A qualitative study of student perspectives and experiences in an information technology education program

The purpose of this study is to learn about students' perspectives of an undergraduate level information technology (IT) education program. The IT program is a recent effort to create a new educational opportunity for computing in college, with recognition that the recent IT developments have had a greater influence on various aspects of people's lives than ever. Students' perspectives are a necessary piece of information to develop this innovative IT education program into a sound educational opportunity. Data were gathered through qualitative in-depth interviews conducted with 28 undergraduate students, most of whom have taken one or more IT classes before. The interview data were analyzed using the grounded theory approach.;The analysis found that college students perceived that they were very competent in dealing with IT primarily due to their continued exposure to computers since youth. However, this perceived competency was not very stable. Students felt that they did not have sufficient IT competency when technical skills of dealing with IT came to attention. They also felt so when comparing their IT competency with that of their peers, examining it in a class context, and confronting a transition from education to the real world. In spite of their preference for and confidence in self-guided learning, students wanted to receive a formal instruction in IT when they needed to learn something difficult, something that they were not very interested in, and something important for their future lives. They also expressed a desire to gain a comprehensive understanding of computers without needing to learn fundamental computing principles.;Students' various interests in IT education were dispersed around learning practical technical skills and understanding social implications of IT. Many participants' focus was a mix of the two factors, which was often expressed as an area that dealt with "how humans and computers interact." This blended interest suggested a potential defining characteristic for IT education. Students' motivations for pursuing IT education ranged from their passion to some practical considerations. The majority of students expressed mixed motivations, often more strongly inclined to practicality. This finding implied that students' practical considerations as well as their pure interests were an important factor to consider in administering an IT program. Participants found that the primary value of the IT program was that it incorporated technological and social topics which had not been well connected previously. Yet, balancing the technical and non-technical components in the curriculum also proved to be the most controversial aspect. Students perceived that the weaknesses of the IT program were also associated with its interdisciplinary nature. Students also viewed that the topics in the IT program were more closely related to many real world problems than the curricula of typical college education programs. Finally, the analysis revealed that students determined the value of the IT minor program in relation to their majors and career interests. Students took the IT minor to supplement their majors, in terras of their interests in developing their careers beyond formal education.;Overall, this investigation showed that students perceived this broad-based education program for IT as an intermediate field that filled a significant niche in college education caused by the recent technological innovations: between technical and social, between school and everyday life, and between formal education and the "real world." The results have practical implications for the development of IT programs in college and for future research directions.