Examining the Digitization Level of First-Year Students at Graz University of Technology (Austria): Insights from a Digitization Index

Abstract

The Educational Technology team at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) tried to measure the degree of digitization among first-year students (n=1,029). To achieve this, a digitization index was constructed that incorporates various dimensions of digitization, including IT equipment, digital skills, and usage of digital applications for learning. The index is based on two existing studies, the German D21-Digital-Index and the Austrian DiKoS study. It was adapted to fit the context of first-year students at university. The study revealed an average digitization level among first-year students at TU Graz was 39.60 on a scale from 0 to 100. The analysis of specific groups indicated variations in the degree of digitization. Female students, students under 20 and over 25 years old, as well as those from natural sciences and mathematics fields exhibited lower levels of digitization compared to their counterparts. Furthermore, students who attended grammar school before university had lower digitization levels compared to those from higher vocational schools or secondary technical schools. Based on the digitization index, the students are classified into three groups: digital laggards, digital center, and digital leaders. Most first-year students fell into the digital center category, while a smaller proportion were identified as digital laggards or leaders. These groups differed in terms of their device ownership, digital skills, and usage of digital applications.

Full text

Examining the Digitization Level of First-Year Students at Graz University of
Technology (Austria): Insights from a Digitization Index
Bettina Mair
Graz University of Technology
Austria
bettina.mair@tugraz.at
Martin Ebner
Graz University of Technology
Austria
martin.ebner@tugraz.at
Sarah Edelsbrunner
Graz University of Technology
Austria
sarah.edelsbrunner@tugraz.at
Walther Nagler
Graz University of Technology
Austria
walther.nagler@tugraz.at
Sandra Schön
Graz University of Technology
Austria
sandra.schoen@tugraz.at
Abstract: The Educational Technology team at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) tried to measure the degree of
digitization among first-year students (n=1,029). To achieve this, a digitization index was constructed that incorporates various
dimensions of digitization, including IT equipment, digital skills, and usage of digital applications for learning. The index is
based on two existing studies, the German D21-Digital-Index and the Austrian DiKoS study. It was adapted to fit the context of
first-year students at university. The study revealed an average digitization level among first-year students at TU Graz was 39.60
on a scale from 0 to 100. The analysis of specific groups indicated variations in the degree of digitization. Female students,
students under 20 and over 25 years old, as well as those from natural sciences and mathematics fields exhibited lower levels of
digitization compared to their counterparts. Furthermore, students who attended grammar school before university had lower
digitization levels compared to those from higher vocational schools or secondary technical schools. Based on the digitization
index, the students are classified into three groups: digital laggards, digital center, and digital leaders. Most first-year students fell
into the digital center category, while a smaller proportion were identified as digital laggards or leaders. These groups differed in
terms of their device ownership, digital skills, and usage of digital applications.
Keywords: digitization, digitalization, index, study beginners, competencies, digital skills, Austria
1. Introduction
For 16 years, annually we have asked students at the beginning of their studies about their equipment and activities
regarding IT at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz). We have described the developments and changes in
several research papers (Nagler & Ebner, 2009; Ebner & Nagler, 2010; Ebner et al., 2011; Ebner et al., 2012; Ebner
et al., 2013; Ebner et al., 2014; Nagler et al., 2015; Nagler et al., 2016; Nagler et al., 2017; Nagler et al., 2018;
Nagler et al., 2019; Nagler et al., 2021; Nagler et al., 2022) . We are using the insights to be well prepared and give
appropriate e-learning support to our new students. However, we did not directly address digital skills as a key
requirement for future academic success.
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Finally published in: Mair, B., Martin, E., Edelsbrunner, S.,
Nagler, W. & Schön, S. (2023). Examining the Digitization Level
of First-Year Students at Graz University of Technology
(Austria): Insights from a Digitization Index. In T. Bastiaens
(Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp.
1128-1136). Vienna, Austria: Association for the Advancement
of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved July 14, 2023 from
https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/222629/ .

