Bulletin of Applied Computing and Information Technology Refereed Article A1: Incoming First Year University Students: Does Confidence Equate to Computing Competence?

There is a perception that students entering tertiary education have appropriate computing skills for study purposes and there is no longer a need for introductory computing courses in business programmes. First year cohorts were surveyed in 1999 and again in 2007. They were asked about their education and computing backgrounds and to solve some end user computing problems. Further elaboration of issues raised was provided through focussed interviews. Nowadays students have higher confidence in their computing abilities. One reason for this is increased access to computers and the internet. They are also likely to confuse knowledge and confidence. Surprisingly the survey results showed no improvement in the specific end user skills tested in 2007 compared with the 1999 students. Therefore, removal of compulsory computing courses for business students is not recommended