Identifying the accuracy of and exaggeration in self-reports of ICT knowledge among different groups of students: The use of the overclaiming technique

Abstract An inaccurate self-assessment might hinder the effectiveness of the self-management of one's learning, for example, people underestimating their knowledge might not utilize their capabilities. Inaccuracies in self-reported knowledge also hinder the comparability of the data across different respondents. The overclaiming technique (OCT) allows the identification of accuracy and exaggeration in self-reported knowledge and enhances the comparability of the data. Respondents are asked to evaluate their degree of familiarity with a series of items including both existing concepts from a specific field of knowledge and non-existing words. The technique has been used in various knowledge domains (e.g. mathematics) but no previous study has used the OCT in the domain of ICT knowledge on a large-scale sample. This study fills this gap. We created a set of existing ICT concepts and non-existing words. Using the set, we studied the differences in the accuracy and exaggeration of the ICT knowledge self-reports of Czech students at upper secondary schools, which have different emphases on ICT skills development (N = 1,871). ICT students report that they are more familiar than students from other school types with not only existing concepts but also non-existing words. Also, males claim more familiarity with both existing and non-existing concepts. Regards external validity, the OCT adjusted familiarity index corresponds more closely to the actual knowledge, as measured by an ICT achievement test, (r = 0.53) than the unadjusted familiarity index (r = 0.37). We show that the adjustment of student self-reports using the OCT offers promising results.