But how digital are the first-year students at TU Graz really? Digitization has penetrated almost all areas of our lives
and, accordingly, attempts are being made to measure the progress of digitization in certain areas (e.g. Edelsbrunner
et al. 2022). Given the complexity of this phenomenon, this is not an easy undertaking. While measuring the degree
of digitization, it is important not only to measure it based on individual dimensions such as the use of digital
applications, but to include various aspects.
2. Methodology: Construction of a digitization index
In this paper, an attempt is made to measure the degree of digitization of first-year students at TU Graz using an
index that is intended to depict a development over time in the long term and can be used for comparisons. The
digitization index is constructed based on the German D21-Digital-Index (Initiative D21 2022) and the Austrian
DiKoS study (Janschitz et al., 2021). Both studies measure the degree of digitization of individuals. Since 2013, the
D21-Digital-Index study has provided an annual snapshot of the digital society in Germany. It is based on a
representative sample of the German-speaking population aged 14 and over in private households. The DiKoS study,
on the other hand, refers to first-year students at the 9 Styrian universities in the winter semester 2019/2020 and
represents a full survey (response rate: 80%). In both studies, the degree of digitization is measured in the form of an
index based on 4 dimensions, which are included in the index formation with varying degrees of weighting (see
Figure 1).
Figure 1: Dimensions of the DiKos-Index (left) and the D21-Digital-Index1 (right)
The data basis for the index formation of this paper is an annual survey conducted at the Welcome Days of TU Graz
(n=1,089), which is aimed, among other things, at surveying the digital equipment and competencies of first-year
students. The digitization index is based on three dimensions, one of which is divided into two sub-dimensions (see
Figure 2).
Figure 2: Dimensions of the TU Graz digitization index and their weightings2
1 The D21-Digital-Index is adjusted annually. For example, the weightings of the 4 dimensions were adjusted in the
2022/23 report (formerly: access - 30 points, competency - 40 points, openness - 20 points, usage - 10 points).
2 At this point, it must be noted that the inclusion of an attitude dimension, as in the index of the DiKoS study and
the D21-Digital-Index, would certainly have made sense, but due to methodological circumstances it is not
considered in the present index, since the questionnaire only asked about the specific attitude toward digital teaching
and not a general attitude toward digitization.
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The first dimension refers to the students' IT equipment and corresponds to the dimension of access from the two
studies presented above. The second dimension is based on a battery of items from the DiKoS study, which refers to
a self-assessment of one's own digital skills. The third dimension describes the extent of usage of a variety of digital
applications and is divided equally between general use and use for learning purposes. The use for learning was
deliberately included in the index because the population described is students whose daily lives are typically shaped
by a learning context.
The individual dimensions are each measured by an index consisting of various items from the Welcome
Days questionnaire (see Figure 3). Subsequently, as in the DiKoS study and the D21 study, these sub-indices are
given different weightings in the construction of the overall digitization index. The three dimensions are included in
the index construction with approximately the same weight. Nevertheless, usage with the two sub-dimensions
"general" and "learning" has been given a slightly higher weighting than the two dimensions of self-assessment of
competence and equipment with IT devices. On the one hand, this is because usage consists of two sub-dimensions,
and on the other hand, the study authors consider the actual use of digital applications to be the strongest indicator of
the degree of digitization.
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Figure 3: Indicators and measurement of the 4 dimensions
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3. Level of digitization of first-year students at TU Graz
The digitization index measures the degree of digitization of first-year students on a scale from 0 to 100 points, with
high values indicating a high degree of digitization and low values indicating a low degree of digitization. On
average, first-year students at TU Graz in the winter term of 2022/2023 have a digitization level of 39.60 (see Table
1).
Table 1: Descriptive of the digitization index (n=1,029) of TU Graz in winter term 2022/2023
Mean 39.60
Std. Error 0.273
Std. Deviation 8.769
Minimum 9.15
Median 39.76
Maximum 75.75
The minimum value achieved on the spectrum of the digitization index is 9.15 points. The maximum value
is 75.75 points. This shows a broad range of the degree of digitization among first-year students at TU Graz, which
indicates that first-year students can by no means be regarded as a homogeneous group in terms of their level of
digitization. There sometimes seem to be major differences in terms of technical equipment, self-assessment of
competence and use of digital applications.
Figure 4: Mean values of the digitization index of specific groups of first-year students of TU Graz in winter
term 2022/2023
If we look at Figure 4 above, we can see that there are some differences in the degree of digitization among specific
groups of students (measured by the mean of the distributions). Female students have a slightly lower average level
of digitization than other students. Students under 20 and those 25 and older have a slightly lower average score than
the age group in between. Regarding the field of study, first-year students from the fields of computer science and
electrical engineering have a noticeably higher degree of digitization than students from other fields of study. In
particular, students in the subjects in natural sciences and mathematics have a comparatively low average level of
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digitization. In addition, students who attended a grammar school before entering university are less digitized than
first-year students who attended a higher vocational school or a secondary technical school.
Figure 5 shows the distribution of the digitization index of all respondents on the possible scale from 0 to 100 in the
form of a histogram. As can be seen in the figure, for further analysis, we divided students into three groups:
·digital laggards: 0 to 30.83 points (16.52% of the first-year students)
·digital center: 30.84 to 48.36 points (67.44% of the first-year students)
·digital leaders: 48.37 to 100 points (16.03% of the first-year students)
This grouping is based on statistical parameters according to the DiKoS study. The middle group “digital center”
comprises all persons within a range plus/minus one standard deviation around the mean value. All persons with a
lower value belong to the group of digital laggards, all persons with a higher value belong to the group of digital
leaders. In our sample, about 67% belong to the digital centre, while 17% can be considered as laggards and 16% as
leaders.
Figure 5: Histogram of the digitization index of first-years students of TU Graz in winter term 2022/2023 and
separation in three different groups
The following Figure 6 shows the average values of the 4 dimensions on which the index formation was based for
the 3 different groups. Laggards own fewer devices, have fewer digital skills, and use fewer digital apps (in general
as well as for learning) than the digital center. Leaders, on the other hand, show a higher average score in all areas.
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Figure 6: Characteristics of digital aspects of digital laggards, digital center, and digital leaders amongst first-
year students of TU Graz in winter term 2022/2023
Measured by group means, first-year students in natural sciences, people aged 25 and older, grammar school
graduates, and women had the lowest scores on the digitization index. If we now look at these variables using the
categories digital laggards, digital center and digital leaders, a similar picture emerges. Figure 7 shows that,
compared to the average of the entire sample (16.5%), the group of over 24-year-olds includes many digital laggards
(about 30%). This is also the case for natural science and math students and for grammar school graduates, albeit in
weakened form. In terms of gender, there are roughly equal numbers of digital laggards among men and women,
although there are more digital centers among women and more digital leaders among men. Digital leaders are also
found to an above-average extent among 20- to 24-year-olds, first-year students in computer science and electrical
engineering, and secondary technical school graduates.
Figure 7: Gender, age, and disciplines of digital laggards, digital center, and digital leaders amongst first-year
students of TU Graz in winter term 2022/2023
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4. Discussion
The findings of this study highlight the heterogeneity in the digitization levels among first-year students at TU Graz
and provide valuable insights for designing targeted interventions and support mechanisms to enhance digital skills
and competencies among students. The digitization index might therefore be used as a useful tool for assessing and
comparing the degree of digitization over time and across different populations.
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