of Elementary Teachers of Southern Tabuk District-1

Investigation of Teacher Candidates’ Technology Competencies and Perceptions in Terms of Various Variables

The aim of this study is to examine the teacher candidates’ technology competencies and perceptions in terms of various variables (gender, type of education, department, whether they have their own computers or not, the situation of connecting to the Internet). The study is a survey model, and the research group consists of five hundred eighteen teacher candidates studying in nine different departments in the spring term of 2018–2019 academic year at Atatürk University Kazım Karabekir Education Faculty. “Technology Perception Scale” and “Computer Competency Scale”, which is developed by Tınmaz (2004), were used as data collection tools. The Cronbach alpha value of the Technology Perception Scale was calculated as ninety-four, and the Computer Competency Scale was eighty-eight. Independent Samples “T” test and Kruskal Wallis “H” test were used for data analysis. It has been concluded that there is no significant difference in terms of technology competencies of the teacher candidates in terms of education type, department, having own computer or not, and internet connection variabilities but there is a significant difference in terms of technology competencies in terms of gender (in favor of male) and there is a significant difference in terms of perceptions of gender (in favor of men), type of education (in favor of evening education), department, whether having a computer or not (in favor of having a computer) and the variables of connecting to the Internet. 

An experimentally validated coarse-grain DEM study of monodisperse granular mixing

Considering being applied to industrial applications with billions of particles, the discrete element method (DEM) is still limited by the computational competence of computers, regardless of the advances in computer hardware or parallel programming techniques. In this paper, therefore, a coarse-grain (CG) discrete element method is adopted to deal with the immense number of particles in granular mixing, which has the potential to gain considerable computational advantage for industry scale DEM simulations. The experiment results as well as the simulation results prove the validity of taking place of smaller particles by larger particles with sacrificing a little detail in a drum flow. The simulation results also indicate that the rotation speed of the drum nearly has no effect on the application of the CG-DEM. The mixing tendency as well as the flow pattern of particles in the CG system is quite similar to the original system. In addition, the simulation results of an industrial application show that the CG-DEM is applicable to the double-screw conical mixer. The granular mixing in the double-screw conical mixer can be predicted by the CG-DEM, and the prediction of device power consumption is accurate by correcting the friction coefficient based on the theory of the CG-DEM, and the prediction of the wear rate of the device is broadly accurate after being corrected by a correction factor. Using CG-DEM can efficiently save computational cost with cutting back on the level of detail and accuracy.

Teachers’ Characteristics and Student Competence on Achievement in Computer Studies, in Cross River State, Nigeria

Teaching and learning of Computer Studies requires new approaches to develop in students, reasonable level of competence in the use of computer. Available literature shows that most studies over the years focused on the use of computer resources in teaching and learning, with only a few addressing teacher's factors and students' competence. This study therefore, examined teacher characteristics and competence of students on achievement in Computer Studies. Survey design was adopted. Simple random sampling was used to select Ikom and Calabar education zone. Purposive sampling was used to select 41 schools (Ikom-21, Calabar-20). From each selected school, JSS 1, 2 and 3 students were randomly selected. A total of 2,127 students and 63 Computer Studies teachers participated in the study. A Teachers' Computer Competence Questionnaire (TCCQ) r= (0.74); Students' Computer Competence Questionnaire (SCCQ) r= (.83) and Computer Studies Achievement Test (CSAT) for JSS 1, 2 and 3 (r=.76, r=.82 and r=.78) were used for data collection. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple regressions at 0.05. Forty-four percent of the teachers qualified in teaching Computer Studies. The three variables jointly predicted student' achievement in Computer Studies F(3,2110)=19.464, P<0.05, while Teachers Competence [β=-.041, t(2110)=-1.979,p<.05] and Student Competence [β=-.133, t(2110)=-6.372, p<.05] were the most significant and persuasive variables in predicting students' achievement in Computer Studies. Hence, for teaching of Computer Studies to be effective, teachers and students' competence should be improved on.

