UOW ALTC ICT Grants Philip Ogunbona Dean Faculty of Informatics UOW

Two ALTC ICT projects Scoping project, 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

Scoping project approach University curriculum Academics Employers Graduates in industry

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

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 graduates 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 authentic problem-solving activities

What ICT employers want from their recruits 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

Major academic concerns Declining enrolments Poor and erroneous perceptions of ICT amongst students, parents, high school teachers, careers advisors, and the general public Quality of ICT teaching in high schools Poor relations with high schools and industry

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

Further details available from the Australian Council of Deans of ICT

ALTC ICT Follow-up Project 2009–2011 Building on issues identified in the first project

ALTC National ICT Curriculum Project “Addressing ICT curriculum recommendations from surveys of academics, workplace graduates, and employers” UOW, Murdoch, Swinburne, UQ

New ICT project based on recommendations of the scoping project 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

Improving Capability by Improving Perception Investigations –Industry contributions to improving 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

Understanding Students Better to Address Attrition and Lack of Women Investigation into attrition –National attrition rates for ICT courses (higher than average) –Reasons for leaving ICT from a survey of students Investigation into gender issues –Outreach activities leading to greater enrolments by women in ICT –Gender inclusive ICT curricula: theory and practice

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

Teaching–Research–Industry–Learning (TRIL) Nexus Investigating: The TRIL nexus concept amongst academic leaders of ICT, and implications for practice Industry Research Teaching Learning

Conclusion Not all documented issues being addressed –Student engagement and class attendance –Innovative teaching such as: inquiry-based learning learning from case studies problem-based learning –Developing work-ready graduates problem solvers business abilities esp. in technical degrees communication skills