ACS Defines Australian Body of Knowledge
Friday 4th October 1996 - The Australian Computer Society has realised a 30 year goal by defining the Core Body of Knowledge which is used to accredit tertiary computing courses in Australia and to measure entry standards for professional membership.
The new guidelines will come into effect for all new computing courses from early 1997, although a transition period of three years will allow tertiary institutions to adapt to any changes in the guidelines.
"This is the most significant initiative by the Society in the past several years," said ACS President, Tom Worthington.
"We have been working towards becoming a fully professional society by the year 2000 and defining the Core Body of Knowledge has been a critical step in that process. The information technology industry will be the central factor in the world economy of the next century. The ACS has acted to ensure that Australia has professionals with the skills needed to power our economy," he said.
The new Core Body of Knowledge is available on the Web at: http://www.acs.org.au/national/pospaper/bokpt1.htm
Since its formation back in 1966, the ACS has used international recommendations as the basis of accreditation procedures, most notably the Body of Knowledge defined by the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) in the United States.
The ACS Core Body of Knowledge is part of a complete package including: a standard educational curriculum; a requirement to hold an approved tertiary qualification; relevant experience; a Code of Ethics; acceptance of personal liability; and a commitment to continuing professional development.
The ACS is responsible for accrediting all undergraduate computing-related courses taught around Australia covering Computer Science, Computer Systems Engineering or Information Systems and uses the Body of Knowledge as the measuring stick.
While the ACM definition has traditionally been used for this purpose, the Society has for some time wanted a home grown version which takes into account the specific requirements of Australian academics and students.
"The ACM syllabi are extremely detailed and prescriptive and we deliberately did not go down that path in developing the Australian definition," said Associate Professor Alan Underwood, Director of the Society's Professional Development Board.
"We went through a period of extensive consultation with the Australian academic community and they were quite clear that they wanted a reasonable level of autonomy over the way in which they developed their individual courses.
"What we have done in the ACS Body of Knowledge is to set out the subject areas which must be incorporated into a professional level computing course," he said.
The new Core Body of Knowledge comprises 15 different subject areas:
1. Computer Organisation and Architecture
2. Database Management
3. Data Communications and Networks
4. Conceptual Modelling
5. Data Structures and Algorithms
6. Discrete Mathematics
7. Ethics/Social Implications/Professional Practice
8. Interpersonal Communications
9. Program Design and Implementation
10. Project Management
11. Security
12. Software Engineering and Methodologies
13. Software Quality Principles
14. Systems Analysis and Design
15. Systems Software
Work towards defining the ACS Core Body of Knowledge will continue.
"Valuable feedback has been received from the Australian Information Curriculum Working Conference held recently in Melbourne. The Society will examine their suggestions for changes to the ACS proposal," said Professor Underwood, who also encouraged the IT industry as well as Computing Science groups to provide further feedback.
This media release is available on the Web at: http://www.acs.org.au/news/bok.htm
ENDS
Media Enquiries:
Caroline New, Caroline New PR, Tel: (02) 9630 2108 or (0411) 889 456, Email: cnew@acslink.net.au
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