Abstract:

It is critical that program curriculums are periodically reviewed and modified to reflect the ongoing changes in technology and job market demands. A process used to evaluate and assess the computer science curriculum at Prince Sultan University (PSU) is the Curriculum Review Workshop (CRW).

As part of its program self-study process and in meeting the requirements of the Saudi National Commission on Academic Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA),The Computer and Information Sciences Department at PSU organized and hosted the first computer science curriculum review workshop in Saudi Arabia. Faculty from academic institutions across the country, were provided a valuable opportunity to share experiences and identify best practices in computer education. They identified areas of improvements and developed actions plans for courses. They also discussed incorporating job market needs into the curriculum.

This paper will describe the process of planning, executing and evaluating the CRW. It will discuss the workshop goals, derived from the NCAAA Quality Standards for Post Secondary Institutions: these goals are to define relevant learning outcomes, evaluate effective teaching strategies and verify standards of student assessments. A model visualizing the CRW process is presented and explained. This model is composed of three components; pre-workshop planning activities, the discussion topics during the workshop, and post-workshop activities such as evaluating the CRW and defining areas of improvement, and publishing the results on the CRW website.

Keywords:

curriculum assessment, academic accreditation, quality assurance.