Australian Council of Deans of Information and Communications Technology Annual Council Meeting 23 and 24 July 2009 Swinburne

ALTC ICT projects linked to ACDICT Tony Koppi

ALTC National ICT Projects Koppi & Naghdy report, completed 2009 –Managing educational change in the ICT discipline at the tertiary education level UOW, Monash, QUT, UTS Follow-on 2 yr project funded from 2009 –Addressing ICT curriculum recommendations from surveys of academics, workplace graduates, and employers UOW (Philip Ogunbona), Murdoch, Swinburne, UQ

Completed National ICT Project Recommendations given in Executive Summary ACDICT has responsibility for the Recommendations Key findings

Recommendations based on surveys of academics, workplace graduates, and employers 1.Raise ACDICT profile 2.Improve perceptions of ICT profession 3.Improve Professional recognition 4.Understand students better 5.Industry involvement in curriculum 6.More work-integrated learning 7.Improvement in teaching 8.Understand teaching-research-industry-learning nexus 9.Share good practices

What ICT graduates, employers and academics are telling us Graduates say they are not well prepared for industry Graduates say universities and industry have to work together for better curriculum Employers say that our graduates are not well prepared for industry Academics say they want better relations with industry Better industry integration

What ICT graduates are telling us

Survey of ICT graduates in industry Online survey prepared by ICT project team for recent graduates (1–5 years in industry) Invitations sent to ICT graduates via university alumni organisations Had to be ICT graduate and currently working in ICT job 719 valid responses from graduates from 21 Australian universities

Survey of ICT graduates in industry Asked them about 37 abilities in 4 categories –Personal/interpersonal –Thinking/cognitive –Business –Technical Asked them how important is the ability to your present work (1–5 scale) and how well did your university prepare you for that ability (1–5 scale)? Result: 100% significant mismatch

Survey of ICT graduates in industry Examples of 37 abilities Ability to remain calm under pressure or when things go wrong Ability to contribute positively to team-based project Ability to diagnose what is really causing a problem and test this out in action Ability to access and organise information effectively Ability to understand, appreciate and meet the needs of clients Having the technical expertise relevant to my work area Result: 100% significant mismatch in work importance and university preparation

What did we get right? Other survey questions on university teaching showed we got some things right: –Online information –Researching publications to prepare reports –Lab classes where theory was put into practice –Tutorials with group work and new material –Lectures that included discussion

What they said about teaching demonstrate subject relevance have interactive sessions with students use real-world examples and case studies keep up to date with technology changes provide group work related to industry practices design meaningful problem-solving activities

Not all doom and gloom On 1–5 Likert: –My university courses prepared me well for my work 62% agreed –The technical content of my degree was always up to date 62% agreed

What improvements the graduates said they wanted More work-integrated learning More real-world experiences More practical relevance More industry involvement in teaching More up-to-date teaching More business abilities

What ICT employers are telling us

What ICT employers want from their recruits From the literature and recent survey of 28 ICT CEOs in Australia: –Workplace experience is necessary –Generic attributes (soft skills) are as important as technical competence –Communication skills are very important –Industry needs to be involved in curriculum design and delivery –Business knowledge is valuable –Problem-solving skills are underdeveloped –Team-working skills are important

What ICT academics want

What academics want from industry Improvement in the relationship between industry and academia Better communication by industry of industry needs Involve industry more in education Work-integrated learning for all ICT students

Common ground and mutual benefits for graduates, academics and employers More work-integrated learning Greater involvement of industry in teaching Greater collaboration between academia and industry will keep programs up to date and relevant to the real world Making it happen is the challenge

New ICT Project to make it happen 4 project areas –Improving Capability by Improving Perception Leader: Paul Bailes, UQ –Understanding Students Better to Address Attrition and Lack of Women Leader: Golshah Naghdy, UOW –Greater Industry Involvement in the Curriculum Leader: Chris Pilgrim, Swinburne –Teaching–Research–Industry–Learning (TRIL) Nexus Leader: Tanya McGill, Murdoch You will be asked to contribute to the deliverables Information will be shared amongst the ICT community

Improving Capability by Improving Perception Deliverables –Industry contributions to improve perceptions of ICT –Recent national enrolment trends in ICT by numbers and gender –Descriptions of outreach programs linked to increased enrolments in ICT –Overseas trends and outreach activities linked to increasing enrolments in ICT Example of your contribution: Has any university outreach activity been particularly successful?

Understanding Students Better to Address Attrition and Lack of Women Deliverables –National attrition rates for ICT courses –Reasons for leaving ICT from a survey of students –Outreach activities leading to greater enrolments by women in ICT –Gender inclusive ICT curricula: theory and practice Examples of your contribution: Has any university outreach activity been particularly successful in attracting more women? How would you describe a gender-inclusive curriculum?

Greater Industry Involvement in the Curriculum Deliverables –ICT Industry position paper on curriculum design and delivery –ICT Industry position paper on work integrated learning (WIL) –Policy and practices (including assessment) in WIL in the university ICT sector Examples of your contribution: How is industry involved in the design and delivery of your ICT curriculum? Do you have WIL of 6 months or more and how do you manage and assess it?

Teaching–Research–Industry–Learning (TRIL) Nexus This project area brings it all together Industry Research Teaching Learning

Teaching–Research–Industry–Learning (TRIL) Nexus Deliverables –The TRIL nexus concept amongst academic leaders of ICT, and implications for practice Examples of your contribution: How would you describe such a nexus? How is it put into practice in your university?

Teaching–Research–Industry–Learning (TRIL) Nexus Industry Research Teaching Learning Bringing it together A major connection is through Work-Integrated Learning Benefits Students Academics Industry

Work-integrated learning ACS Foundation 2–3 % of ICT students with scholarships for workplace experience And the rest? Next session on WIL

Discussion Recommendations from the first project Project areas of the next project –Improving Capability by Improving Perception Leader: Paul Bailes, UQ –Understanding Students Better to Address Attrition and Lack of Women Leader: Golshah Naghdy, UOW –Greater Industry Involvement in the Curriculum Leader: Chris Pilgrim, Swinburne –Teaching–Research–Industry–Learning (TRIL) Nexus Leader: Tanya McGill, Murdoch Next session concerned with WIL