Detailed Study of the Computer Science Degree at the Central University of Venezuela: Towards a New Curriculum Design

Abstract

The Central University of Venezuela, as part of its efforts for adapting its academic offer to national and international needs, is conducting a project to review, evaluate and modify the Computer Science curriculum, in order to form the professional required by the country. In this paper we present the results of the first stage of the project: an assessment of the Computer Science curriculum based on the use of various data collection instruments used to determine the professor, student and graduates perception of the program as well as deficiencies and potential of our graduates, according to the companies and organizations that hire them. The results show that there exist a gap between the perception of our professors about the program and the opinion of the employers. We also present information about student performance during the last decade, which is an input to the next stage of the program redesign.