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

An information technology competency model and curriculum

This paper addresses the progress made by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS) in developing a competency model and curricular guidelines for four-year degree programs in information technology. The authors are members of an international task group representative of academic institutions, industry, and professional organizations. The task group is to develop a competency model, called IT2017, for information technology education within two years based on earlier guidelines and other perspectives. This paper provides a brief background of the project, some activities undertaken, the progress made, and expectations for future developments. IT2017 seeks to produce a futuristic model of academic excellence so information technology graduates will be prepared for new technological challenges in a global economy

AM with Multiple Merlins

We introduce and study a new model of interactive proofs: AM(k), or Arthur-Merlin with k non-communicating Merlins. Unlike with the better-known MIP, here the assumption is that each Merlin receives an independent random challenge from Arthur. One motivation for this model (which we explore in detail) comes from the close analogies between it and the quantum complexity class QMA(k), but the AM(k) model is also natural in its own right. We illustrate the power of multiple Merlins by giving an AM(2) protocol for 3SAT, in which the Merlins' challenges and responses consist of only n^{1/2+o(1)} bits each. Our protocol has the consequence that, assuming the Exponential Time Hypothesis (ETH), any algorithm for approximating a dense CSP with a polynomial-size alphabet must take n^{(log n)^{1-o(1)}} time. Algorithms nearly matching this lower bound are known, but their running times had never been previously explained. Brandao and Harrow have also recently used our 3SAT protocol to show quasipolynomial hardness for approximating the values of certain entangled games. In the other direction, we give a simple quasipolynomial-time approximation algorithm for free games, and use it to prove that, assuming the ETH, our 3SAT protocol is essentially optimal. More generally, we show that multiple Merlins never provide more than a polynomial advantage over one: that is, AM(k)=AM for all k=poly(n). The key to this result is a subsampling theorem for free games, which follows from powerful results by Alon et al. and Barak et al. on subsampling dense CSPs, and which says that the value of any free game can be closely approximated by the value of a logarithmic-sized random subgame.Comment: 48 page

An Overview of the New ACM/IEEE Information Technology Curricular Framework

ACM and IEEE have developed a curricular report titled, “Information Technology Curricula 2017: Curriculum Guidelines for Baccalaureate Degree Programs in Information Technology,” known also as IT2017. The development of this report has received worldwide content contributions from industry and academia through surveys as well as many international conferences and workshops. An open online publication of the report was made available in December 2017. This paper presents a digest of the content of the report, the IT curricular framework, and suggestions for its use in developing new information technology programs or enhancing existing ones. The heart of the IT curricular framework is a set of competencies identified through knowledge, skills, and dispositions, as supported by pedagogical research. The paper also describes ways in which institutions could use the curricular framework not only to develop information technology degree programs, but also to improve and enhance related computing programs

0-1 Integer Linear Programming with a Linear Number of Constraints

We give an exact algorithm for the 0-1 Integer Linear Programming problem with a linear number of constraints that improves over exhaustive search by an exponential factor. Specifically, our algorithm runs in time $2^{(1-\text{poly}(1/c))n}$ where n is the number of variables and cn is the number of constraints. The key idea for the algorithm is a reduction to the Vector Domination problem and a new algorithm for that subproblem