Computerized social-emotional assessment measures for early childhood settings

Social-emotional competence (SEC) is increasingly acknowledged by parents, educators, and lawmakers as central to school success. Given the tremendous SEC gains made by preschoolers, early childhood educators need access to sensitive assessment tools that enable them to monitor and tailor instruction to individual children’s needs. Computerized direct assessment tools have several advantages to meet these needs, including inherent interest to children and ease of use for teachers. Thus, we evaluated the psychometric adequacy of computerized assessment tools measuring two key aspects of preschoolers’ SEC: emotion knowledge and social problem solving. Participants included 450 preschoolers from three regions. We used two versions each of two measures widely used in research: The Affect Knowledge Test, Shortened (AKT-S) and Challenging Situations Task (CST). Both were administered via in-person and computerized modes, in counterbalanced orders. For each computerized administration, observers rated children’s computer competence and interest in the assessment process. Analyses examined internal consistency reliability of the computerized measures. Interrelations and mean differences between computerized and in-person modes for each measure were used to demonstrate concurrent validity of the computerized measures. Because of the importance of SEC for early school success, associations of the computerized measures with aggregate teacher ratings of social-emotional behavior and learning behaviors/attitudes were used as indicators of predictive validity. Findings showed that the computerized AKT-S and CST appear reliable. Further, for concurrent validity, both are related to, and do not differ from, the in-person mode. Predictive validity relations were stronger for the AKT-S than the CST, therefore validity of the CST should be probed further. Discussion centers on advantages of using these computerized measures, and how teachers could be supported to use them.

From Computational Thinking to Political Resistance

Working with Latinx adolescents and providing informal learning experiences through a voluntary after school program aimed at developing their computational thinking and competencies, discussions around the election of Donald Trump emerged as it was important for many students. Emergent bilinguals internalized the xenophobic discourse that was amplified during the presidential election season. Thus, students feared deportation, discrimination, and other forms of violence. Many students experienced their friends and families facing deportation due to the increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids that occurred in 2016. The after-school program was a safe space in which we could provide a constructive and creative environment for students to comfortably explore these topics. In this paper, drawing on three pre-service teachers’ reflections, we explore how middle school urban Latinx students navigated their oppressors through computational thinking and show case a model of a critical pedagogy in an informal science education.

Nurses' satisfaction with barcode medication-administration technology: Results of a cross-sectional study.

Medication administration is a critical task of nurses that, if not done appropriately, can lead to fatal errors. New technologies, including barcode medication administration, are intended to decrease medication errors and enhance verification of medication-administration rights. Therefore, in this study, we examined the effect of introducing barcode medication administration on nurses' satisfaction and identified correlates of nurses' satisfaction with barcode medication administration. A descriptive, cross-sectional design using self-reported questionnaires was utilized to recruit 207 nurses from three public hospitals. Participants reported being moderately satisfied with barcode medication administration, especially with its efficacy and safety aspects. Their satisfaction had a significant negative correlation with their age, nursing experience, and experience using barcode medication administration, and a significant positive correlation with barcode medication-administration training satisfaction, computer competence, comfort with using barcode medication administration, and perceived job productivity using barcode medication administration. This study provides important information about Jordanian nurses' satisfaction with barcode medication-administration technology and provides greater understanding of different clinical correlates to barcode medication-administration satisfaction. It is recommended that effective barcode medication-administration training and computer skills training be provided prior to establishing barcode medication administration in hospitals and that the safety features of barcode medication administration be integrated in clinical education and training.

Use of electronic resources by students in a premier postgraduate theological university in Ghana

Background: Most electronic resource (e-resource) studies have been undertaken in universities because e-resources are crucial in enhancing students’ research and learning activities. However, there is a paucity of e-resources research in postgraduate theological universities, particularly in Ghana. This study, therefore, investigated students’ level of use of e-resources at the Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture. Objectives: The study’s specific objectives were to identify the types of e-resources available for use, discover the extent of awareness of e-resources, find out how e-resources were accessed and used, ascertain the purposes of using e-resources and identify the benefits of and problems in using e-resources. Method: Using the survey research design, copies of the questionnaire were administered to 33 postgraduate students by accidental sampling. Data analysed using Microsoft Excel 2013 were mainly presented as frequency and percentage distributions. Results: The study revealed high awareness levels, adequate computer competencies, derivation of multiple benefits, use of e-resources for academic purposes and inadequate search skills of most respondents because of the dearth of training. Constraints to e-resources usage were access problems, search and retrieval problems and staff-related problems. Conclusion: The study informs university administrators and libraries about the need to ensure students leverage e-resources in research and studies. The study proposed, among other recommendations, the provision of regular and mandatory information literacy training for students, the need for the institute’s library staff to provide personalised search support to students and the provision of off-campus access to the institute’s e-resource subscriptions.

