Computer anxiety as a factor of success in the computer based examination

Abstract

The results of empirical study of interrelations between the scores of the original questionnaire of computer anxiety (developed by the authors) and so-called “relative success” (RS) in computer based examination are presented. 181, 87 and 78 undergraduates took part in the study in 2010, 2011, 2012, respectively. Each participant filled in the questionnaire of computer anxiety online (while doing an online demo-version within the preparation for the final examination). The correlation between the questionnaire scores and RS level proved to be non-significant, however, the same correlation obtained on the sample of volunteers (in 2011 and 2012) were nearly significant. The authors interpret these differences as follows: undergraduates with a higher level of anxiety are more likely to be volunteers for filling in the questionnaire. The absence of the expected negative correlation between computer anxiety and success in computer based examination are discussed considering the effect of “active dissatisfied sample”.