A study analyzing the digital writing perception of university students

Objectives The purpose of this study was to analyze university students' perception of digital writing by gender and major, and also to analyze the factors that influence these differences on digital writing performance. Methods A digital writing recognition survey (9 sub-components, 20 questions) was conducted for 379 first-year students at a university in Busan. Independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, correlation analysis, simple linear regression, and multiple regression analysis using SPSS 25.0 version was performed. Results First, in descriptive statistics, the average score of digital writing value and writing anxiety was the highest. Second, as for the gender difference in digital writing recognition, only digital writing anxiety was statistically significant, and the average score of female students was higher than male students. Third, when analyzing the difference in the series of digital writing recognition by item, digital writing performance and digital writing recognition showed statistically significant results, and the average score of humanities and social sciences was higher than that of natural sciences and engineering. Finally, as a result of analyzing the factors affecting digital writing performance, it was found in the order of digital writing efficacy, reader consideration, digital writing value, and digital writing ethics. Conclusions In this study, it was emphasized that it should be considered that there is a difference from traditional writing as the literacy environment changes due to the influence of digital devices and technology. The implications of digital writing education were presented through the analysis of characteristics and perceptions of digital writing. Through the results of this study, it was confirmed that digital writing ethics education for university students is necessary and that it is necessary to strengthen writing performance and writing awareness among science and engineering college students. The biggest influence on digital writing performance was digital writing efficacy, which was consistent with the results of previous studies.