How academic majors in non-STEM affect digital literacy: the empirical study

Abstract

Digital literacy is important capacity for students’ learning in the world of rapid changes in technology. This article aimed to study digital literacy among non-STEM undergraduate students. The study covered the component of 4 skills, i.e., operation skills, thinking skills, collaborative skills, and awareness skills. The hypothesis set in the study was academic major in non-STEM has different digital literacy. When each component was separately studied, digital literacy among non-STEM students should be different as well. The participants in the study were 378 non-STEM undergraduate students of Prince of Songkla University, Surat Thani Campus. The research instrument was digital literacy measurement. Inferential statistics were used in the data analysis to compare two independent groups. The results support hypotheses that the sample in non-STEM undergraduate students with different academic majors had different levels of digital literacy. Students major in a language had higher mean scores than students major in management. When each component was separately studied, students with different academic majors had different levels of digital literacy in each component. Students major in language had higher mean scores than students major in management in all components. This article mentioned an important point about digital literacy of non-STEM undergraduate students so as to be a guideline for stakeholders to determine strategies, set policies and make plans to develop digital skills among non-STEM students, which is highly important to students in the era of rapid changing technology.