Date of Defense

12-7-1988

Department

Computer Science

First Advisor

Dr. Cherackal Chacko

Second Advisor

Dr. Jawaid Ghani

Third Advisor

Dr. James Hill

Abstract

Nowhere is the need for preparing students for beyond-the-classroom acquisition of knowledge more critical than in the fast-paced world of computer technology and applications. This project is aimed at preparing the groundwork for developing a strategy to meet that goal. The results reported here are largely descriptive, focusing as they do on the state-of-the-art of undergraduate microcomputer courses.

Microcomputers are everywhere. Business schools across the United Stated and Canada have been understandably swift in responding to the educational exigencies they present. The Fourth Annual UCLA Survey of Business School Computer Usage (1987) found that in the first ten years of its development, the microcomputer has found nearly universal acceptance in U.S. and Canadian business schools. [It took the mainframe computer over 25 years to reach a comparable level of acceptance.]

Several questions continue to be raised in discussions on the proper role and proportion of computer requirements in business school curricula. Should conventional computer programming continue to be taught? If so, which level of programming proficiency is "just right" for business students to acquire? Who should be teaching computer applications to business students, MIS instructors or, say, computer enthusiasts in the Department of Accountancy? Which approach is in the best interest of students, insisting on university-wide or school-wide requirements, or focusing on the computer needs of individual departments in the business school?

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Campus Only

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