Multinational perspectives on information technology from academia and industry

As the term \u27information technology\u27 has many meanings for various stakeholders and continues to evolve, this work presents a comprehensive approach for developing curriculum guidelines for rigorous, high quality, bachelor\u27s degree programs in information technology (IT) to prepare successful graduates for a future global technological society. The aim is to address three research questions in the context of IT concerning (1) the educational frameworks relevant for academics and students of IT, (2) the pathways into IT programs, and (3) graduates\u27 preparation for meeting future technologies. The analysis of current trends comes from survey data of IT faculty members and professional IT industry leaders. With these analyses, the IT Model Curricula of CC2005, IT2008, IT2017, extensive literature review, and the multinational insights of the authors into the status of IT, this paper presents a comprehensive overview and discussion of future directions of global IT education toward 2025

IT2017 Report: Implementing A Competency-Based Information Technology Program (Panel)

ACMand IEEE have developed a computing curriculum report titled Information Technology Curricular 2017: Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Information Technology, also known as IT2017 [4]. The development of this report has received content contributions from industry and academia through surveys as well as many international conferences and workshops. Open online publication of the report became available in fall of 2017. In this special session, �ve members of the IT2017 executive committee will present a digest of the content of the report, describe the proposed IT curricular framework, and facilitate open and vigorous discussion of the report\u27s guidelines for developing new information technology programs or enhancing existing ones. The novelty of the report is its focus on industry-informed competencies that IT graduates should have to meet the growing demands of a changing technological world in the next decade. The experience should provide a better understanding of IT in a modern age

Assessing collaborative and experiential learning

Collaborative and experiential learning has many proven merits. Team projects with real clients motivate students to put in the time for successfully completing demanding projects. However, assessing student performance where individual student contributions are separated from the collective contribution of the team as a whole is not a straightforward, simple task. Assessment data from multiple sources, including students as assessors of their own work and peers\u27 work, is critical to measuring certain student learning outcomes, such as responsible team work and timely communication. In this paper we present our experience with assessing collaborative and experiential learning in five Computer Information Systems courses. The courses were scheduled over three semesters and enrolled 57 students. Student performance and student feedback data were used to evaluate and refine our assessment methodology. We argue that assessment data analysis improved our understanding of (1) the assessment measures that support more closely targeted learning outcomes and (2) how those measures should be implemented

Educational Approach to Cyber Foundations in an Undergraduate Core Program

Maximizing a student\u27s learning in a general education information technology course is critical when teachers have only a little time to cover numerous topics within the discipline. It is therefore paramount that programs utilize the most effective pedagogical approach to educating students on these topics. This allows teachers to take full advantage of this limited time per topic. The principal contribution of this paper is a statistical analysis of student performance in an intermediate-level information technology course when exposed to two popular methods of teaching information technology concepts. This course is part of the larger cyber education model at the United States Military Academy. Our study implemented and analyzed the results from a control group educated with systematic, skills-based instruction versus a treatment group where a problem-centered learning approach was utilized. Our experimental results provide statistically significant reinforcement of the idea that problem-centered learning is superior to skills-based instruction for educating students in information technology topics as a part of their cyber education

A Competency-based Approach toward Curricular Guidelines for Information Technology Education

The Association for Computing Machinery and the IEEE Computer Society have launched a new report titled, Curriculum Guidelines for Baccalaureate Degree Programs in Information Technology (IT2017). This paper discusses significant aspects of the IT2017 report and focuses on competency-driven learning rather than delivery of knowledge in information technology (IT) programs. It also highlights an IT curricular framework that meets the growing demands of a changing technological world in the next decade. Specifically, the paper outlines ways by which baccalaureate IT programs might implement the IT curricular framework and prepare students with knowledge, skills, and dispositions to equip graduates with competencies that matter in the workplace. The paper suggests that a focus on competencies allows academic departments to forge collaborations with employers and engage students in professional practice experiences. It also shows how professionals and educators might use the report in reviewing, updating, and creating baccalaureate IT degree programs worldwide

Integrating Data Science into a General Education Information Technology Course: An Approach to Developing Data Savvy Undergraduates

The National Academies recommend academic institutions foster a basic understanding of data science in all undergraduates. However, data science education is not currently a graduation requirement at most colleges and universities. As a result, many graduates lack even basic knowledge of data science. To address the shortfall, academic institutions should incorporate introductory data science into general education courses. A general education IT course provides a unique opportunity to integrate data science education. Modules covering databases, spreadsheets, and presentation software, already present in many survey IT courses, teach concepts and skills needed for data science. As a result, a survey IT course can provide comprehensive introductory data science education by adding a data science module focused on modeling and evaluation, two key steps in the data science process. The module should use data science software for application, avoiding the complexities of programming and advanced math, while enabling an emphasis on conceptual understanding. We implemented a course built around these ideas and found that the course helps develop data savvy in students