Integrating a realistic information technology project into an introductory computer science course at West Point

Teaching Information Technology (IT) is an important first and sometimes only opportunity to expose undergraduate students to technology and concepts that will be a part of their daily lives and future careers. This paper describes and compares the integration and use of a real world Information Technology project into an introductory level computer science course at West Point over 3 semesters. The real world problem posed to the students was to set up a deployable network using commercial of the shelf (COTS) equipment and a limited budget. Specific requirements for the system to be developed were given such as the number of users, system functionality and connectivity. The project was to address the following components of an Information System. During the first semester this project was used, it was handed out during lesson 8 of 40 lessons. During the second semester when this project was given to freshmen for the first time, the project was assigned later, during lesson 26. The motivation for assigning the project later was to reinforce material covered in the course. During the third semester, a hands-on introduction of new equipment such as personal digital assistants (PDA's) as well as network components was added before the project was assigned. One of the objectives was to provide a better understanding of the technology used in creating the system for the project as well as a better understanding of the parts of an Information System. The project was successful in all three iterations. The cadets, who were given the project later in the semester, when it was used to reinforce previous classroom lessons, developed the more detailed and potentially successful systems. Overall, the IT project was successful in the goals of introducing and reinforcing basic IT principles and applying this knowledge to a real world problem. This type of IT project can be used in all introductory, undergraduate computer science courses to reinforce the material taught as well as generate excellent discussion and questions on important IT concepts.