Teaching in first-year ICT education in Australia: research and practice

Abstract

This paper details current research and teaching practice for first-year Information and Communications Technology (ICT) students at Australian universities. The project aims to record and disseminate good practice in first-year ICT teaching in Australia. The aim of the paper is to examine how academics are addressing the challenge of engaging first-year ICT students in the learning process. Two sources of data are used, a systematic survey of research literature from the last five years and detailed interviews of 30 academics involved in first-year teaching duties. Academics from 25 Australian universities represented a range of universities, including six from the Go8 group, three from the ATN group, and five from the IRU group. The paper highlights current areas of research, any gaps in the research literature, examples of current good teaching practices, and recommendations for further research.