Abstract: Written and oral communication has been listed as the top explicitly requested skill by employers for a long time. Despite pressure from industry, the gap still exists between the expectations and average written and oral communication skills of current information technology/information systems graduates. This paper addresses the above issues and discusses incorporating written communication requirements into today’s information technology curriculum. Drawing from the nation-wide university initiative of “Writing Across the Curriculum” (WAC) in the 1980s, our university’s "Writing Intensive (WI)" course requirements are reviewed. The paper covers the rationale and strategy used to convert three existing courses in our Information Technology (IT) program into WI courses to meet university writing requirements. Furthermore, the paper discusses faculty preparation, and some lessons learned. The study gives pragmatic guidance for educators in the information technology discipline who want to enhance the writing and communication skills of their students.

Keywords: IS/IT curricula, communication and writing skills, Writing Across the Curriculum, writing intensive

Download this article: ISEDJ - V10 N2 Page 48.pdf

Recommended Citation: Liu, X., Murphy, D. (2012). Fusing Communication and Writing Skills in The 21st Century’s IT/IS Curricula. Information Systems Education Journal, 10(2) pp 48-54. http://isedj.org/2012-10/ ISSN: 1545-679X. (A preliminary version appears in The Proceedings of ISECON 2011)