The Information Technology Model Curriculum

Abstract

The last twenty years has seen the development of demand for a new type of computing professional, which has resulted in the emergence of the academic discipline of Information Technology (IT). Numerous colleges and universities across the country and abroad have responded by developing programs without the advantage of an existing model for guidance. Efforts to define a model curriculum for IT began at the first Conference on Information Technology curriculum (CITC-1) in December 2001, which included representatives from 15 IT programs at four-year universities across the United States. Membership in SIGITE (Special Interest Group Information Technology Education) has grown to over 400 representing many of the four-year IT programs in the United States and abroad and some of the two-year IT programs in the United States. Continued development of the curriculum and subsequent funding by the Education Board of ACM enabled the completion of a first draft of the model curriculum for IT establishing program outcomes and a body of knowledge defining the discipline. This paper presents an overview of the process followed and the results achieved.

The Structure of the Information Technology Profession: A Comparison Among Organizational Sectors in Thailand

“…McAdams, 2007;Winley et al, 2007;Catanio, 2005;Meredith, 2005;Westervelt, 2005. Design Skills: Bullen et al, 2007;Glenn and Gordon, 2007;McAdams, 2007;Aasheim et al, 2006;Australian Government, 2006;Ekstrom et al, 2006;Kamali et al, 2006;Bell and Caldwell, 2005;Catanio, 2005;Meredith, 2005;Morello, 2005;Steenstrup et al, 2005;Westervelt, 2005. Tools and Techniques : Catanio, 2005;Morello, 2005;Westervelt, 2005.…”

“…Tools and Techniques : Catanio, 2005;Morello, 2005;Westervelt, 2005. Architecture: Wongwuttiwat et al, 2008 ;Bullen et al, 2007;Ekstrom et al, 2006;Catanio, 2005. Applications: Glenn and Gordon, 2007;Winley et al, 2007;Australian Government, 2006;Ekstrom et al, 2006.…”

“…Architecture: Wongwuttiwat et al, 2008 ;Bullen et al, 2007;Ekstrom et al, 2006;Catanio, 2005. Applications: Glenn and Gordon, 2007;Winley et al, 2007;Australian Government, 2006;Ekstrom et al, 2006. Data Management Systems: Bullen et al, 2007;Aasheim et al, 2006;Ekstrom et al, 2006;Catanio, 2005.…”

On the necessity of removing "cruelty" from the teaching of computing

“…The reducing centrality of programming in the computing curriculum is something that we now somehow need to adjust to, a concern also voiced recently by Denning & McGettrick [2], whose response is a much broader hybrid curriculum incorporating applications and centred around a theme of innovation. On a more specific front, the growth of the socalled "Information Technology" discipline and accompanying curriculum [3] evidences an increasing need to focus on the design, management and support of IT infrastructure, and like it or not this will provide the future careers for many of our graduates. Is it fair to provide a curriculum geared primarily to producing researchers and scientists, ("the small elite cadre of theoreticians" in Terry Winograd's critique of [1]), when graduates will mostly assume rather more prosaic roles in support of a burgeoning range of discipline sub-specialties, application domains and related career options.…”

“…Will they gain any credit for their studies to date? I ask this question because ACM's IT curriculum [3] makes very little reference to this prior ACM sponsored effort, and it is unclear to me how two year college students would progress through a CS or IT curriculum based upon a prior networked environment course of study. The issue is relevant far beyond the US of course.…”