Battling gender stereotypes: A user study of a code-learning game, “Code Combat,” with middle school children

Gender has been consistently controlled as a variable in usability and playability tests. However, there is no consensus on whether and how gender differences should influence the design of digital environments. According to some research, digital environments may be unintentionally designed especially for males as a result of the existing gender biases which risks reproducing gender-polarized culture in a computational field. This study attempts to highlight that females are still being negatively affected by existing gender stereotypes and prescribed gender identities despite relatively equal access and use of computer technology. This qualitative study aims to provide insights about the first-time user experience in a home environment of 16 middle school children in Turkey (8 males - 8 females), aged between 11 and 14 years, with a code learning game named “Code Combat”. The analysis is supported with complementary quantitative findings. The present study investigates the participants' conceptualizations and opinions toward coding concept and this specific coding game. Further, it explores how existing gender stereotypes and gender biased expectations impact their behaviors and attitudes in the context of game experience. Our results indicated that perceived computer competence and perceived coding difficulty had important effects on the participants’ performance relatedly with their gender identity. According to our findings, there are important gender differences to be found in our 9 constructs, namely; perceived computer competence, perceived coding difficulty, identification, perceived game difficulty, perceived success, level of enjoyment, level of anxiety, the likelihood of playing it another time and the likelihood of trying new features. • Assessing how gender differences are reproduced in a code-learning game is an unexplored category for player experience. • Existing traditionally male-positive stereotypes affect participants' code learning game experience and performance. • Girls exposed to a stereotypically male-targeted code learning game will distance themselves from coding concept. • Girls' interest or success in a computational area is associated with not being an ordinary female.

Формування комп’ютерної компетентності здобувача вищої освіти технічних спеціальностей засобами інформаційно-комунікаційних технологій навчання під час вивчення графічних дисциплін

Формування комп’ютерної компетентності здобувача вищої освіти технічних спеціальностей засобами інформаційно-комунікаційних технологій навчання під час вивчення графічних дисциплін

Within the framework of the dual-system model, voluntary action is central to cognition.

A new version of the dual-system hypothesis is described. Consistent with earlier models, the improvisational subsystem of the instrumental system, which includes the occipital cortex, inferior temporal cortex, and medial temporal cortex, especially the hippocampus, directs the construction of visual representations of the world and constructs ad-hoc responses to novel targets. The habit system, which includes the occipital cortex; parietal cortex; premotor, supplementary motor, and ventrolateral areas of frontal cortex; and the basal ganglia, especially the caudate nucleus, encodes sequences of actions and generates previously successful actions to familiar targets. However, unlike in previous dual-system models, human cognitive activity involved in task performance is not exclusively associated with one system or the other. Rather, the two systems make it possible for people to learn a variety of skills that draw on the competencies of both systems. The collective effects of these skills define human cognition. So, in contrast with earlier versions of the dual-system hypothesis, which identified the habit system solely with procedural learning and implicit improvements in task performance, the model presented here attributes a direct role in declarative-memory tasks to the habit system. Furthermore, within the model, the computational competencies of the two systems are used to construct purposeful sequences of actions-that is, skills. Human cognition is the result of the performance of these skills. Thus, voluntary action is central to human cognition.

Pipped at the Post: Knowledge Gaps and Expected Low Parental IT Competence Ratings Affect Young Women's Awakening Interest in Professional Careers in Information Science.

Although many jobs in today’s information science allow favorable work-life-schedules for women, they still hesitate to enter this territory. In a study based on individual interviews with N = 134 students aged 14–18 years, who visited the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany, we collected data on the students’ socialization in information and communication technology (ICT), on their self-rated ICT competence, their working knowledge of ICT professions, and their reaction to sexist statements. To analyze more in depth, we provided the participants with two alternative forms of vocational counseling interventions designed to modify their ICT-related attitudes (information vs. robotics condition). Analyses of variance and multiple linear regressions were administered to the data. Results: The girls in this study were socialized more than one year after the boys in using computers. While the boys received their ICT training mostly through their fathers and peers, the girls frequently had to rely on their teachers for ICT instruction. The girls rate their ICT competence lower than the boys; nevertheless, both genders share a relatively high interest in ICT professions. What’s more, the girls are less convinced that men have a natural talent for computer science. Openness toward taking up jobs in the ICT industry in the case of the boys is less determined by their self-rated computer competence and the perceived ICT talent assessment by their parents. In both intervention conditions, they eagerly received and processed the new information provided. The girls’ interest in an ICT career largely depends on preconditions, namely on their self-rated ICT competence, on a long-standing enthusiasm for computers, and on what they perceive their parents think about their ICT talents. Unlike the more pragmatic approach of the boys, their self-doubts, especially among the academic high school girls brings about that they are still in danger to leave the field of information/computer science before having entered it. In general, the participants’ responses point to a comprehensive misdirection of young women in German middle schools and academic high schools. Fortunately, this study provides a lot of evidence on how to fix this major mishap in the interest of both sexes.

