Evaluering van rekenaarpakkette as hulpmiddel by die opstel van vraestelle by die technikon Vrystaat

Abstract

Lecturers at the Technikon Free State who participated in a survey felt that too much time was spent on compiling questionnaires and memoranda. The purpose of the study was to identify a cQmputer package that lecturers could use to compile Questionnaires and me!l1oranda in order to save time. Most of the respondents indicated that they were computer literate and that they were personally responsible for the electronic preparation of their questionnaires. These preparations are done by means of a word processor. It was found that lecturers present an average of 3 subjects. The average time spent to compile a questionnaire was 10 hours and the average number of assessments per subject per year was 12. Most of the respondents made use of items previously used. The burden of compiling questionnaires and memoranda could be taken off lecturers if these items were stored in an item bank, provided that the item bank was regularly updated with new items. The majority of respondents indicated that if a computer package that suits their requirements existed, they would utilize it. The starting point of this investigation was to determine what should be present in a questionnaire and memorandum. The questions in a questionnaire can be divided into two types namely selection response items and construction response items. Selection response items can be divided into true/false -, multiple-choice - and cross match items. Construction response items can be divided into short answer -, completion - and essay items. Respondents indicated that all the above mentioned question types are used in questionnaires. According to the regulations of the Technikon Free State the score of each question and section must be displayed on the questionnaire. The grand total of the questionnaire should be indicated clearly. The questionnaire should also be analyzed to illustrate its compilation pertaining to knowledge, insight, application and creativeness. Each questionnaire should be compiled in English and Afrikaans, either combined into one questionnaire or alternatively two separate questionnaires. Most of the respondents indicated that the questions are numbered and therefore a need for sections and subsections in a questionnaire were identified. Existing computer packages were investigated to see what facilities were available to compile questionnaires and memoranda. Lecturers were provided with a second questionnaire to determine what should, according to them, be present in a computer package to compile questionnaires and memoranda. The questions in the questionnaire were based on the facilities that were present in existing computer packages, the regulations of the Technikon Free State, as well as literature. The respondents rated security as important. A need to work in a Windows environment was identified, mainly because of familiarity. Further it was found that it should also be possible to export the questionnaire and memoranda to a word processing program to do final adjustments before the questionnaire is printed on paper. A measuring instrument was developed to evaluate computer packages that compile questionnaires and memoranda. The measuring instrument was divided into 6 sections namely: registration of items, editing of saved items, compiling a questionnaire, additional information about computer packages, general selection criteria and specific selection criteria. According to the importance of the item, certain weights were assigned to the items on the measuring instrument. Existing computer packages were measured against the measuring instrument. The strong characteristics and the shortcomings of each computer package were highlighted. A recommendation was made as to what computer package to use at the Technikon Free State. Because no computer package fulfils all the needs of the user, it remains the user's responsibility to make use of different methods to overcome the shortcomings of a computer package.