Case study - improving teaching and learning effectiveness of computer science courses

This paper summarizes our experience teaching several courses at Metropolitan College of Boston University Computer Science department over five years. A number of innovative teaching techniques are presented in this paper. We specifically address the role of a project archive, when designing a course. This research paper explores survey results from every running of courses, from 2014 to 2019. During each class, students participated in two distinct surveys: first, dealing with key learning outcomes, and, second, with teaching techniques used. This paper makes several practical recommendations based on the analysis of collected data. The research validates the value of a sound repository of technical term projects and the role such repository plays in effective teaching and learning of computer science courses.Accepted manuscrip

Addressing challenges to teach traditional and agile project management in academia

In order to prepare students for a professional IT career, most universities attempt to provide a current educational curriculum in the Project Management (PM) area to their students. This is usually based on the most promising methodologies used by the software industry. As instructors, we need to balance traditional methodologies focused on proven project planning and control processes leveraging widely accepted methods and tools along with the newer agile methodologies. Such new frameworks emphasize that software delivery should be done in a flexible and iterative manner and with significant collaboration with product owners and customers. In our experience agile methodologies have witnessed an exponential growth in many diverse software organizations, and the various agile PM tools and techniques will continue to see an increase in adoption in the software development sector. Reflecting on these changes, there is a critical need to accommodate best practices and current methodologies in our courses that deliver Project Management content. In this paper we analyse two of the most widely used methodologies for traditional and agile software development – the widely used ISO/PMBOK standard provided by the Project Management Institute and the well-accepted Scrum framework. We discuss how to overcome curriculum challenges and deliver a quality undergraduate PM course for a Computer Science and Information systems curricula. Based on our teaching experience in Europe and North America, we present a comprehensive comparison of the two approaches. Our research covers the main concepts, processes, and roles associated with the two PM frameworks and recommended learning outcomes. The paper should be of value to instructors who are keen to see their computing students graduate with a sound understanding of current PM methodologies and who can deliver real-world software products.Accepted manuscrip

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

Enhancing project-related behavioral competence in education

The workforce has increasingly been demanding an educational model that produces students experienced in real project management (PM) practices. This includes producing technically competent students--one who can manage real-world project constraints of cost and schedule but also possess critical project related behavioral competence. Such soft skills are essential if a project is to run smoothly and eventually succeed. In this paper, we describe an educational framework grounded in outcomes based education to enhance project-related behavioral competence. Instructors can leverage this framework to augment their existing courses and develop the critical career skill sets of graduating students

Is project management the new management 2.0?

This paper considers the evolving nature of project management (PM) and offers a comparison with the evolving nature of management generally. Specifically, we identify a number of management trends that are drawn from a paper that documents a proposed ‘Management 2.0’ model, and we compare those trends to the way in which PM is maturing to embrace the challenges of modern organizational progress.Some theoretical frameworks are offered that assist in explaining the shift from the historically accepted ‘tools and techniques’ model to a more nuanced and behaviorally driven paradigm that is arguably more appropriate to manage change in today’s flexible and progressive organizations, and which provide a more coherent response, both in PM and traditional management, to McDonald’s forces. In addition, we offer a number of examples to robustly support our assertions, based around the development of innovative products from Apple Inc. In using this metaphor to demonstrate the evolution of project-based work, we link PM with innovation and new product development.

New curriculum on managing projects: Responding to 21st century workforce needs

Academics in many disciplines are effectively practicing experiential education to engage students using a project-oriented curriculum. The experience gained from working with projects is helpful from a career perspective as well since projects are increasingly viewed as a mechanism to implement organizational strategy and to manage organizational change. Employers today are seeking competent team members and individuals who understand the art and science of leading and managing projects. Business schools can enrich their curriculum with learning outcomes that can address this growing demand from project-oriented organizations for a “project-ready” pool of job applicants. To facilitate course design of a “project-oriented” curriculum, the newly released undergraduate project management curriculum guidelines can be leveraged. In this paper we describe the architecture of the curriculum guidelines and illustrate how business faculty can enhance their courses with project management (PM) principles and concepts

Proceeding of the 2017 IRNOP Research Conference: The Modern Project -- Mindsets, Toolsets, and Theoretical Frameworks

IRNOP 2017 highlights the theme of modern project. The proceedings consists of refereed papers by scholars from a diverse background in business, economics, engineering and other fields, with a common interest in projects, project organizations and temporary systems.Published versio

Trends & Themes that will dominate in ITPM Education through 2020 (SIGITProjMgmt)

Project management will continue to be the most important skill that employers will be seeking across industries through 2020 after application development. Our panel will discuss the following trends in IT Project Management education that educators need to be aware of a) Agile SW development and agile PM continuing to trend upwards, b) mobile and smart device usage gaining ground, c) information security and cyberattacks dominating the conversation and the impact on project managers leading software development, and finally, d) formal PM education of technical and behavioral competencies. We will invite discussions on the above issues and provide insights on how to address the issues and adapt them in our curriculum

Geographically weighted regression in the analysis of the development of information and communication technology in Indonesia

The main purpose of this paper was to analyze the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Indonesia with Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) to enable the identification of the variability of regression coefficients in the geographical. The study has been conducted using the statistical data for 33 provinces in Indonesia. There were 3 independent variables defined during this study as factors that influence the development of ICT in Indonesia: location, economic prosperity, and education, and internet users in Indonesia has been defined as dependent variable. The result of this research shown the highly correlation between those three independent variables toward defined dependent variable shown by the value of R square of 0.7310782 which means the dependent variable can be well explained by independent variables.Accepted manuscrip