Computer-Aided-Instruction (CAI) as an Innovative Method for Optimizing the Quality of Social Studies Lecturers in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions for Quality Teacher Education in Nigeria

This study focused on Computer-Aided-Instruction (CAI) as an innovative method for optimizing the quality of Social Studies lecturers in Nigerian tertiary institutions for quality teacher education in Nigeria. To achieve the purpose of this study, three research questions were posed to guide the study. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population of the study consisted of all the one hundred and sixty-two (162) Social studies education lecturers in public universities and colleges of education in South-East, Nigeria. A sample of 108 social studies lecturers was drawn for the study, using cluster sampling technique. Relevant data for the study were collected using a “Questionnaire on Effectiveness of CAI in Optimizing the Quality of Social Studies Lecturers in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions”. Data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation. The findings of the study indicated that: many social studies lecturers are not acquainted with the requisite knowledge and skills for teaching social studies; a good number of social studies lecturers are not acquainted with CAI as an innovative trend for accessing information; and that CAI helps in optimizing the quality of social studies lecturers in Nigerian tertiary institutions. Following the findings of this study, conclusion was drawn and recommendations were made to include that professionally qualified social studies lecturers should be recruited to teach social studies in Nigerian tertiary institutions, social studies lecturers ought to update their computer competences among others.    

INVESTIGATING KEY FACTORS FOR SUCCESSFUL E-LEARNING IMPLEMENTATION

Majority of educational institutions have begun venturing into e-learning. Although the e-learning market is growing rapidly, it cannot be denied that the failure rates are increasing in the implementation and usage of e-learning. The Critical Success Factors (CSFs) are the foundation of success behind the implementation of e-learning (Frimpon (2012). Based on the literature analisis, five main factors and eighteen sub-factors were identified as a CSFs for successful e-learning implementation. The CSFs are teacher’s characteristics (teacher's attitude, teacher's computing technical skills, interaction among teaches-students, teaching style, knowledge in e-learning content development and self-efficacy), student’s characteristics (attitude, computer competency, interaction, self-efficacy, motivation and cultural and social norms), information technology infrastructure (internet accessibility, reliability and availability), design and content (perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness) and organization characteristics (training and support).

Approaches to Assess Computational Thinking Competences Based on Code Analysis in K-12 Education: A Systematic Mapping Study

As computing has become an integral part of our world, demand for teaching computational thinking in K-12 has increased. One of its basic competences is programming, often taught by learning activities without a predefined solution using block-based visual programming languages. Automatic assessment tools can support teachers with their assessment and grading as well as guide students throughout their learning process. Although being already widely used in higher education, it remains unclear if such approaches exist for K-12 computing education. Thus, in order to obtain an overview, we performed a systematic mapping study. We identified 14 approaches, focusing on the analysis of the code created by the students inferring computational thinking competencies related to algorithms and programming. However, an evident lack of consensus on the assessment criteria and instructional feedback indicates the need for further research to support a wide application of computing education in K-12 schools.

Health Informatics Competencies for Pharmacists in Training

Objective. To gather feedback from focus groups regarding health informatics competencies that should be taught in a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) curricula and to revise the competencies based on this feedback. Methods. The pharmacy informatics task force of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) used 11 sources to create a list of pharmacy informatics competencies. Subsequently, faculty feedback about the competency list was obtained via two synchronous online focus groups in August 2015. The list was then revised based on the feedback. Results. Eight people (a department chair, six faculty members and a graduate student) participated in the focus groups (six were from private and two were from public institutions). Participants felt the list had too many competencies to be covered in a timely manner and some indicated that basic computer and Internet competencies should be considered pre-requisites. Participants also recommended that competencies be split by proposed curricular placement (eg, prerequisite, required, elective, didactic, experiential) for each objective. The competency list was revised in response to focus group feedback. Conclusion. The proposed curriculum aligns with the new Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) standards requiring that professional pharmacy curricula cover multiple aspects of health informatics. The proposed competencies list can serve as a reference to assist in the development of the curriculum and ensure compliance with the new standards.