Comperacy assessment of postgraduate students' readiness for higher education

Many postgraduate students cannot cope with the demands of higher education. In South Africa one in every six students never graduates. Poor preparation for higher education includes students' meager computer and information literacy skills. While computer literacy refers to understanding the use of computers, McMillan (1996) promotes the term comperacy that focuses on the ability to confidently use a variety of electronic tools in specific contexts. The researchers developed a comperacy instrument consisting of a self-rating and an objective practical component to assess incoming postgraduate students' comperacy. Statistical analyses revealed good internal consistency for all scales. Only 36% of the students tested satisfactory for basic comperacy. The analysis indicated bimodal data—students either have comperacy or not. The self-ratings were not accurate indicators of comperacy as students rated their comperacy lower or higher than their practical comperacy reflected. Practically significant correlations indicated that students' electronic file management abilities were a good predictor of general comperacy. The researchers propose a framework for comperacy development of postgraduate students.