Latin American perspectives to internationalize undergraduate information technology education

The computing education community expects modern curricular guidelines for information technology (IT) undergraduate degree programs by 2017. The authors of this work focus on eliciting and analyzing Latin American academic and industry perspectives on IT undergraduate education. The objective is to ensure that the IT curricular framework in the IT2017 report articulates the relationship between academic preparation and the work environment of IT graduates in light of current technological and educational trends in Latin America and elsewhere. Activities focus on soliciting and analyzing survey data collected from institutions and consortia in IT education and IT professional and educational societies in Latin America; these activities also include garnering the expertise of the authors. Findings show that IT degree programs are making progress in bridging the academic-industry gap, but more work remains

Communication and leadership skills in the Computer Science and Information Systems curricula: A case study comparison of US and Bulgarian programs

In this paper we present results from our curriculum research on the behavioral educational topics being in the computer science (CS) and information systems (IS) academic programs in two countries USA and Bulgaria. Specifically, we address learning outcomes as they pertain to IT Project Management. Our research reveals that the two countries approach undergraduate education from different vantage points. The US universities provide a flexible general education curriculum in many academic areas and students have the opportunity to strengthen their soft skills before they enter the workforce. Bulgarian universities provide specialized education in main CS subject areas and the students are technically strong upon graduation. Is there a way to balance out this divergent educational experience so that students get the best of both worlds? Our paper explores this aspect and provides possible solutions

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

Software Engineering for Millennials, by Millennials

Software engineers need to manage both technical and professional skills in order to be successful. Our university offers a 5.5 year program that mixes computer science, software and computer engineering, where the first two years are mostly math and physics courses. As such, our students' first real teamwork experience is during the introductory SE course, where they modify open source projects in groups of 6-8. However, students have problems working in such large teams, and feel that the course material and project are "disconnected". We decided to redesign this course in 2017, trying to achieve a balance between theory and practice, and technical and professional skills, with a maximum course workload of 150 hrs per semester. We share our experience in this paper, discussing the strategies we used to improve teamwork and help students learn new technologies in a more autonomous manner. We also discuss what we learned from the two times we taught the new course.Comment: 8 pages, 9 tables, 4 figures, Second International Workshop on Software Engineering Education for Millennial

Skills and Knowledge for Data-Intensive Environmental Research.

The scale and magnitude of complex and pressing environmental issues lend urgency to the need for integrative and reproducible analysis and synthesis, facilitated by data-intensive research approaches. However, the recent pace of technological change has been such that appropriate skills to accomplish data-intensive research are lacking among environmental scientists, who more than ever need greater access to training and mentorship in computational skills. Here, we provide a roadmap for raising data competencies of current and next-generation environmental researchers by describing the concepts and skills needed for effectively engaging with the heterogeneous, distributed, and rapidly growing volumes of available data. We articulate five key skills: (1) data management and processing, (2) analysis, (3) software skills for science, (4) visualization, and (5) communication methods for collaboration and dissemination. We provide an overview of the current suite of training initiatives available to environmental scientists and models for closing the skill-transfer gap

Integrating Security into the Undergraduate Software Engineering Curriculum

This research included a thorough examination of the existing software assurance or what is commonly called software security knowledge, methodologies and what information security technologies is currently being recommended by the information technology community. Finally it is demonstrated how this security knowledge could be incorporated into the curriculum for undergraduate software engineering

Secure Software Engineering Education: Knowledge Area, Curriculum and Resources

This paper reviews current efforts and resources in secure software engineering education, with the goal of providing guidance for educators to make use of these resources in developing secure software engineering curriculum. These resources include Common Body of Knowledge, reference curriculum, sample curriculum materials, hands-on exercises, and resources developed by industry and open source community. The relationship among the Common Body of Knowledge proposed by the Department of Homeland Security, the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, and ACM/IEEE are discussed. The recent practices on secure software engineering education, including secure software engineering related programs, courses, and course modules are reviewed. The course modules are categorized into four categories to facilitate the adoption of these course modules. Available hands-on exercises developed for teaching software security are described and mapped to the taxonomy of coding errors. The rich resources including various secure software development processes, methods and tools developed by industry and open source community are surveyed. A road map is provided to organize these resources and guide educators in adopting these resources and integrating them into their courses

Audience and Content Areas of Online Software Engineering Education and Training: A Systematic Review

Online courses and instruction are a popular and rapidly expanding medium for learning. However, no holistic summary exists which classifies who or what is being taught and how online courses are being researched in the field of software engineering education and training (SEET). More important, prior research does not cover what gaps exist in the literature: which areas of SEET being ignored altogether in research. This paper reports the results of a systematic review of the existing literature for online SEET and provides analysis of the audiences and content areas being researched. Grounded in established guidelines for systematic reviews in software engineering, the studies that are identified are then coded using three standards for software engineering education content areas. As a result of the systematic review, more than 9000 search results were analyzed. Inclusion and exclusion of studies in predetermined stages resulted in more than 30 studies being coded for audience and/or software engineering content areas. The result is a comprehensive picture of the current state of research in online SEET and an identification of the gaps to be addressed

Strengthening Undergraduate Information Systems Education in an Increasingly Complex Computing Disciplines Landscape

There are concerns that even at times when overall computing degree enrollments are increasing, IS bachelor’s degree programs and enrollments continue to decline. IS programs differ from other computing programs in that they include highly interrelated business and technology components. This inherent interdisciplinarity is the source of its value but also one of its challenges. This paper uses the Australian higher education sector as a case study to examine overall computing degree offerings including IS offerings using the ACM/AIS curriculum models and classification of computing disciplines. We find that IS program offerings are indeed trending down and that computing offerings are dominated by Computer Science and Information Technology degrees. IS is not widely present as a “base” discipline, nor is it providing a platform for the integration of new technologies, such as AI and Cyber Security into “business” settings. To strengthen UG IS programs and perceptions, we recommend that higher education providers develop structure and processes that support interdisciplinary UG IS program development and delivery and that professional bodies and curriculum models be revised to reflect and recognize the business outcome focus of IS. These actions, together with clearer messaging around the value of IS competencies, will improve the image of IS