What Our ICT Graduates Need from Us: A Perspective from the Workplace

Koppi, T., Sheard, J., Naghdy, F., Chicharo, J., Edwards, S.L., Brookes, W. and Wilson, D.

A national Discipline-Based Initiative (DBI) project for Information and Communications Technology (ICT), funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, has sought the opinions of recent graduates of ICT in the workplace to help inform the curriculum. An online survey was devised to question graduates on workplace requirements and university preparation for abilities categorized as: personal/interpersonal; cognitive; business and technical. The graduates in employment have highlighted broad mismatches between the requirements of their professional work in these categories and the preparation for employment they received from university. A regression analysis was used to determine influences on graduates' opinions of the preparation they received at university. The quantitative and qualitative results from this survey could have far-reaching consequences for ICT education and this initiative will enable the development of curricula that ensures graduates are equipped with the skills required by the ICT industry.

Cite as: Koppi, T., Sheard, J., Naghdy, F., Chicharo, J., Edwards, S.L., Brookes, W. and Wilson, D. (2009). What Our ICT Graduates Need from Us: A Perspective from the Workplace. In Proc. Eleventh Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2009), Wellington, New Zealand. CRPIT, 95. Hamilton, M. and Clear, T., Eds. ACS. 101-109.

(from crpit.com) (local if available)