Evaluating the validity of self-assessment: measuring computer literacy among entry-level undergraduates within accounting degree programmes at two UK universities

This paper considers the validity of using self-assessment to measure computer literacy among entry-level undergraduate accounting students. Data collected from objective and self-appraisal computer literacy tests completed by students at two UK universities are analysed and the results of the tests compared for each student. The findings reveal significant differences in the students' perceived and actual computer literacy with the vast majority over-estimating their computer knowledge. Furthermore, evidence is provided that more-able students are more accurate in their self-assessment. These findings indicate that self-assessment is not an appropriate means of determining computer literacy among entry-level undergraduate accounting students when used in isolation. However, as an adjunct to a more robust measure of computer literacy, self-assessment may provide a useful insight into students' attitudes to computing. In addition, self-assessment stimulates reflection and thereby contributes to lifelong learning, a concept particularly important for accountants who must assess their competence throughout their professional careers.

[1]  Nestor K. Ovalle,et al.  SELF‐APPRAISAL BASED UPON SUPERVISORY FEEDBACK , 1984 .

[2]  Lin Norton,et al.  Self-Assessment in Coursework Essays. , 1997 .

[3]  L. Stefani.  Peer, self and tutor assessment: Relative reliabilities , 1994 .

[4]  G. Torkzadeh,et al.  Factorial Validity of a Computer Self-Efficacy Scale and the Impact of Computer Training , 1994 .

[5]  J. Werbel,et al.  Effects of Purpose of the Appraisal and Expectation of Validation On Self-Appraisal Leniency , 1986 .

[6]  Michael Wood,et al.  Computer packages as cognitive paradigms: implications for the education of accountants , 1997 .

[7]  R. Kelly Rainer,et al.  The Influence of Individual Differences on Skill in End-User Computing , 1992, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[8]  M. Jawahar.  Attitudes, self-monitoring, and appraisal behaviors. , 2001, The Journal of applied psychology.

[9]  Jiing-Lih Farh,et al.  Effects of Self-Esteem on Leniency Bias in Self-Reports of Performance: A Structural Equation Model Analysis , 2007 .

[10]  E. White.  Teaching and assessing writing , 1996 .

[11]  P. Orsmond,et al.  The Use of Student Derived Marking Criteria in Peer and Self-assessment , 2000 .

[12]  J B Morton,et al.  Correlations between staff, peer and self assessments of fourth‐year students in surgery , 1977, Medical education.

[13]  Roberta M. Roth,et al.  Computer Self-Efficacy: A Practical Indicator of Student Computer Competency in Introductory IS Courses , 1998, Informing Sci. Int. J. an Emerg. Transdiscipl..

[14]  David Boud,et al.  THE ROLE OF SELF‐ASSESSMENT IN STUDENT GRADING , 1989 .

[15]  R. Bloom.  Accounting Education: Charting the Course through a Perilous Future , 2002 .

[16]  Gordon Boyce,et al.  Fostering deep and elaborative learning and generic (soft) skill development: the strategic use of case studies in accounting education , 2001 .

[17]  Barbara Plake,et al.  A Validation Study of the Computer Literacy Examination: Cognitive Aspect , 1985 .

[18]  Jiing-Lih Farh,et al.  Effects of comparative performance information on the accuracy of self-ratings and agreement between self- and supervisor ratings. , 1989 .

[19]  Keith Sullivan,et al.  Introducing Students to Self‐assessment , 1997 .

[20]  D. Boud,et al.  Quantitative studies of student self-assessment in higher education: a critical analysis of findings , 1989 .

[21]  Gordon Boyce,et al.  Computer-assisted teaching and learning in accounting: pedagogy or product? , 1999 .

[22]  H. E. Stanton,et al.  Self-Grading as an Assessment Method. , 1978 .

[23]  G. Milkovich,et al.  The Current State of Performance Appraisal Research and Practice: Concerns, Directions, and Implications , 1992 .

[24]  Zippy Erlich,et al.  Computer literacy and applications via distance e-learning , 2001, Comput. Educ..

[25]  S. Owen,et al.  Development and Validation of the Computer Self-Efficacy Scale , 1989 .

[26]  Greg Stoner.  IT is part of youth culture, but are accounting undergraduates confident in IT? , 1999 .

[27]  A. Bedeian,et al.  AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF SELF‐APPRAISAL‐BASED PERFORMANCE EVALUATION , 1988 .

[28]  David E. Smith,et al.  Accuracy of performance ratings as affected by rater training and perceived purpose of rating. , 1984 .

[29]  P. A. Curtis.  Measuring Computer Literacy in Colleges of Agriculture: Results, Conclusions and Implications. , 1986 .

[30]  P. Sweeney,et al.  A test of three models of bias in self-assessment. , 1986 .

[31]  John Cowan,et al.  A CASE FOR SELF‐ASSESSMENT BASED ON RECENT STUDIES OF STUDENT LEARNING , 1985 .

[32]  Abraham K. Korman,et al.  Toward an hypothesis of work behavior. , 1970 .

[33]  R. Cardy,et al.  The Effects of Purpose of Appraisal and Individual Differences in Stereotypes of Women on Sex Differences in Performance Ratings: A Laboratory and Field Study , 1988 .

[34]  J. L. Warner,et al.  Inflation bias in self-assessment examinations: Implications for valid employee selection. , 1984 .

[35]  S. Siegel,et al.  Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences , 2022, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[36]  S. Ungar,et al.  The Effects of the Certainty of Self-Perceptions on Self-Presentation Behaviors: A Test of the Strength of Self-Enhancement Motives , 1980 .

[37]  Wayne F. Cascio,et al.  Performance Appraisal Decisions as a Function of Rater Training and Purpose of the Appraisal , 1982 .

[38]  David J. Boud,et al.  Self and Peer Marking in an Undergraduate Engineering Course , 1981, IEEE Transactions on Education.

[39]  Goutam Chakraborty,et al.  The measurement of computer literacy: a comparison of self-appraisal and objective tests , 1994, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[40]  Dirk D. Steiner,et al.  Common comparison standards : An approach to improving agreement between self and supervisory performance ratings , 1996 .

[41]  B. R. Schlenker,et al.  Self-presentation: managing the impression of consistency when reality interferes with self-enhancement. , 1975, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[42]  Barbara Blakely Duffelmeyer.  Critical computer literacy: computers in first-year composition as topic and environment , 2000 .