Research on student's interest in Information Technology | CHEDTEB Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership

Research on student's interest in Information Technology

We conducted from the end of 21st of November 2017 to 15th March 2018 a survey amongst the students of our three partnership universities, and we also have the analysis of the results!


Slide 3: We had 1116 students who opened our questionnaire of which 799 students successfully answered all our questions which leads us to a completion quote of 71.58%. 

First students were asked if they already heard about the blockchain technology. 53% of students never heard about it and only 17% of students gained their knowledge from university. The results clearly showed that there is a huge lack of knowledge and especially awareness concerning future technologies.

Slide 4: As we now wanted to further distinguish which kind of students have knowledge we found out that guys have a general greater knowledge about IT in the fields of algorithms, Big Data and Blockchain technology. We also must take into consideration that the average knowledge base is extremely low as only on average 25% of students reported to be able to explain the IT applications.

Slide 5: But is this lack of knowledge caused by little interest or a shortage of information provided to become acquainted with the topic?

As we compared interest and knowledge base from male and female participants we found out that the interest always exceeds the knowledge base. On a scale from 1 (no interest) to 6 (passionate) male have an average knowledge of 3,42 but an average interest of 4,17 and women have an average interest of 3,25 and an average knowledge of 2,62. This also shows that male students have generally more knowledge and interest than female students. 

Slide 6: As the overall Interest is greater than the knowledge we can conclude that we have an unfulfilled demand for more knowledge. To counteract this fact 58,17% of male students and 45,97% of female students would be willing to participate in a voluntary weekend class on these subjects.

Another difference is not just found between male and female students but also within Bachelor and Master candidates. It is a fact that students doing their master’s degree have greater knowledge in IT than students doing their bachelor’s degree. On a scale from 1 (no interest) to 6 (passionate) bachelor students reported an average interest of 2,88 and master students of 3,57. the following graph can clearly show this difference.

Slide 7: The previous results could also prove our theses wrong that younger students might have generally more knowledge in IT as they have been growing up with it and might consider it more essential for their future. Students younger than 25 years rated on the same scale an average of 2,79 whereas students aged 25 and older rated an average of 3,34.

The older students showed in all 5 answers of question 16 to 20 that they have averagely more interest in IT technologies. These results are correlating with the ones we get when we compare bachelor and master’s degree as master students show exception less more interest. We can conclude that older participants and master candidates have been studying for a longer time, so they are more aware of what will be important in their study field and for the job market. 

Within the IT section we must differentiate between long established fields like algorithms and new upcoming topics like Blockchain.

Slide 8: With 125 Bachelor and 30 master students we have 19,21% of participants who state to have knowledge in Blockchain technologies. On the other hand, 198 Bachelor and 50 Master students (30,73%) have knowledge in algorithms. This is a spread of more than 10%. 

We need to pay more attention to new upcoming technologies like Blockchain. Those topics should be more included when universities teach about IT technologies.

Slide 9: Through digitization the requirements and expectations on the job market are changing. Increasing knowledge in IT is expected. Students were asked if they think that university is preparing them well for this change.

Is there a gap between what universities teach and what the job market is expecting?

Again, the main difference lies between Bachelor and Master students as Bachelor students rather disagree or are not convinced that university is preparing them well. Students were asked to rank their university regarding its teaching of the different subjects of digitization and what it implies. On a scale from 1 (very good) to 6 (very bad) the universities scored only around 3 (Bielefeld: 3,04 - Tartu 2,98 - Brno 2,99). 

Processes at their universities regarding digitization were also ranked with the same scheme. Students evaluated enrolment process, digital university administration, online access to study certificates, the use of technology on classes and digital exams.

Slide 10: Universities only scored an average grade of 3,07 (Bielefeld: 3,1 - Tartu 2,71 - Brno 3,41), which shows that there is improvement possible. They should encourage their own support and usage of new technologies.

To find possible solutions to this topic we gathered ideas about what students would change at their universities regarding digitization. Some answers were: “To add more programming and data analysis courses”, “More classes for IT education”, “block seminars for digitalisation” “praxis related projects”, “new, adequate learning material”. They all wanted additional offers and courses and new structures for possibilities to study these new upcoming topics.

They asked for new courses like “FinTech, Big Data, Digitization, Basics of IT, and programming”

The most desired digital offers to use at their universities were webinars and online classes which are always available, so students have no need to commute to university. 

In conclusion of this student survey we can say that the universities need an improvement in the way they impart knowledge. Students wish not just to gain knowledge in technology but also to see their university as a role model in applying new methods and technologies for their teaching and working methods. We also need universities to prepare students better for the job market, starting already in their bachelor stages.

Our hypothesis was that students have a lack of knowledge in future technologies like Blockchain. To counteract the University of Applied Science Bielefeld (Germany), Brno University of Technology (Czech Republic) and the University of Tartu (Estonia) are working together with the aim of creating a new, joint master’s Program, which will help the students to be better prepared for the job market and to pass on important knowledge about new process in the time of digital transformation. Due to our interpretation we can say that the assumption was correct. According to our results of the questionnaire we need to further work on embedding future technologies in universities schedules.

 

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This project shared by the three partner universities Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences/D, Brno University of Technology/CZ and University of Tartu/EST aims to provide the framework for a future joint master's degree on Digital Transformation of Corporate Business.

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