Proceedings of the Third Computing Women Congress (CWC 2008): Student papers

The Third Computing Women Congress was held at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand from February 11th to 13th, 2008. The Computing Women Congress (CWC) is a Summer University for women in Computer Science. It is a meeting-place for female students, academics and professionals who study or work in Information Technology. CWC provides a forum to learn about and share the latest ideas of computing related topics in a supportive environment. CWC provides an open, explorative learning and teaching environment. Experimentation with new styles of learning is encouraged, with an emphasis on hands-on experience and engaging participatory techniques

Exploring the effect of pre-service teachers’ digital competence on paperless behavior

Pre-service teachers must implement paperless behavior in line with institutional policies, technological developments, and environmentally friendly issues. Pre-service teacher candidates are expected to have digital competence in skills, abilities, and knowledge to successfully use computers, their related applications, and software in teaching and educational practice. It is predicted to affect their paperless behavior because digital activities reduce paper use. This study aimed to analyze the influence of prospective teachers’ digital competencies on their paperless behavior. The research is based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) using a quantitative approach and involved 372 pre-service teachers at the Faculty of Economics, Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES). Sampling was done by purposive sampling with specific criteria. The results of the study show that digital competence has an influence on paperless behavior by 43.1%. These findings add insight into the role of digital competence in an environmentally friendly learning process. This research suggests increasing students’ digital competence so that students’ paperless behavior rises in line with environmental issues

A Survey of Information Communication Technology Literacy among Lecturers

This pilot study examined the information and communication technology literacy level among lecturers in a public university in Ghana, as well as the influence of gender and age on lecturers’ level of ICT literacy. A survey design was adopted which employed stratified random sampling technique to select 96 out of 526 lecturers for the study. Data obtained were analysed using frequencies, mean, t-test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings of the study indicate that lecturers’ level of competence with ICT is good. However, their familiarity with the university’s academic resources is poor.  The level of ICT literacy among lecturers is not gender sensitive. The age of lecturers does not influence their level of literacy. It is suggested that interventions have to be planned to help improve lecturers’ utilization of the university’s academic resources to enhance the discharge of their duties as professional teachers. Keywords: ICT, literacy level, lecturers, influence of gender and ag

Are Student Self-Assessments a Valid Proxy for Direct Assessments in Information Systems Programs?

In this report, we describe assessment efforts in the MIS curriculum at a major Midwestern U.S. university. We discuss both direct and indirect assessment measures that may either be used as complements or on a stand-alone basis. Because direct assessment efforts are usually more time consuming and work-intensive, it would be helpful for ongoing program assessment if indirect assessment could be used as an effective alternative, at least on occasion. The validity of student self-assessments has been debated in the assessment literature. This study compares results for common learning outcomes assessed with direct measures and student self –assessments. We find that for certain types of learning outcomes student self-assessments are valid proxies for direct assessment

Are Student Self-Assessments a Valid Proxy for Direct Assessments in Efforts to Improve Information Systems Courses and Programs? An Empirical Study

Accrediting agencies in the United States require business schools to conduct ongoing assessment directed at continuous improvement of their instruction. Because direct assessment efforts are usually more time consuming and resource-intensive than indirect assessment, it would be helpful if indirect assessment could be used as an effective alternative, at least on occasion. The validity of one indirect method, student self-assessment, has been debated in the research literature. This study compares results of direct measures and student self-assessments for learning outcomes in an Information Systems course. We find student self-assessments are valid proxies for direct assessment when used with some types of learning outcomes but not others. We discuss possible reasons for the difference and the implications for assessment in Information System programs

The Impact of a Computer Proficiency Exam on Business Students\u27 Admission to and Performance in a Higher-Level IT Course

