Development of a Standardized Test of Computer Literacy and a Computer Anxiety Index

Abstract

Definitions of the three components of computer literacy and of computer anxiety were used in a nationwide survey of instructional computing educators to develop a list of seventy competencies of the computer-literate person. This list was used to develop an eighty-question multiple-choice examination. This test was divided into three parts, one part for each of the three components of the definition of computer literacy. Normative data were collected from 341 college students from six different universities. The examination was found to have a reliability estimate of .86. A computer anxiety index (CAIN) was also developed. This instrument was designed to be used to determine a person's level of computer anxiety. Normative data from 1943 students were collected. The CAIN was found to have a reliability of approximately .90. Both the eighty-item achievement test and the twenty-six item CAIN were sent to a nationwide selection of instructional computing specialists who evaluated them. This evaluation was used to revise the two tests. In summary, this article describes the process used to develop two examinations, an achievement test of computer literacy, and a computer anxiety index.

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