2008 Woodie Awards
Computer literacy exam now a requirement
By Rachel Seeman
Rocket News Editor
Issue date: 10/7/05 Section: News
It is required that all freshmen and transfer students take a computer literacy exam to demonstrate computer competency by the time they complete 59 credit hours.
Slippery Rock University will begin administering the Computer Literacy Assessment Exam on Oct. 19. The current sophomore, junior and senior classes are waived from this requirement.
"Students need to meet it by the end of their second year," Amanda Yale, associate provost of enrollment services, said.
Yale said there is a review pamphlet students can read before taking the test that may help their score.
Yale said SRU is encouraging students to take care of completing this assessment as soon as possible. In about four years, it will become a graduation requirement.
Students who do not pass the free 50 minute exam can opt to take it again as many times as they want or enroll in one of two computer science classes.
The test consists of 60 multiple choice and true and false questions. Computer science professor Sam Thangiah said the questions are designed to test whether students know what to look for when buying a computer.
The goal of the exam is to determine if students can use computers, not specific software. According to the University Curriculum Committee, the exam is comprised of five content areas with relative weight: 30 percent for computer hardware, 25 percent for operating systems, file management and system software, 20 percent for application software, 15 percent for technology, the Web and social impact and 10 percent for networks.
"Pretty much every job requires some sort of computer skills," Thangiah said.
Students who take the exam will be given their results immediately following the end of their test. A score of 60 percent is considered passing.
The results will appear on student's DARS reports as a class requirement: "Students must demonstrate computer competency by passing the computer competency exam or successfully complete either CpSc 110 (Computer Concepts) of CpSc 130 (Introduction to Information Systems) by the time that they complete 59 credit hours."
Slippery Rock University will begin administering the Computer Literacy Assessment Exam on Oct. 19. The current sophomore, junior and senior classes are waived from this requirement.
"Students need to meet it by the end of their second year," Amanda Yale, associate provost of enrollment services, said.
Yale said there is a review pamphlet students can read before taking the test that may help their score.
Yale said SRU is encouraging students to take care of completing this assessment as soon as possible. In about four years, it will become a graduation requirement.
Students who do not pass the free 50 minute exam can opt to take it again as many times as they want or enroll in one of two computer science classes.
The test consists of 60 multiple choice and true and false questions. Computer science professor Sam Thangiah said the questions are designed to test whether students know what to look for when buying a computer.
The goal of the exam is to determine if students can use computers, not specific software. According to the University Curriculum Committee, the exam is comprised of five content areas with relative weight: 30 percent for computer hardware, 25 percent for operating systems, file management and system software, 20 percent for application software, 15 percent for technology, the Web and social impact and 10 percent for networks.
"Pretty much every job requires some sort of computer skills," Thangiah said.
Students who take the exam will be given their results immediately following the end of their test. A score of 60 percent is considered passing.
The results will appear on student's DARS reports as a class requirement: "Students must demonstrate computer competency by passing the computer competency exam or successfully complete either CpSc 110 (Computer Concepts) of CpSc 130 (Introduction to Information Systems) by the time that they complete 59 credit hours."
