Investigating the impact of curriculum revamping on first year students’ productivity skills

Abstract

In the knowledge base economy digital literacy is essential for survival. Students in universities are expected to produce high quality work using productivity software e.g. MS Word, MS PowerPoint and MS Excel. The job market also gives these skills due importance and individuals are expected to have at least certain level of proficiency in using MS office tools. Therefore, there is a dire need to introduce such trainings in the first year of the studies, which enables them to be productive. Although, most of the universities have Fundamentals of ICT course in their first semester, however, lack standardized guidelines to deliver and assess productivity tools in this course. Every university follows their own criteria to integrate the use of productivity tools in these courses, thus resulting in varied competencies attained by the students. The current study focuses to revise the curriculum of the course CS100- Fundamentals of ICT, offered to first year students in National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) by introducing Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification on MS Word, MS PowerPoint and MS Excel with an aim to investigate the impact on productivity skills of these students. With a sample size of 403 students, a mixed method research paradigm is adopted with predominantly quantitative analysis through post only quasi experiment to compare the productivity skills of experiment group taught through MOS certifications against the control group that were taught through traditional labs on productivity software. The data analysis revealed significant difference in post-test achievement of experiment group students in selected productivity software (MS Word, MS PowerPoint and MS Excel) as compared to control group. Moreover, the qualitative data collected through interviews and focus group discussions from teachers, lab instructors and students also provided insights into the improvement of productivity skills through MOS certifications. Students reported that MOS certifications helped them in securing internships with leading employers during their course of study at the university, which suggests that university students can be benefitted if MOS certifications are integrated within Fundamentals of ICT curriculum.