Addressing tensions around the mismatch of 'expected' and 'actual' computer skills of novice university students

Today, students from a broad range of demographic backgrounds enter higher education, bringing with them an equally diverse range of knowledge and skills; however, an increasingly problematised area appears to be the mismatch between the assumed level of computer skills students bring to the study arena and the actual computing skills they possess (Keengwe, 2007; Wallace & Clariana, 2005). One means of addressing this at an Australian regional university is the course Computing for Academic Assignment Writing (CFAAW), one of four compulsory courses in the Skills for Tertiary Education Preparatory Studies (STEPS) pre-university preparatory program. With its focus on improving confidence and competence in computing skills, CFAAW specifically aims to familiarise students with the expectations of academic assignment presentation, spreadsheet manipulation, understanding of the complexities of the World Wide Web, the filtering through of enormous amounts of unnecessary information and the extraction of relevant data. In this paper it is argued that CFAAW is imperative for pre-undergraduate students as it can provide them with the necessary skills and confidence to become proficient in using computer applications, in particular, Microsoft Office 2007 or 2010, resulting in more efficient work capabilities and ultimately, more likelihood of success as a university student.