The importance of undergraduate's computer competency and information literacy skills: marketing faculty's perspectives in Thailand

Abstract

Computer technology has become a significant part of life for many people. Because of this, undergraduate students should prepare themselves to learn this technology in order to meet the needs of the workplace. Incorporating computer and related technology into the curriculum has been a challenging task for many educators. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate faculty perceptions of the computer competency and information technology literacy skills of undergraduate students in the Department of Marketing in selected universities in Thailand. The second purpose was to examine the perceived level of computer and information technology literacy needed for success in the workplace. The last purpose was to compare the level of perceived computer competencies and information literacy skills students had when they entered and when they graduated from the universities. The study was conducted in the 2007 academic year in six selected universities in Thailand. Six research questions were proposed. Three hypotheses were constructed to correspond to the purpose of the research study. Fifty-six faculty members in the Department of Marketing from six selected universities in Thailand were surveyed to obtain their demographics profiles, the perceived computer competency and information literacy skills of the undergraduate students when they entered and graduated from the university and those needed for the workplace.