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Fri, Oct 7, 9:00 - 9:25, House A Paper (refereed)

Recommended Citation: Seymour, L, E Scott, S Malamoglou, J Meyerowitz, and A Morar. Skills Learnt During a Systems Development Course: Graduate Perceptions of Skills Transfer and Industry Alignment. In The Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference 2005, v 22 (Columbus OH): §2163. ISSN: 1542-7382. (A later version appears in Information Systems Education Journal 4(85). ISSN: 1545-679X.)

Skills Learnt During a Systems Development Course: Graduate Perceptions of Skills Transfer and Industry Alignment

Refereed

11 pages

Lisa Seymour    [a1] [a2]
Information Systems Department
University of Cape Town    [u1] [u2]
Rondebosch, Western Cape, South Africa    [c1] [c2]

Elsje Scott    [a1] [a2]
Information Systems Department
University of Cape Town    [u1] [u2]
Rondebosch, Western Cape, South Africa    [c1] [c2]

Spiros Malamoglou    [a1] [a2]
Information Systems Department
University of Cape Town    [u1] [u2]
Rondebosch, Western Cape, South Africa    [c1] [c2]

Joel Meyerowitz    [a1] [a2]
Information Systems Department
University of Cape Town    [u1] [u2]
Rondebosch, Western Cape, South Africa    [c1] [c2]

Anita Morar    [a1] [a2]
Information Systems Department
University of Cape Town    [u1] [u2]
Rondebosch, Western Cape, South Africa    [c1] [c2]

There is currently much debate on the adequacy of Information Systems courses in preparing students for systems development work. To address this need, this paper’s purpose was to determine whether the skills that students learnt during a systems development course were applied in the workplace. The investigation was performed during 2004 from students who had attended the third year systems development course at the University of Cape Town during 2000 to 2003. This course has as its outcomes various technical, interpersonal and business skills. The research approach adopted was to determine graduate’s usage and importance rating of these skills in the workplace, satisfaction of industry representatives with student skills as well as the extent to which graduates felt these skills had been learnt during the systems development course. Quantitative analysis of questionnaires completed by graduates and evaluation forms completed by industry representatives was performed. The results confirm the high usage and importance of interpersonal, project management, business analysis and general business skills by IS graduates in the workplace, justifying their incorporation in system development courses. Overall, the systems development course studied was found to have prepared students well and skills transfer to industry occurred. ...

Keywords: capstone experience, curriculum, course alignment, skills transfer, systems development

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