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Comperacy assessment of postgraduate students' readiness for higher education
ARTICLE

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Internet and Higher Education Volume 13, Number 3, ISSN 1096-7516 Publisher: Elsevier Ltd

Abstract

Many postgraduate students cannot cope with the demands of higher education. In South Africa one in every six students never graduates. Poor preparation for higher education includes students' meager computer and information literacy skills. While computer literacy refers to understanding the use of computers, McMillan (1996) promotes the term comperacy that focuses on the ability to confidently use a variety of electronic tools in specific contexts. The researchers developed a comperacy instrument consisting of a self-rating and an objective practical component to assess incoming postgraduate students' comperacy. Statistical analyses revealed good internal consistency for all scales. Only 36% of the students tested satisfactory for basic comperacy. The analysis indicated bimodal data—students either have comperacy or not. The self-ratings were not accurate indicators of comperacy as students rated their comperacy lower or higher than their practical comperacy reflected. Practically significant correlations indicated that students' electronic file management abilities were a good predictor of general comperacy. The researchers propose a framework for comperacy development of postgraduate students.

Citation

Blignaut, A.S. & Els, C.J. (2010). Comperacy assessment of postgraduate students' readiness for higher education. Internet and Higher Education, 13(3), 101-107. Elsevier Ltd. Retrieved March 19, 2024 from .

This record was imported from Internet and Higher Education on February 1, 2019. Internet and Higher Education is a publication of Elsevier.

Full text is availabe on Science Direct: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2010.02.007

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