The Java Programming Course in Accredited Business Schools in the United States

With industrys continuing demand for Java programmers, it is important to know if those responsible for the business schools IT curriculum are responding to the need for Java programmers. This study examines the extent to which Java programming is offered in Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited business schools and also examines how Java is taught. Highlights of the findings include: sixty-eight percent of the respondents said their institutions provide an introductory Java course; two thirds of those respondents have offered Java for less than five years. Java is typically offered at the junior level and has the prerequisites of Fundamentals of Information Systems and another programming course. The prerequisite programming course most frequently mentioned was Visual Basic (VB). The course topics that had the highest number of classroom hours are: object-oriented programming; sub procedures and function procedures (methods); applets and servlets; and arrays. Over 77 % of those offering Java require it as part of a major. To keep Information Technology (IT) programs relevant to industry needs, curriculum planners should provide continual assessments of how well the IT curriculum is producing graduates with the appropriate knowledge and skills. In 1994, it was estimated that by 2001 more than 80 percent of organizations would be using object-oriented development (Corporate IS, 1994). That 1994 prediction has proven to be correct (Evans Dat