Abstract
Central Texas College has developed a post secondary curriculum in data processing in conjunction with the United States Office of Education. The program has been developed around the career education guidelines established by the United States Office of Education. The following list of program advantages will be discussed in some detail at the June meeting:
1. A complete unit of learning has been provided for the student in his first year and in his second year. At the end of his first year he will have received useful skills that are saleable in the market place. During the first year he will have had a balance of data processing courses, mathematics, business practices and effective communications. These subjects, combined with the learning of a basic programming language and systems analysis, will qualify him for many of the collateral jobs that exist in a data processing environment. He will have learned some advanced programming languages. He will have had applications courses. He will have learned some of the internal workings of the computers and programming. He will have been exposed to data management systems and transmission techniques providing him with an insight into the future of data processing. He will have had an elective during his last semester that could be an industry co-op program.
2. The curriculum is flexible enough so that the student will be able to change his educational objectives to a four year program without extensive loss of credit.
3. Through the new organization of courses, certain social and business objectives have been met as well as those of data processing. At specific points during education, well rounded educational objectives have been met.
4. A balance of traditional courses and special computer oriented courses exist between his two years of education. He will receive five data processing courses his first year and five data processing courses his second year, plus his elective co-op program with industry.
5. A balance of programming languages has been provided the student for his first and second year education. He will learn two programming languages his first, BASIC AND COBOL, and two programming languages his second year, FORTRAN and ASSEMBLY.
6. The curriculum is designed to develop people to become working members of society. In addition to data processing capabilities, communications skills and social awareness development courses have been provided.
7. Sufficient math has been provided in the curriculum to allow the student to advance his own studies of data processing after leaving school.
8. Considerable applications experience has been gained in both the educational and working environments.