In this ubiquitous computing society, most students are required to be proficient in computer skills to compete in today’s global job market. These computer skills usually include skills in business productivity applications. Assessing those skills is normally accomplished by hands-on skills exams, which can become onerous and costly. This study explored whether a combination of a computer self-efficacy (CSE) survey, cognitive questions, and skill-based questions could indeed be a valid alternative to a hands-on skills exam. The findings of this study indicate some types of questions may be better predictors of performance on the hands-on skills exam, and some combinations of survey items and questions may be viable alternatives to hands-on skills exams. As a result of this research, schools and companies could adapt these indirect and direct assessments to their situation to perform their own study or assess the skills of their students/employees.
","abstract_html":"<p>In this ubiquitous computing society, most students are required to be proficient in computer skills to compete in today’s global job market. These computer skills usually include skills in business productivity applications. Assessing those skills is normally accomplished by hands-on skills exams, which can become onerous and costly. This study explored whether a combination of a computer self-efficacy (CSE) survey, cognitive questions, and skill-based questions could indeed be a valid alternative to a hands-on skills exam. The findings of this study indicate some types of questions may be better predictors of performance on the hands-on skills exam, and some combinations of survey items and questions may be viable alternatives to hands-on skills exams. As a result of this research, schools and companies could adapt these indirect and direct assessments to their situation to perform their own study or assess the skills of their students/employees.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Larson, Stephen"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Business","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Peter Aiken","Richard Redmond"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2011-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:53:26Z","subjects":["direct assessment","indirect assessment","software skills","computer self-efficacy","hands-on skill test","Business"],"languages":[],"rights":["© The Author"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/245"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/245","href":"https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/245","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://doi.org/10.25772/KKCY-6K69","outbound_label":"DOI","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Peter Aiken","Richard Redmond"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Larson, Stephen"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-08-08T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Business"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["direct assessment","indirect assessment","software skills","computer self-efficacy","hands-on skill test","Business"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© The Author"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://doi.org/10.25772/KKCY-6K69","https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/245"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In this ubiquitous computing society, most students are required to be proficient in computer skills to compete in today’s global job market. These computer skills usually include skills in business productivity applications. Assessing those skills is normally accomplished by hands-on skills exams, which can become onerous and costly. This study explored whether a combination of a computer self-efficacy (CSE) survey, cognitive questions, and skill-based questions could indeed be a valid alternative to a hands-on skills exam. The findings of this study indicate some types of questions may be better predictors of performance on the hands-on skills exam, and some combinations of survey items and questions may be viable alternatives to hands-on skills exams. As a result of this research, schools and companies could adapt these indirect and direct assessments to their situation to perform their own study or assess the skills of their students/employees.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Evaluating multiple factors that can be used as skill predictors in software proficiency"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Peter Aiken","Richard Redmond"],"dc:creator":["Larson, Stephen"],"dc:date.available":["2016-08-08T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["In this ubiquitous computing society, most students are required to be proficient in computer skills to compete in today’s global job market. These computer skills usually include skills in business productivity applications. Assessing those skills is normally accomplished by hands-on skills exams, which can become onerous and costly. This study explored whether a combination of a computer self-efficacy (CSE) survey, cognitive questions, and skill-based questions could indeed be a valid alternative to a hands-on skills exam. The findings of this study indicate some types of questions may be better predictors of performance on the hands-on skills exam, and some combinations of survey items and questions may be viable alternatives to hands-on skills exams. As a result of this research, schools and companies could adapt these indirect and direct assessments to their situation to perform their own study or assess the skills of their students/employees.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://doi.org/10.25772/KKCY-6K69","https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/245"],"dc:rights":["© The Author"],"dc:subject":["direct assessment","indirect assessment","software skills","computer self-efficacy","hands-on skill test","Business"],"dc:title":["Evaluating multiple factors that can be used as skill predictors in software proficiency"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Business"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:53:26Z"}