Curriculum innovation: The perceptions and practice of business computer educators at Ontario's community college

Computer educators at Ontario's CAATs must respond to computer innovation because their mandate is to provide trained entrants to technological fields. Since the advent of the microcomputer, however, computer innovations have occured so frequently that they can no longer even be grouped in discrete, generational blocks. As the rate of innovation continues to accelerate, computer educators at the colleges are faced with a frightening lack of currency which could eventually translate into deterioration of the quality of the computer education they deliver. This thesis reviewed the perceptions of change and the current practices of computer educators trying to cope with computer innovation, their comments on future practice, and their assessment of college faculty development needs and policies. Beyond the domain of computer educators, the findings of this research have significance for college administrators (particularly those in the human resources renewal area), computer industry personnel and educational groups that are similarly vulnerable to rapid changes in the technology and substantive knowledge of their specialized fields.