Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Session # 3620

Computing Fundamentals for IT and IS Programs George Stockman Computer Science and Engineering Michigan State University

Abstract

Information technology impacts the careers of all professionals and thus its concepts are important for education. Our Department developed a unique sophomore level course to provide fundamentals to students with majors in Business, Telecommunications, or Engineering who with a Specialization in IT. While the initial course was experimental in nature and the availability was only guaranteed for students in the IT Specialization, the course was designed as if it would eventually become available to all university majors. The course philosophy, objectives, and content are described below. The course has been a successful prototype that may be used in part or in whole by other academic units preparing professionals for a future where computers and communication are pervasive.

Introduction

Computers, communication networks, and digital representation of all kinds of information have thoroughly transformed commerce and the way people work and play. Not only has education itself been transformed by using IT, but it also faces the task of getting students to be fluent in the concepts and practical use of IT. Universities have undergone various restructuring along IT lines and have designed new majors and curriculum. Two cases of special note are Indiana [1] and RPI [2], both of which have made IT or “informatics” pervasive in their curricula. Well developed program proposals for Information Technology and Information Systems majors were presented at ASEE2004[3]. In order to meet demands of students and employers, Michigan State University introduced an IT Specialization for students from three of its Colleges [4]: the Specialization is a set of courses designed to supplement the programs of students enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs in the Eli Broad College of Business, the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, and the College of Engineering. Students completing the specialization should be prepared for employment in technology-oriented environments and should understand the evolving impact of information technology on society. Completion produces an annotation on the diploma. There are three required core courses, one from each college, and a required capstone course; and, there are six selective credits that can be chosen from courses offered by the three colleges. Each core course requires no more than one prerequisite course from MSU. The Department of Computer Science and Engineering provides two courses critical to the IT Specialization. The first is an existing computer literacy course [5] that is taken by over 4000 MSU students each year and that is required for most majors eligible for the IT specialization. The second course, the required CSE 240: Informatics, was developed in 2002 to provide

Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Stockman, G. (2005, June), Computing Fundamentals For It And Is Programs Paper presented at 2005 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--14870