The Transformation of Accounting Information Systems Curriculum in the Last Decade

Accounting information systems (AIS) are an extremely important component of accounting and accounting education. The purpose of the current study is to examine the transformation of accounting information systems (AIS) curriculum in the last decade. The motivation for this research comes from the vast advances made in the world of information technology (IT) and information systems (IS). The specific research questions addressed in the current study are: (1) how has AIS curriculum changed in the 18 years since SOX? (2) How has AIS curriculum adjusted in recent years with the emergence of the new hot-button topic big data/data analytics? Overall, this study finds that the core of AIS curriculum has not significantly changed over the last decade. However, more emphasis is being placed on topics such as enterprise wide systems/ERP, IT audits, computer fraud, and transaction-processing. Related, several new topical coverages have been introduced such as business analysts and big data/data analytics. The key contribution of this paper is to provide accounting students and accounting educators with useful information regarding the most significant shifts in AIS over the last decade and insight into the most valuable current AIS topics

Information Systems Undergraduate Degree Project: Gaining a Better Understanding of the Final Year Project Module

The place of an individual project in the final year of Information Systems (IS) undergraduate degrees at UK universities is well established. In this paper we compare the final year project modules at four UK universities: the University of Brighton, the University of South Wales, University of West London and the University of Westminster. We find that the aims of the projects are similar, emphasising the application of the knowledge and skills from the taught element of their course in a complex development project, often including interactions with a real client. Although we show in this analysis that projects serve a similar purpose in the IS degree courses, the associated learning outcomes and the assessment practice varies across the institutions. We identify some gaps in the skills and abilities that are not being assessed. In further work we are planning to consult final year students undertaking their projects and their supervisors, in order to gain an understanding of how project assessment criteria are actually put to use

A systematic literature review of capstone courses in software engineering

Context: Tertiary education institutions aim to prepare their computer science and software engineering students for working life. While much of the technical principles are covered in lower-level courses, team-based capstone courses are a common way to provide students with hands-on experience and teach soft skills. Objective: This paper explores the characteristics of project-based software engineering capstone courses presented in the literature. The goal of this work is to understand the pros and cons of different approaches by synthesising the various aspects of software engineering capstone courses and related experiences. Method: In a systematic literature review for 2007–2022, we identified 127 articles describing real-world capstone courses. These articles were analysed based on their presented course characteristics and the reported course outcomes. Results: The characteristics were synthesised into a taxonomy consisting of duration, team sizes, client and project sources, project implementation, and student assessment. We found out that capstone courses generally last one semester and divide students into groups of 4–5 where they work on a project for a client. For a slight majority of courses, the clients are external to the course staff and students are often expected to produce a proof-of-concept level software product as the main end deliverable. The courses generally include various forms of student assessment both during and at the end of the course. Conclusions: This paper provides researchers and educators with a classification of characteristics of software engineering capstone courses based on previous research. We also further synthesise insights on the reported course outcomes. Our review study aims to help educators to identify various ways of organising capstones and effectively plan and deliver their own capstone courses. The characterisation also helps researchers to conduct further studies on software engineering capstones.Context: Tertiary education institutions aim to prepare their computer science and software engineering students for working life. While much of the technical principles are covered in lower-level courses, team-based capstone courses are a common way to provide students with hands-on experience and teach soft skills. Objective: This paper explores the characteristics of project-based software engineering capstone courses presented in the literature. The goal of this work is to understand the pros and cons of different approaches by synthesising the various aspects of software engineering capstone courses and related experiences. Method: In a systematic literature review for 2007–2022, we identified 127 articles describing real-world capstone courses. These articles were analysed based on their presented course characteristics and the reported course outcomes. Results: The characteristics were synthesised into a taxonomy consisting of duration, team sizes, client and project sources, project implementation, and student assessment. We found out that capstone courses generally last one semester and divide students into groups of 4–5 where they work on a project for a client. For a slight majority of courses, the clients are external to the course staff and students are often expected to produce a proof-of-concept level software product as the main end deliverable. The courses generally include various forms of student assessment both during and at the end of the course. Conclusions: This paper provides researchers and educators with a classification of characteristics of software engineering capstone courses based on previous research. We also further synthesise insights on the reported course outcomes. Our review study aims to help educators to identify various ways of organising capstones and effectively plan and deliver their own capstone courses. The characterisation also helps researchers to conduct further studies on software engineering capstones.Peer reviewe

Two Different Approaches To Successful Capstones

Many universities offer capstone projects as an integrating, experiential learning device for diverse theories that students might otherwise not be able to practice. This research describes two variations on capstones as exemplifying the diversity of such courses. This research develops a conceptual mapping of types of capstones, discussing two variations in real-world capstones in depth. The risks and oversight requirements of professors for the two variants differ considerably. Prescriptions for managing the risks with each type of project are offered

Opiskelijoiden valmistaminen työelämään yliopiston sisäisen ohjelmisto-startupin avulla

Tertiary education aims to prepare computer science students for the working life. While much of the technical principles are covered in lower-level courses, team-based capstone projects are a common way to provide students hands-on experience and teach soft skills. Although such courses help students to gain some of the relevant skills, it is difficult to simulate in a course context what work in a professional software engineering team really is about. Our goal is to understand ways tertiary education institutions prepare students for the working life in software engineering. Firstly, we do this by focusing on the mechanisms that software engineering capstones use to simulate work-life. A literature review of 85 primary studies was conducted for this overview. Secondly, we present a more novel way of teaching industry-relevant skills in an university-lead internal software startup. A case study of such a startup, Software Development Academy (SDA), is presented, along with the experiences of both students and faculty involved in it. Finally, we look into how these approaches might differ. Results indicate that capstone courses differ greatly in ways they are organized. Most often students are divided in teams of 4–6 and get assigned with software projects that the teams then develop from an idea to a robust proof-of-concept. In contrast, students employed in the SDA develop production-level software in exchange for a salary for university clients. Students regarded SDA as a highly relevant and fairly irreplaceable educational experience. Working with production-quality software and having a wide range of responsibilities was perceived integral in giving a thorough skill set for the future. In conclusion, capstones and the internal startup both aim to prepare students for the work-life in software engineering. Capstones do it by simulating professional software engineering in a one-semester experience in a course environment. The internal startup adds a touch of realism to this by being actual work in a relatively safe university context

