Developing a Contextualized Information Systems Curriculum for an Emerging Economy

Abstract

Information Systems (IS) curriculum development in developing countries faces the challenge of balancing conformance to international trends while remaining relevant to the local context. Model curricula such as IS2010 provide a clear and up-to-date reflection of IS curricula trends. However, such curricula cannot be directly implemented especially in developing countries where there are a number of environmental factors that affect the curriculum. In this paper we describe the approach taken to develop a contextualized undergraduate IS curriculum in a highly interdisciplinary African university. In an effort to harmonize the 3 undergraduate IS programs at the University of Botswana (UB), it was necessary to identify the content and direction for a new common IS core curriculum. To achieve this, several activities were carried out, namely: study of existing model curricula, survey and study of the needs of the local IS industry, tracer study of UB IS graduates, study of some regional and international IS curricula, and study of some relevant local policy documents. The paper discusses how the results of our empirical enquiries (i.e., different studies) have shaped the proposed IS curriculum appropriate to the emerging economic context in Botswana. We emphasize on the importance of proper adaptation/contextualization and exploiting the interdisciplinary nature of IS that can resolve important resource (both human and physical) constraints which is common in many African universities.

Information Systems Education for Development: A Typology of ICT4D Pedagogies

“…This is important because while the review process, especially for the IS2010 curriculum, has made efforts to be as consultative as possible, the process is still subjective and the final decision on what should be included or excluded lies with the review team. This is supported by observations from other researchers who have pointed out the fact that the curriculum, to a great extent, aligns IS with business faculties which is typical in North American institutions where most of the review body members are based [33,34].…”

Integrating high performance computing into a Tanzanian IT engineering curriculum

“…One critical challenge is that that promising engineers cannot always find a proper context for using and developing their skills further. A study in Botswana showed that IT graduates rarely ended up in software development or information systems related jobs, but typical job descriptions were "user support and training", "system administration", and "network administration" [7]. Another study [8] argued that in Africa, in too many cases "graduates leave universities: 1. jobless, 2. without the capacity to find solutions for African problems, 3. pressurized by the family that expects their support, since they have helped them to reach that point, 4. brain draining from rural areas to cities or other countries when the opportunity arises".…”