What a Difference a Year Makes

2 Overview... Rationale Issues Location, Location, Location Course Content Research Method Key Indicators Questionnaire Findings Summary Questions

3 Research focus... Challenge: Maintaining an effective, up to date IS Curriculum Attracting students Engaging students Diverse in age, social background Meeting industry needs New emerging occupations Competitive in the market place

4 Location, Location… Variable Fees Traditional versus New University Reputation of X and Y Professor Different terminology MIS/Informatics/BIT/BIT League tables Staff to student ratio Position of IS – Computing, Informatics, Business School? Level – undergrad, postgrad

5 Course Content School Curriculum Not sure what IS students expect Aim at diversity or standardisation Core + options Intellectually stimulating Fads Bandwagons Fun Creativity and Innovation Community

6 Key Indicators... Historical perspective Competitor Analysis Job Market – Employers IS Research IS Academic Community Students

7 Research Method... Industry – (20%) respondents 2004 IS Academics – 19 (30%) respondents 2005 IS Academics – ??? 33 (??%) respondents Interpersonal and Management Skills Organisational Knowledge Systems Development Knowledge Specialist Knowledge Technical Knowledge Web Development Databases

8 Interpersonal Skills... Top three form 14 Majority of attributes seen as more important Exception - communication skills Industry Very Important Oral communications Teamwork Analytical skills 2004 Academic Extremely Important – Very Important Analytical skills Oral communications Written communications 2005 Academic – Extremely Important Analytical Skills Critical Thinking Collaborative Skills

9 Organisational Skills... Top three from 10 Generally the attributes seen as more important Industry Important Privacy Issues Business Functions Business Environment 2004 Academic Very Important – Important Business functions Organisational behaviour Business environment 2005 Academic Extremely Important – Very Important Ethical Issues Organisational Behaviour Business Environment

10 Systems Knowledge... Top three from 22 Similar views and little change in the academic responses Exception – HCI and Legacy Systems more important Industry Important Testing Strategies Define scope and objectives of projects Systems Operation and Maintenance 2004 Academic Extremely Important – Very Important Define scope and objectives of projects Evaluate feasibility E-R diagramming 2005 Academic Extremely Important – Very Important Define scope and objectives of projects Evaluate feasibility E-R diagramming

11 Specialist Knowledge... Top three from 18 Major changes: Risk Management up from 8 th – 4 th Quality Assurance up from 11 th – 5 th CRP down from 2 nd to 10 th Industry Important Information Security Disaster Prevention/Recovery Quality Assurance 2004 Academic Important Information Security Customer Resource Planning ERP 2005 Academic Extremely Important – Very Important Information Security Decision Support Systems Knowledge Management

12 Specialist Knowledge... Top three from 18 Major changes: Risk Management up from 8 th – 4 th Quality Assurance up from 11 th – 5 th CRP down from 2 nd to 10 th Industry Important Information Security Disaster Prevention/Recovery Quality Assurance 2004 Academic Important Information Security Customer Resource Planning ERP 2005 Academic Extremely Important – Very Important Information Security Decision Support Systems Knowledge Management

13 Technical Knowledge... Top three from 14 Significant reduction in level of importance for thee majority of the attributes. Industry Important Microsoft Office – Extremely important Outlook/Exchange Microsoft Project 2004 Academic Important Microsoft Office – Extremely important Macromedia Dreamweaver HTML Editors 2005 Academic Very Important – Important Microsoft Office – Extremely important Microsoft Project Oracle

14 Web Development... Top three from 12 Very similar views in relation to order of importance. Level of importance significantly lower Industry Important DHTML/HTML Java Script 2004 Academic Important DHTML/HTML Java Script 2005 Academic Important – Somewhat Important XML Java Script

15 Databases... Same order of importance: 1. Access 2. Oracle 3. SQL Server 4. My SQL 5. DB2

16 Programming... Top five Additional Comments: …dont need a programming language… Any just the notion of what programming is Programming Language Industry Count 04 Academic Count 05 Academic Count JAVA192 9 C VISUAL BASIC63 4.NET5 RPG4

17 Additional Comments... Industry – Main attributes for graduate:- Reliable – turns up for work consistently; Discreet – can handle office situations; Realistic – is in the real world; Trustworthy – and leave him to get on with job unsupervised 04 Academic – … good theoretical underpinning in computer science and an appreciation of the human factors/issues in IS/IT usage 05 Academic – Principles not products…

18 Summary... AttributesN=Difference Interpersonal Skills14 (7) Organisational Knowledge10 (5) Systems Knowledge22 (2) (2) Specialist Knowledge15 (4) (4) Technical Knowledge14 (12) Web Development12 (8) Databases5

Thank you Barbara Howell Questions?