DocumentCode :
2645591
Title :
Work in progress - bridging the technology gap: An analysis of industry needs and student skills
Author :
Marcarelli, Catherine J. ; Carter, Lori J.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Math., Inf., & Comput. Sci., Point Loma Nazarene Univ., San Diego, CA, USA
fYear :
2009
fDate :
18-21 Oct. 2009
Firstpage :
1
Lastpage :
2
Abstract :
Discussions with individuals in industry and with students uncovered a potential disconnect in technological skills. The computer skills students are acquiring might not fully match up with the current needs in the workforce. As members of engineering and computer science departments, the responsibility often falls on us to provide service courses in technology. But is this the correct approach, and if so, what should be provided? The goal of this research project is to detect any gaps in computer knowledge that might exist between academia and industry. To this end various PLNU alumni in diverse and distinguished areas of employment were interviewed and surveyed in order to discover the technological skills needed by professionals in their fields. Additionally, all undergraduate students at PLNU were given the opportunity to respond to a survey to determine their fluency with key computer skills. Suggestions are made regarding how to address the possible disparity between knowledge and need.
Keywords :
computer science education; educational courses; educational institutions; employment; work in progress; PLNU alumni; academia; computer knowledge; computer science department; computer skills; employment; engineering department; professionals; technological skills; technology courses; undergraduate students; work in progress; workforce; Communication system operations and management; Computer industry; Computer science; Conference management; Educational institutions; Educational technology; Financial management; Human resource management; Quality management; Technology management; Computer Literacy; Computer Science; Computer Science in Industry; Education;
fLanguage :
English
Publisher :
ieee
Conference_Titel :
Frontiers in Education Conference, 2009. FIE '09. 39th IEEE
Conference_Location :
San Antonio, TX
ISSN :
0190-5848
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4715-2
Electronic_ISBN :
0190-5848
Type :
conf
DOI :
10.1109/FIE.2009.5350852
Filename :
5350852
Link To Document :
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