Understanding and Evaluating Measures of Computer Ability

Abstract

Most researchers and educators evaluating computer ability or literacy have used a construct approach. A prototypical measure assesses programming ability, application software skill, and computer awareness. This kind of measure is often viewed as a final product rather than as a pedagogical tool. In this article, it is argued that the fundamental basis of computer ability measures should be altered in order to address a rapidly evolving computer software market and take advantage of significant advances made in instruction and cognitive science. A more fundamentally useful metric of computer ability can be developed using a process-oriented methodology. This new metric, comprised of actual learning activities, helps provide a comprehensive and coherent understanding of how a person interacts with a computer. Metaphors and constraints based on an extensive core of intelligence assessment research are used to illustrate how theorists have looked at computer ability and to provide guidelines for developing more useful ability measures. A microgenetic approach is offered as one promising example of a process-oriented method that could produce a richer metric of computer ability for researchers and educators. (A need exists to crit:.cally evaluate current philosophy and methods used to investigate computer ability and to develop an alternative metric that could better serve the needs of educators and researchers. Previous researchers have developed computer ability measures that produce final test scores intended to reflect a student's skill level (Kay, 1989(Kay, , 1992a. These test scores offer little toward helping researchers and educators understand how individuals learn: the mechanisms of conceptual change, the role of context in learning, and factors that bring about "good" learning (Hambleton, 1982). A shift from categorical to process-focused methods is needed to develop a comprehensive and coherent understanding of how people learn with computers, and this information could be used to produce an alternative metric that will help researchers and educators explore and improve computer knowledge acquisition. This article will first provide an overview of the kinds of definitions and methodology that currently dominate computer ability research. Then it will explain the principal reasons why current methodology is insufficient to keep up with rapidly changing technology and instruction research. Next, the kinds of metaphors used in general ability measures and the tension between universal versus diverse doctrines of intelligence will be examined in order to pro-270 Winter 1993-94: Volume 26 Number 2 Downloaded by [University of Exeter] at 13:02 16 August 2015vide useful constraints for developing a new kind of computer ability measure. Finally, one promising example of the kind of methodology that could advance current thought on computer ability will be presented.

Gender Differences in the use of Laptops in Higher Education: A Formative Analysis

“…In 1992, Kay reviewed 36 studies on gender and computer related behaviors. While there were clear measurement concerns regarding the assessment of gender differences in computer ability, attitude, and use (e.g., Kay, 1992Kay, , 1993Kay, , 1994, the overall picture indicated that males had more positive attitudes, higher ability, and used computers more. Five years later, a meta-analysis by Whitley (1997) revealed that the imbalance between males and females continued to exist with respect to computer attitudes.…”