Is There a Connection between Knowledge of Technology and Standardized Tests?
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to determine if students’ use of educational technology in high school impacts their performance on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Participants were high school graduates between the years 2001 and 2004 (N = 133) and currently enrolled in a four-year liberal arts college on Long Island. Participants were surveyed in order to determine their preparedness in Educational Technology (ET) competency as well as to provide SAT scores. A discriminant analysis was conducted to determine if seven indicators of high school computer use can predict SAT performance. The overall Wilks’ Lambda was approaching significance indicating that overall the indicators differentiated among SAT performance groups. The discriminant function revealed a relationship approaching significance accounting for 12% among group variability. Of the seven indicators, the ability to share information, the use of PowerPoint and spreadsheet knowledge demonstrated the strongest relationship with predicting SAT performance.
Presider: Fred Baker, University of West Florida