A Three-Pronged Approach to an Object Oriented Computer Information Systems Curriculum

As a Computer Information Systems curriculum, most majors enter corporate America instead of opting for graduate school. Although they are entering industry, many of these students are not prepared for to be instantly productive in commercial software development. To address this short coming, some of the faculty at Stetson University have begun a three-prong approach to incorporate the object oriented paradigm into the undergraduate computer information systems curriculum. The three prongs are 1) the adoption of Java and the Object Oriented paradigm for the introductory courses, 2) self directed, web based courses on software engineering topics, and 3) the formation of a consulting firm to provide real world, hands-on experiences. All three components of the curriculum are needed to help the students (and faculty) to fully realize the power of the object oriented paradigm, since it’s part computer programming, part software engineering, and part philosophy. The three prongs of our curriculum address the entire paradigm while providing a hands-on learning experience