OIT has developed a 30 hour program to prepare students to take the Tek.Xam battery of computer skills certification tests. The Office of Continuing and Extended Education (OCEE) (http://www.contedu.umd.edu) is coordinating delivery of the five-part exam in OIT computer facilities on a rotating schedule throughout the year and is the registrar for the Tek.Xam preparatory course.

The Tek.Xam (http://www.tekxam.com) was created by faculty affiliated with the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges (VFIC), as well as several business affiliates, in order to provide a means to assess problem-solving skills within the information technology environment, particularly for college students in the liberal arts. According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://stats.bls.gov), "within three years, 95 percent of all new jobs nationwide will require a moderate, if not keen, knowledge of computer systems and functions, with a special emphasis on Internet know-how." It is hoped that Tek.Xam certification will come to be recognized and accepted as proof of proficiency by the growing number of businesses that require technical skills from their new hires.

While the Tek.Xam was originaly conceived of as an assessment test for college students, many who are already in the workforce have discovered its value as a tool for certifying their IT credentials, especially those who obtained degrees in non-technical curricula.

The "selling"" of the Tek.Xam certification test has been a two-pronged effort during the past year. VFIC and Tek.Xam have joined forces with The Chauncey Group (http://www.chauncey.com), a subsidiary of the Educational Testing Service, to market the Tek.Xam test to colleges and universities, likening its value to students to other certification exams, such as English Proficiency Testing and DANTES Subject Standardized Tests. This same team has also been promoting Tek.Xam certification to leaders of national businesses such as Crestar Financial Corporation, AT&T Corporation, and IBM Corporation, who have endorsed the exam. It is hoped that the value of Tek.Xam certification will soon be recognized on par with other professional certifications, such as A+ and MSCE.

Proving Proficiency

The four and a half hour exam was first piloted on the University of Maryland in the fall of 1999 by the College of Arts and Humanities. As the test has continued to evolve, it targets the following skill areas:

• Internet Research and Evaluation: problem-solving on the Internet
• General Computing Concepts and Legal and Ethical issues: defining computer terminology, troubleshooting, and appropriate use of technology
• Web Design: creating a simple web site
• Presentation Software: creating a visually effective presentation
• Spreadsheets: synthesizing, analyzing, and presenting numeric data
• Word Processing: communicating data

A brief sampling of the kinds of questions asked on the test can be viewed at the Tek.Xam web site (http://www.tekxam.com/hcih/atest.asp).

An analysis of the test scores collected last spring from several pilot studies found that about 30 percent of the students who took the exam for the first time passed it. Particular stumbling points seem to have been in the spreadsheet data analysis, Internet research, and legal and ethical issues sections. In its first iteration, test takers had to take the exam in its entirety in one day. In the coming months, participants will be able to take different pieces of the exam at different times, although all parts must be taken within a finite period and all parts must be passed before certification will be given. This new model of test delivery will benefit those who are confident of their strengths in certain content areas, but who may need some targeted training to prepare for skill areas with which they are less experienced.

The OIT Connection

The low success rate for pilot test takers inspired OCEE to envision a Tek.Xam preparatory course. OIT training staff have turned that vision into a 30 hour modularized training regimen that enhances participant understanding of specific tools--like MS Word, PowerPoint, and Excel–and models strategies for applying appropriate technologies to real-life scenarios. In addition to instructor-led training in a computer laboratory, participants are provided with access to supplementary material and quizzes in the WebCT environment (http://www.courses.umd.edu/public/TEKEXAM/index.html). Sample exams are also administered in this environment in order to prepare participants for the look and feel of the online test environment used by the Tek.Xam. Long-range plans include a distance education version of the prep course whereby all training materials, quizzes, case studies, exams, and product development exercises would be delivered via WebCT.

The University of Maryland Tek.Xam prep course is the first such training series in the country to directly support the goals and scope of the Tek.Xam. Information sessions targeting University of Maryland students and advising staff, as well as local area businesses, are underway this semester in preparation for the first offering of the prep course in Summer 2001. Training dates and for spring semester testing dates will be announced at the OCEE website in November. Registration will begin at that time, as well.