Generic attributes in undergraduate programmes : a case study of a regional and capital city university

This paper describes the depth of treatment of generic attributes coverage in a regional university (RU) information systems undergraduate curriculum, and compares it to the coverage in a large capital city university (CCU). Comparisons are made with the perceived industry requirements as stated in the Australian Computer Society (ACS) Core Body of Knowledge. The investigative techniques used to make these comparisons possible involved mapping the generic attributes against the objectives of the courses. Findings reveal that the regional university provided more coverage of the Information Systems discipline and oral communications attributes than the larger capital city university. The CCU developed more programming knowledge skills and technical competence than the RU. The investigation also revealed a need for university unit outline writers to be more explicit in identifying the generic attributes of IS graduates to be developed within a programme of study. The methodology of this study is likely to be of interest to curriculum evaluators in a range of disciplines.