![](bg4.png)
4.2 Development of Theoretical Topics
Developing unique topics in UIT requires more
research and understanding of the proposed
curriculum. To demonstrate the feasibility of the
proposed concept, some database and network topics
as well as required topics are identified and used for
illustration. This is by no means a comprehensive
study for the identified areas. The process of
identifying a topic should be similar to identifying
entities in a database model. A topic should have
some theoretical or empirical grounds and unique in
its domain. A topic can also be viewed as a nugget
that has some foundation for future extension. For
example, relational data model is a topic which has
sound theoretical basis. Similarly, inter-process
communication is a topic, which proliferates
throughout Web technology. These topics are very
unique and they have broader impact in their domain
applications. We need to identify all such topics in
UIT so that we can build a solid foundation for
achieving the proposed curriculum. The ACM and
IEEE Computer Society curriculums (ACM, 1968);
(Computer Science Curricula, 2013); (Computing
Curricula, 2013) over the years have used a different
type of approach which is based on courses and
fields that have emerged over the years and has no
stability in its mission. The proposed curriculum
divides existing curriculum into topics (more
granularity) thus making them more stable. That is,
there is a need for engineering and science principles
in UIT education instead of training students for
immediate needs of industry and technology
evolution and making them obsolete after few years.
4.3 Development of Applied
Experience
Applied experience involves hands-on training for
UIT students. After learning theoretical topics, they
need to get hands-on experience with current tools
and techniques in industry. Academic institutions
may or may not have resources such as Database
tools at their home institution. Students also need
experience in developing real world systems which
can be provided by industry and through their
experts. A typical applied topic may involve
configuring a large network for operation and
maintenance or a programming experience where
students work with a large software project and
building a module. We need to identify applied
experience projects that are related to theoretical
topics, which require further research in this area.
4.4 Development of Research
Experience
Research experience involves understanding current
research areas and problems. After learning
theoretical topics and may be some applied
experience, students can be exposed to some
research experience. This experience can be
provided to students through collaborations and
internships with research organizations and other
research institutions. We need to identify some topic
areas to develop such research experience projects.
A typical topic may consist of applying multi-core
architecture knowledge to partition a computer
intensive application to achieve higher performance.
Such projects should be undertaken by students who
are interested in research careers.
4.5 Identify Certifications
In today’s industrial careers, certifications are vital
components. Certifications such as A+, Network+,
CCNA, CCNA, CISSP, and Security+ (Hein, 2012)
are required for some jobs. These certifications
cover wide array of topics and sometimes span
across many areas. The theoretical topics and
applied experience provided to students should
cover some areas of certifications. A student
pursuing a particular career track which requires
certain certification should get complete knowledge
and experience to pass that certification. There
should not be a need for the student to get outside
help to pass a certification. Identifying needs for
certification requires further research to develop a
comprehensive curriculum.
4.6 Development of Career Tracks
Today’s career tracks are driven by current trends in
technology. The current trends in technology are
driven by industry without any scientific basis;
otherwise they would have been stable for a long
period of time. Sound principles must be extracted
from the emerging technology and incorporated into
topics in the curriculum. This requires more research
and understanding of the proposed curriculum to
cope with the current trend in career tracks. To
illustrate the proposed concept, we have identified
some career tracks in database and networks from
Web sources (Career Tracks, 2013) and shown them
in Figure 3.
ACurriculumforFutureInformationTechnology
363