Capstone Revival

The capstone project is a culminating experience whereby students choose to research a topic that is relevant in their field of study and have been highly regarded as important learning activities. The capstone allows students to use research, analytical, problem solving and evaluation skills they have learned in the course of the graduate program. McGill indicates the benefit of the completion of a capstone project not only in gaining knowledge in capstone but also in learning how to apply the knowledge gained in other courses in the major (McGill, 2012). Currently, COPACE (College of Professional and Continuing Education) has three separate capstone programs – one each for MPA, MSPC, and MSIT. The goal of this study is to evaluate our existing capstones at COPACE and identify the components of a quality capstone program to benefit future capstones. This study will also determine whether integrating these three separate capstones programs into a single standard capstone is more beneficial than the current model. We will also show how to improve the existing capstones programs. The methods used in this study are: survey, broad research on other universities and analysis of 44 COPACE capstones. The target populations of the survey are COPACE graduate students graduated from 2013 to 2014. An anonymous questionnaire was sent by email to approximately 120 Clark students. The survey results are interpreted with suggestions for achieving more consistency in capstones

Early Introduction of Computer Science Education in Minority Youth: A New Representation of Tomorrow\u27s Engineers?

Computer Science (CS) has a large underrepresentation of females and racial minority (Hispanic and African American) populations in today’s education intuitions and workforce. Public health workers and companies have reviewed the consequences of this underrepresentation. Although a promise to incorporate more STEM education in schools the large gap is still prevalent. The Google Code Corps (GCC) is a partnership between The Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), AmeriCorps, and Google with a symbiotic goal to impact minorities and low-socioeconomic (SES) communities through education, mentoring, and capacity building. GCC project aims to empower BGC members by developing a successful and sustainable CS program. The completion of GCC year-one findings resulted in more ethnic minorities partaking CS classes and an overall increase in CS concepts. In summary, 44% of BGCSV participants were female and 70% were ethnic minorities. Students who partook in classes felt they could have a career in computer science. Furthermore, staff demonstrated a feeling that CS First was an easy and well-structured program. Multiple internal and external factors including allostatic load and a leaky pipeline contribute to a large underrepresentation of minorities in CS. Implementing CS education early and through multiple layers of the Social Ecological Model (SEM) shows promise for an increased interest. Programs like the GCC can create long-term improvements and set up student success through capacity building activities. However, proper mentorship and continuing assessments and motivating are necessary for overall program success and creating a sustainable impact on both minorities and the CS workforce

Code camps and hackathons in education - literature review and lessons learned

Motivation: Code camps and hackathons been used in education for almost two decades. These approaches are usually intensive and for most times quite practical events for solving some real-world problems with various educational objectives. The objectives and structures of these events differ depending on the role of the event in curricula. Problem statement: Both code camps and hackathons been implemented in various ways, with varying success levels. As expected the implementation of the event varies considerably depending on the objectives set for the event, but that then leads to the difficulty and problem setting to understand what organizing of these events actually mean. For educational context, curricula have also its role in defining the targeted skills and competencies the events has to consider too. Approach: We applied a systematic literature review (SLR) to look at the various definitions and modes of these events. Whether it is called “code camp”, or “hackathon”, or anything else with the same basic meaning, we want to find out what skills and competencies these events emphasize, how they are used in Computer Science (CS) and Software Engineering (SE) education and what are the general structures of the actual arranged events. Contribution: It is aim of this SLR to i) identify various possible ways of implementing these intensive events, and ii) reflect the results to the lessons we have learned of almost two decades of various intensive code camps and hackathons we have been organizing building and participating into. Based on the results, we claim that there is tremendous potential of using these events in education and in the curriculum than how it has been applied so far

Mapping and Making Meaning from Undergraduate Student Engagement in High-Impact Educational Practices

Institutions of higher education often have multiple entry points for first-time and transfer college students to engage in high-impact educational practices (HIPs), well documented to advance student learning outcomes. Some students may seek out repeated opportunities while others engage very little or not at all in activities such as student-faculty research, study abroad, internships, first-year cohort programs, service-learning, and the like. When institutions maintain decentralized data and records on students’ participation, obtaining a true understanding of the who, what, when, and where of HIPs can be difficult. In this paper, we present an institutional strategy for longitudinal collection of data for nearly 5,000 entering students across six years and nine different categories of HIPs, and we discuss the opportunities and implications of performing such a study. Additionally, we provide examples of how disaggregation of student data is crucial for using the results to improve curriculum and resource alignment for institutional research and institutional change purposes, supporting the goal of inclusive and equitable college engagement portfolios for all students

Obstacles in Learning Algorithm Run-time Complexity Analysis

Algorithm run-time complexity analysis is an important topic in data structures and algorithms courses, but it is also a topic that many students struggle with. Commonly cited difficulties include the necessary mathematical background knowledge, the abstract nature of the topic, and the presentation style of the material. Analyzing the subject of algorithm analysis using multiple learning theories shows that course materials often leave out key steps in the learning process and neglect certain learning styles. Students can be more successful at learning algorithm run-time complexity analysis if these missing stages and learning styles are addressed