IT students’ perceptions of mandatory coursework

Abstract

A mandatory coursework is an activity a student needs to pass in order to get access to an exam. In an earlier study, we examined to what extent mandatory coursework is in use in higher Norwegian IT education. Although the use differs significantly between the institutions delivering IT studies, we concluded that mandatory coursework to a large extent is in use.

It is therefore interesting to investigate how IT students experience mandatory coursework. Do they believe that mandatory coursework contributes to their achievement of learning outcomes in the courses they study? If not, it might be a good idea to stop using mandatory coursework. And if the students find value in mandatory coursework, how should we use them? And what elements of mandatory coursework do the students appreciate? In this study we seek to find IT students' perceptions of mandatory coursework, through questionnaires and interviews.

The results of this study indicate that a large majority of Norwegian IT students want mandatory coursework. They believe it contributes to their learning, but only within certain prerequisites. Mandatory coursework is mostly needed for technical subjects, such as computer programming. And the assignments should be practical, engaging, relevant for the upcoming exam and with just the right level of difficulty. Creating engaging assignments with the appropriate level of difficulty for all students might prove a difficult task. We found that a particular coursework assignment may be highly appreciated by one group of students, and at the same time disliked by another.