CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT- A CASE STUDY AT SEFAKO MAKGATHO HEALTH SCIENCES UNIVERSITY

Abstract

Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) is a health dominated university campus in Gauteng Province, South Africa, established in 2015. The School of Science and Technology (SST) is the only school (out of five) that offers non-health study programmes. The SST offers Computer Science (CS) among its subjects in the Bachelor of Science (BSc) Mathematical Sciences stream. The Department of CS (DCS) has applied to adapt and extend its curriculum to offer more courses and programmes. This adaptation is expected to include a BSc CS and Information Technology (IT) stream. However, the discipline of CS and IT is ever-changing. Thus, SMU finds itself in a daunting position to have a CS curriculum (CSC), which is relevant to the current needs of the discipline and industry. In the 2017 round of BSc curriculum review at SMU, a CSC review was recommended. The review process requires the involvement of the faculty and a number of stakeholders to bring it to acceptance, accreditation and fruition. Several challenges have been encountered towards the realisation of the programme in CS and IT. This paper discusses the CSC development processes, the underpinning theories, guidelines which informed the review, as well as the challenges endured and prospects