Information Technology Disciplines Research Articles

Beyond the Model: Building an Effective and Dynamic IT Curriculum

Introduction Efforts to define an Information Technology (IT) discipline across educational institutions began in earnest in 2001, and included parallel work to develop both IT accreditation criteria and a model IT curriculum. The Special Interest Group for Information Technology Education (SIGITE) of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) formed a special committee to write a formal IT document in 2003. The latest version of their report describes a core curriculum, which was developed from the input of more than 30 educators and professionals representing numerous educational institutions and organizations (ACM/SIGITE Curriculum Committee, 2005). There is no doubt that the IT model document is a milestone in the continuing development of IT education. It is both a framework for development and a standard of excellence. A significant value of the model is that it provides an academically and professionally validated core body of educational content. The ACM Joint Task Force for Computing Curricula (2005) also prepared an informative overview report that differentiates the various computing curricula, including IT, computer science, and information systems. Both the IT document and the overview report are effective tools for educational institutions considering the establishment of an IT program. For existing programs, they provide practical value for self-assessment and validation activities, and for preparation for the accreditation process. However, a model such as that proposed by ACM/SIGITE is, by its nature, limited. As stated in the model document, the proposed body of knowledge does not by itself constitute a curriculum (ACM/SIGITE Curriculum Committee, 2005, p. 20). Regardless of its merit, the IT model is limited in its utility for developing a fully-functional, effective and dynamic curriculum. Although it presents examples of elective outcomes and suggests content and strategies for developing a curriculum, the model limits its scope to defining the core knowledge areas and knowledge units. This recommended core content constitutes less than 20% of the expected IT (ACM/SIGITE Curriculum Committee, 2005). A good strategy for building a complete, effective and dynamic is to use the model as a base and to build on it and customize it to adapt to the needs and requirements of a specific program. As described in the model, a complete must include additional educational components such as fundamental knowledge in math, science, and interpersonal skills. Most programs will develop courses in specialized IT areas as well, to offer students deeper knowledge in particular areas. Some programs will choose specific application domains (such as in a particular industry) and may include interdisciplinary coverage in their curricula. In addition to its intentional, limited scope, a second significant limitation of the model is that being a standard, it is generic. As noted in the model document, a program must adapt to its own needs, circumstances and characteristics--including factors such as its mission and goals; the skills and knowledge of incoming students; faculty and laboratory resources; and job placement. For example, by virtue of its mission and funding, a program may have a regional focus--that is, its reflects the needs of the surrounding community it directly serves. If there is a dominant technology, industry or employer, then it is appropriate to tailor a for that environment. Also, a program may elect to use the advantage of locally available faculty and professional expertise and other applicable resources to differentiate and distinguish its program. A third limitation, perhaps the most significant, is that a model is relatively static. That is, it is a snapshot of the needs and expectations of a particular time. …

Impact of the emerging discipline of information technology on computing curricula

Information technology (IT) has recently emerged as a separate academic discipline. The IT discipline is related to, but distinct from, computer science, information systems, and software engineeri...

Perceptions of the mutual obligations between employees and employers: a comparative study of new generation IT professionals in China and the United States

This study examines the psychological contract from the perspective of new IT recruits that are located in the US and China. Psychological contract emphasizes the mutual exchange between employees and employers. Three hundred and ninety-five questionnaire responses from the graduating classes in the information technology discipline in the US and China (Shanghai and Beijing) were analysed. The results of this exploratory study reveal that new IT recruits from China and the US hold many similar beliefs on employer–employee obligations, such as employers' obligations to provide high pay, job autonomy, long-term job security, financial reward for obtaining IT certificates, exciting projects and opportunities to work on leading-edge technology, and employees' obligations to work extra hours when needed, to be loyal and to volunteer to do non-required tasks. Cross-cultural differences do exist however. US IT recruits as a whole place greater emphasis than their Chinese counterparts on rapid career advancement, having a motivating boss and completion of assignments on time, but less emphasis than their Chinese counterparts on receiving project milestone bonuses. Findings also suggest that, although employees can be from the same overarching culture such as the Chinese culture that emphasizes collectivism, there exist strong subculture differences even within the same country. New IT recruits in Shanghai tend to have beliefs that are at times closer to the US IT professionals than to their fellow IT new recruits in Beijing. The differences across cultures and subcultures are more extensive among female than male IT new recruits.

The Influence of Role Models on Students' Entrepreneurial Intentions

The Smart State initiative requires both improved education and training, particularly in technical fields, plus entrepreneurship to commercialise new ideas. In this study, we propose an entrepreneurial intentions model as a guide to examine the educational choices and entrepreneurial intentions of first-year University students, focusing on the effect of role models. A survey of over 1000 first-year University students revealed that the most enterprising students were choosing to study in the disciplines of information technology and business, economics and law, or selecting dual degree programs that include business. The role models most often identified for their choice of field of study were parents, followed by teachers and peers, with females identifying more role models than males. For entrepreneurship, students' role models were parents and peers, followed by famous persons and teachers. Males and females identified similar numbers of role models, but males found starting a business more desirable and more feasible, and reported higher entrepreneurial intention. The implications of these findings for Smart State policy are discussed.

Distributed Publishing — Publishing to Multiple Devices from a Single Source

It is hypothesized that a solution to the apparent fragmentation of the publishing environment lies in an amalgamation of the disparate as well as the closed systems provided by systems proprietors, by creating an interface that allows for the relative differences between systems themselves. In this way a single document can be created and transformed for distribution to multiple sources without the need to rework the document content or structure. A model was developed called Distributed Publishing and defined as the processes (physical and logical), software and hardware, and various computer architectures that, when combined, allow a content creator to create a single document to be distributed over a range of output devices. Distributed Publishing is the merger of the disciplines of information technology (IT) and creative design.

Computerized information resources in toxicology and industrial health--a review.

The explosion in scientific information presents problems for toxicologists and industrial health specialists who need to respond rapidly and comprehensively to the information needs of the public, government and industry. The application of information technology enables large volumes of toxicology and industrial health information to be stored and retrieved through a variety of data-base resources. Three different categories of databases are described: dictionary, bibliographic and informational types. Examples of specific toxicology and industrial health databases within each category are given; their origin, style and content are reviewed. Specialists in the industrial health field are encouraged to improve their knowledge and literacy in the new disciplines of information technology and information science.