The Computing Curricula 2020 (CC2020) report, issued by the ACM and IEEE Computer Society, identified knowledge, skills, and dispositions as the three main components of competency for undergraduate programs in computer engineering, computer science, cybersecurity, information systems, information technology, and software engineering, as well as data science. As earlier generations of curricular guidelines in computing have described knowledge and skills to some extent, the notion of dispositions is relatively new to computing.
Dispositions are cultivable behaviors, such as adaptability, meticulousness, and self-directedness, that are desirable in the workplace. Multiple employer surveys and interviews confirm that dispositions are as crucial for success in the workplace as the knowledge and skills students develop in their academic programs of study. As such, the CC2020 report describes eleven dispositions that are expected of competent computing graduates. These are distinct and separate from the technical knowledge and disciplinary skills of computing and engineering. Dispositions are also distinct from baseline or cross-disciplinary skills, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, and communication. In contrast, dispositions are inherently human characteristics that describe individual qualities and behavioral patterns that lead to professional success. Dispositions are learnable, not necessarily teachable.
This work-in-progress paper motivates dispositions within computing disciplines and presents the background of this approach. It also discusses the use of reflection exercises and vignettes in understanding, promoting, and fostering behavioral patterns that undergraduate computing students identify as related to dispositions they experience in the course. Preliminary data and results from the study are also presented.
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Board 363: Promoting the Dispositional Dimension of Competency in Undergraduate Computing Programs
The Computing Curricula 2020 (CC2020) report, issued by the ACM and IEEE Computer Society, identified knowledge, skills, and dispositions as the three main components of competency for undergraduate programs in computer engineering, computer science, cybersecurity, information systems, information technology, and software engineering, as well as data science. As earlier generations of curricular guidelines in computing have described knowledge and skills to some extent, the notion of dispositions is relatively new to computing.
Dispositions are cultivable behaviors, such as adaptability, meticulousness, and self-directedness, that are desirable in the workplace. Multiple employer surveys and interviews confirm that dispositions are as crucial for success in the workplace as the knowledge and skills students develop in their academic programs of study. As such, the CC2020 report describes eleven dispositions that are expected of competent computing graduates. These are distinct and separate from the technical knowledge and disciplinary skills of computing and engineering. Dispositions are also distinct from baseline or cross-disciplinary skills, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, and communication. In contrast, dispositions are inherently human characteristics that describe individual qualities and behavioral patterns that lead to professional success. Dispositions are learnable, not necessarily teachable.
This work-in-progress paper motivates dispositions within computing disciplines and presents the background of this approach. It also discusses the use of reflection exercises and vignettes in understanding, promoting, and fostering behavioral patterns that undergraduate computing students identify as related to dispositions they experience in the course. Preliminary data and results from the study are also presented.