Many colleges of business now assume incoming freshmen arrive on campus possessing high levels of computer skill and ability. Students are frequently offered the opportunity to take and pass a computer proficiency exam (CPE) in lieu of a freshman information technology (IT) course. While promoted as an efficient alternative, our analysis of the implementation of a CPE as a replacement for the freshman IT course at a small, Midwestern university revealed mixed results. As expected, we found those students who took and passed the CPE generally scored higher in their follow-on, sophomore IT course than those who passed the prerequisite, freshmen IT course. However, the CPE pass rate proved to be significantly lower than that of the course it replaced. This created an unexpected backlog of students unable to enroll in the sophomore IT course, delaying their program of study. Furthermore, over time the CPE highlighted patterns of weakness in students\u27 Excel skills, proving it to be a valuable diagnostic tool. Finally, while the original objective of the CPE had been to replace the freshman IT course, it instead supported the need to reinstate at least some portion of it. This suggests that a hybrid approach may be most effective in ensuring that freshman enter their sophomore year with those IT skills needed most for follow-on course success

The Impact of a Computer Proficiency Exam on Business Students’ Admission to and Performance in a Higher-Level IT Course

Many colleges of business now assume incoming freshmen arrive on campus possessing high levels of computer skill and ability. Students are frequently offered the opportunity to take and pass a computer proficiency exam (CPE) in lieu of a freshman information technology (IT) course. While promoted as an efficient alternative, our analysis of the implementation of a CPE as a replacement for the freshman IT course at a small, Midwestern university revealed mixed results. As expected, we found those students who took and passed the CPE generally scored higher in their follow-on, sophomore IT course than those who passed the prerequisite, freshmen IT course. However, the CPE pass rate proved to be significantly lower than that of the course it replaced. This created an unexpected backlog of students unable to enroll in the sophomore IT course, delaying their program of study. Furthermore, over time the CPE highlighted patterns of weakness in students’ Excel skills, proving it to be a valuable diagnostic tool. Finally, while the original objective of the CPE had been to replace the freshman IT course, it instead supported the need to reinstate at least some portion of it. This suggests that a hybrid approach may be most effective in ensuring that freshman enter their sophomore year with those IT skills needed most for follow-on course success

Awareness of Scam E-mails: An Exploratory Research Study

The goal of this research was to find the factors that influence a user’s ability to identify e-mail scams. It also aimed to understand user’s awareness regarding e-mail scams and actions that need to be taken if and when victimized. This study was conducted on a university campus with 163 participants. This study presented the participants with two scam e-mails and two legitimate e-mails and asked the participants to correctly identify these e-mails as scam or legitimate. The study focused on the ability of people to differentiate between scam and legitimate e-mails. The study attempted to determine factors that influence a user’s ability to successfully identify e-mail scams. The results indicated that frequency of e-mail usage was the only factor that influences e-mail scam detection. Only 1.7% of the respondents were able to identify all four e-mails correctly and 64.5% of the respondents were correctly able to identify three of the given four e-mails. Most users tended to delete/ignore the e-mail after receiving a scam e-mail. 59.3% respondents indicated that they were able to identify scam e-mail. Users also tended to trust reputed company names when trying to discern whether the particular e-mail was a scam or was legitimate. It should be noted that this paper is based on a subset of the entire dataset collected. Keywords: E-mail scam, phishing, e-mail scam identification, awareness of e-mail scam, indicators used in detecting e-mails, phishing attacks, context-aware phishin

How Does ERPsim Influence Student\u27s Perceived Learning Outcomes in an Information Systems Course? An Empirical Study

It is a challenge for business students or even employees to understand business processes and enterprise software usage without involvement in real-world practices. Many business schools are using ERP software in their curriculum, aiming to expose students to real-world business practices. ERPsim is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) teaching-learning tool for business students to learn actual SAP and business processes. This study empirically examines how ERPsim enhances student learning outcomes in an IS course. The findings reveal the antecedent effects of two important IS constructs (enjoyment and cognitive appraisal) on learning behavior and learning outcomes during students’ involvement with ERPsim. The study provides empirical evidence that some major IS constructs (i.e., enjoyment and cognitive appraisal of using information systems) play important roles in shaping the effectiveness of using simulation game software to learn business processes and ERP software