Curriculum for an Introductory Computer Science Course: Identifying Recommendations from Academia and Industry

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to define the course content for a university introductory computer science course based on regional needs. Delphi methodology was used to identify the competencies, programming languages, and assessments that academic and industry experts felt most important. Four rounds of surveys were conducted to rate the items in the straw models, to determine the entries deemed most important, and to understand their relative importance according to each group. The groups were then asked to rank the items in each category and attempt to reach consensus as determined by Kendall’s coefficient of concordance. The academic experts reached consensus on a list of ranked competencies in the final round and showed a high degree of agreement on lists of ranked programming languages and assessments. The industry experts did not reach consensus and showed low agreement on their recommendations for competencies, programming languages, and assessments.