Doris K. Lidtke

Developing accreditation for information systems education

New accreditation criteria cover university programs in information systems. The authors consider how IT professionals can contribute. They discuss accreditation efforts to date and current information systems accreditation.

Outcomes-based computing accreditation: program assessment

The Computing Accreditation Commission (CAC) of ABET evaluates programs utilizing outcomes-based assessment methods. To better support the outcome-based accreditation concept, the proposed new computing accreditation criteria do not include detailed curriculum standards. Instead, they expect programs to clearly define program outcomes and objectives, establish an assessment process to determine the extent to which these outcomes and objectives are achieved by graduates, and use the data thus collected to improve the program. The quality improvement processes used in higher education thus reflect the quality improvement processes that have proven useful in other industries. During this session we will discuss the assessment process with the objective of helping programs develop and carry out an assessment plan with ease.

Computers in schools: past, present, and how we can change the future

i t has only been in the past few years that the installed base of computers in U.S. schools has reached a level where most students have some exposure to comput ing and what it means for their lives and careers. While historical data on the number of computers used for instructional purposes in K 1 2 education is somewhat weak, it appears there was approximately one computer per 125 students in 1982, and the ratio is now nearly ten times that number [11]. Over the past 20 years or more, there has been a gradual accumulation of research on uses of computers in schools. This l i terature has convinced many people that computers can be and should be used routinely in schools. Many of the past decades reports and proposals for school reform or res t ructur ing place considerable emphasis on appropr ia te use of computers [6, 12-16]. The re have been few longitudinal studies of compute r uses in schools. The Apple Classroom of Tomorrow (ACOT) sites are yielding valuable evidence on the difficulties that educators have as they a t tempt to learn to make effective use of computers , and of the long-term benefits when they are successful in this endeavor [2]. Metastudies [9] on computer-assisted instruction (CAI) provide very strong evidence to suppor t its use. These metastudies suggest that in a broad range of educational settings CAI helps students to learn much more much faster. Compute r use in schools began dur ing the 1960s in the U.S. One approach was p ioneered by Suppes [17] who focused on CAI, using a compute r to teach facts or for drill and practice. Another approach was to have students learn to write programs in BASIC; for example, the federally funded Colorado Project [4] developed and widely implemented a second-year high school algebra course that included prog ramming in BASIC. In the early 1970s the idea that all students should learn about basic compute r applications began to emerge. Ar thu r Luehrmann [10] was concerned about the growing emphasis in some schools on CAI. (Luehrmann s article can be found in Taylor [18] along with a number of o ther articles represent ing work of some o f the pioneers in the field of computers in education.) Shortly af terward, a nationally dist r ibuted repor t r ecommended the establishment of a required computer literacy course to be offered at the j un io r high school level [7]. It suggested the more mathematically able students should receive instruction in computer p rogramming while less mathematically able students should instead receive hands-on experience in using computer applications. Dur ing that time, relatively inexpensive t ime-shared comput ing systems were becoming widely available, and such comput ing facilities were gradual ly enter ing precollege education. This analysis suggests two computerin-educat ion conflicts emerged quite early: One between those advocating increased use of CAI and those advocating the teaching of computer p rogramming; the other between those advocating the teaching of compute r applications and those advocating the teaching of computer programming. Initially the applications vs prog ramming conflict was ra ther l imited because there were very few computer facilities in schools and very little appropr ia t e software. However, by the early 1980s relatively inexpensive microcomputers were available, and schools began to purchase them in quantity. These early machines had BASIC as a built-in programming language, so that it became feasible for schools to offer BASIC prog ramming courses to large numbers of students. Soon an alternative to B A S I C L o g o and its turtle g raph ics -became available for microcomputers . Thus, by the mid1980s it appea red that computer p rogramming , mainly in BASIC and Logo, would come to dominate precollege use of computers . Tha t has not happened . Since the 1980s the use of applications software and CAI packages for microcomputers has grown rapidly. Simultaneously, there has been a considerable decrease in the teaching of compute r p rog ramming and compu te r science in K 1 2 education. Of course, quite a few students are learning a little bit about scripting in Hype rCa rd or LinkWay, so the idea of having very large numbers of students learn some computer prog ramming still lives. While several secondary schools offer a range of computer p rogram-

Enterprise enhanced education: an information technology enabled extension of traditional learning environments

For many years there have been complaints from enterprises such as business, industry and government that academia is unable to produce graduates that can function well in the design and implementation of large and complex information and engineering systems. These complaints have been voiced and confirmed once again in recent reports and conference addresses [5],[3]. As a result of discussions on the results of the Mulder NSF report following the reports completion it was suggested that recent advancements in information, communication and computer technologies could enable a new and innovative approach to improving the graduates from our university information specialists programs. This new learning/teaching paradigm involves both the universities and the concerned enterprises. The paper that follows presents some of the reasoning and organizational structure for the suggested cooperative approach enabled by information technology, and information regarding some test sites of cooperative programs involving universities and industry.

Information technology accreditation activities

Programs in Information Technology (IT) have begun at many universities over the past decade and many are now eager for accreditation. This paper describes the activities undertaken in preparation for accreditation of IT programs by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET.

Status of information systems accreditation

Accreditation standards have been developed for BS programs in Information Systems and have been widely reviewed. The standards drew heavily on the existing computer science accreditation standard and recent curriculum efforts in information systems. The effort was facilitated by support from the National Science Foundation (NSFDUE 9812278). Recently CSAB approved the process to accredit IS programs and that accreditation will begin in Fall 2002.

Collaborative learning in undergraduate information science education (abstract)

Business and industty need employees who can work as members of a team. Most college and university experiences have not trained students to work together. This panel will discuss the approaches being developed to meet the needs of business and industry by providing students with the breadth and depth of knowledge they need to become productive professionals in information science. Haines will discuss proposed efforts to have students work on industrial projects as members of actual design and development teams. Mulder will discuss developments in information science curriculum following from the NSF Task Force on Information Science which reported at CSC ’94, Jane Prey and Doris Lidtke will discuss collaborative learning in the courses in which they are involved.

Preparing for Information Systems accreditation

The first pilot Information Systems accreditation visit is occurring in Fall 2001. Many programs will apply for IS accreditation the following year, the 2002-03 accreditation cycle. This session will discuss the process for preparing for an accreditation visit. The discussion will include a planning timeline, preparation of the self-study and arranging details for the on campus visit. Particular attention will be placed on the assessment section of the self-study, the important details of the self-study, and the preparation of the display materials needed for the on-site visit.

Information centric curriculum (ISC'98) (panel)

2003 Dr.-Ing. (Ph.D.), summa cum laude Technische Universität Darmstadt (Darmstadt University of Technology), Fachbereich Informatik (Computer Science department). Thesis: “A Model-Independent Security Architecture for Distributed Heterogeneous Systems” (Advisor: Johannes Buchmann) 1993 – 1999 Diplom-Informatiker (TU) (approx. equiv. M.Sc.) Technische Universität Darmstadt (Darmstadt University of Technology), Fachbereich Informatik (Computer Science department). (Advisor: José L. Encarnação)

Meeting the needs of industry: a bold new curriculum in informatic science

This paper describes the development of a new curriculum to prepare the next generation of information specialists. The project is unique in that half of the task force developing the curriculum is from business and industry. The curriculum is designed to produce a graduate who possesses the skills described in the ‘profile of the graduate’ which was developed by the representatives from industry. The curriculum is information centric and integrates communication skills, ethics and teamwork from the beginning. Student learning is top-down: from the broad perspective to the technical details. To accomplish this the pedagogy employed has been changed.