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- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10501936
- Publisher / Repository:
- ASEE Conferences
- Date Published:
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Baltimore , Maryland
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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The Computing Curricula 2020 (CC2020) report, issued by the ACM and IEEE Computer Society, identified knowledge, skills, and dispositions as the three main components of competency for undergraduate programs in computer engineering, computer science, cybersecurity, information systems, information technology, and software engineering, as well as data science. As earlier generations of curricular guidelines in computing have described knowledge and skills to some extent, the notion of dispositions is relatively new to computing. Dispositions are cultivable behaviors, such as adaptability, meticulousness, and self-directedness, that are desirable in the workplace. Multiple employer surveys and interviews confirm that dispositions are as crucial for success in the workplace as the knowledge and skills students develop in their academic programs of study. As such, the CC2020 report describes eleven dispositions that are expected of competent computing graduates. These are distinct and separate from the technical knowledge and disciplinary skills of computing and engineering. Dispositions are also distinct from baseline or cross-disciplinary skills, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, and communication. In contrast, dispositions are inherently human characteristics that describe individual qualities and behavioral patterns that lead to professional success. Dispositions are learnable, not necessarily teachable. This work-in-progress paper motivates dispositions within computing disciplines and presents the background of this approach. It also discusses the use of reflection exercises and vignettes in understanding, promoting, and fostering behavioral patterns that undergraduate computing students identify as related to dispositions they experience in the course. Preliminary data and results from the study are also presented.more » « less
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Dispositions are cultivable behaviors desirable in the workplace. Examples of dispositions are being adaptable, meticulous, and self-directed. The eleven dispositions described in the CC2020 report should not be confused with the professional knowledge of computing topics, or with skills, including technical skills, along with cross-disciplinary skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, or communication. Dispositions, more inherent to human characteristics, identify personal qualities and behavioral patterns important for successful professional careers. The leaders of this special session collaborate on a multi-institutional project funded by the National Science Foundation. Using their experiences at four higher education institutions, they will demonstrate how to foster dispositions among computing students through two hands-on activities. The audience will get first-hand experience using reflection exercises and vignettes, and will participate in debating their design, merits, and limitations. The resulting interaction will provide the audience ample time to discuss the benefits and challenges of incorporating and fostering dispositions in computing programs. It is hoped that participants will leave with concrete ideas on how to extend the current work to their own courses, programs, and institutions.more » « less
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Abstract The skills and competencies of IT professionals are often described using employer-led skills frameworks. They express competencies as technical knowledge and skills combined with a range of personal qualities. Employers have indicated the importance of developing such qualities for new graduates. In response, recent ACM/IEEE curricular recommendations have shifted their emphases from bodies of knowledge to the development of competencies. The IT2017 ACM/IEEE Curriculum Guidelines for Baccalaureate Degree Programs proposed a model of IT competency comprising three interrelated components: content knowledge, skills, and dispositions, where dispositions represent personal qualities desirable in the workplace. The ACM/IEEE Computing Curricula 2020 (CC2020) report enriched the IT2017 disposition concept by identifying eleven dispositions that all computing programs should include for the career preparation of their graduates. However, developing and assessing dispositions in a degree program remain challenges, often involving internships, work placements and similar student opportunities. A recent mapping of the eleven CC2020 dispositions to the responsibility characteristics of the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA), a widely used professional skills framework, suggested a promising approach to addressing this challenge. Inspired by this mapping, this paper aims to help educators assess students’ achievement of CC2020 dispositions by mapping real-world experiences they have recorded in individual portfolios against the SFIA responsibility characteristics. First, the selection of SFIA to operationalize the CC2020 dispositions is validated by demonstrating that alternative frameworks pose significant challenges for any assessment approach that needs to be independent of particular technical skills. A tool is described that maps demonstration of SFIA responsibility characteristics to CC2020 dispositions, applying a simple, consistent assessment algorithm. Finally, the assessment process and outcomes are illustrated using a fictional student portfolio, constructed to reflect one author’s experience of work placement students’ achievements.
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Since the early 21st century, ABET’s accreditation criteria have focused on learning outcomes (what students learn) rather than what professors teach. Such accreditation criteria bring to bear the need for programs to establish clear learning objectives and assessment processes that ensure that program graduates have the requisite technical and professional preparation. To this end, ABET defines student outcomes as “what students are expected to know and be able to do by the time of graduation,” further noting that these outcomes “relate to the knowledge, skills, and behaviors that students acquire as they progress through the program.” With the recent release of Computing Curricula 2020 (CC2020), the competencies of computing program graduates have received additional attention. CC2020 describes competency as “comprising knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are observable in accomplishing a task within a work context.” ABET’s student outcomes thus largely correspond to the CC2020 competencies of program graduates. This paper is a first attempt to reconcile the two notions in the context of computer science. It presents the relevant background and discusses student competencies and their assessments that focus on competency-based learning in computer science. The contributions of this paper are (1) forging an improved shared understanding of computing competencies and (2) an interpretation of ABET’s student outcomes to improve the competency, including dispositions, expectations of computer science graduates.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--43018
