Abstract: This paper explains a four-year longitudinal study of the assessment process for a Microsoft Office skills course. It examines whether there is an increase in students’ knowledge based on responses to pre- and post-surveys that asked students to evaluate how well they can do particular tasks. Classical classroom teaching methods were used in the first two years of the study; computer-mediated learning plus classical methods were employed in the last two years. The study further examines whether that change to computer-mediation made a difference in student learning. It also examines whether students retain the knowledge as measured by entrance surveys in a follow-on course. Results indicate that the course does make a difference in student learning of Microsoft Office skills. Results also indicate that computer-mediation does appear to make a positive difference in the mastery of Microsoft Office skills in the basic computer skills course although computer-mediation did not make a positive difference in retention of that mastery at the beginning of the follow-on course.

Keywords: Microsoft Office skills, computer-mediated learning, course assessment, pre-post-survey

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Recommended Citation: Carpenter, D. A., McGinnis, D. R., Slauson, G. .., Snyder, J. (2013). A Longitudinal Study Assessing the Microsoft Office Skills Course . Information Systems Education Journal, 11(4) pp 66-83. http://isedj.org/2013-11/ ISSN: 1545-679X. (A preliminary version appears in The Proceedings of ISECON 2012)