Investigation of the Effectiveness of a CEIT Undergraduate Program on Students' Competencies

Abstract

This study was carried out to examine the contribution of the undergraduate program of a Computer Education and Instructional Technologies (CEIT) to students' various professional competencies. For this purpose, CEIT preservice teachers' views on the adequacy of their undergraduate education to develop their competencies for various professions offering potential employment and the effect of the CEIT undergraduate courses on these competencies were investigated. The participants were enrolled in the CEIT Undergraduate Program of the Faculty of Education at Sakarya University. The study was conducted with 108 senior students in the fall semester of 2014-2015 by applying the cross-sectional survey model, as part of a self-assessment and continuous development of the program. A questionnaire was used for the data collection that included questions about target professions of preservice teachers, efficacy beliefs as an indicator of their competencies related to the profession, their perceptions about the CEIT program, and their perceptions about the contribution of the undergraduate courses to their professional competencies. The data were analyzed via inferential statistics. The results indicate that the preservice teachers felt the most qualified in working as a computer teacher, information technology counsellor, formative teacher, and an educational technologist. The professions in which the participants saw themselves the least qualified were server systems specialist, software developer, network systems specialist, and web software developer. Moreover, it was reported that the courses in the CEIT curriculum providing the highest benefit for improving their competencies were measurement and evaluation, special teaching methods, multimedia design, and individual differences in education. Furthermore, the participants did not know much about the jobs that they can work except for those in the public sector, such as working as a teacher or information technology counsellor. Additionally, the software courses in the CEIT curriculum did not contribute enough to develop their competencies to work in software-related jobs. To interpret the results of the current study in a more appropriate way, it is important to take into account the time lost before the publication of the study. However, it is strongly recommended to conduct further research to find out the effects of the CEIT undergraduate program curricula on developing job-related competencies and to conduct self-evaluation studies for continuous development. Besides, establishing career guidance services in universities may help CEIT students to be aware of the potential job prospects related to their competencies, and help them gain better knowledge and skills regarding their major.