Sustainability inclusion in informatics curriculum development

Abstract

Background: Presently, sustainability is a crucial issue for human beings due to many disasters owing to climate change. Information Technology (IT) is now part of everyday life in society due to the proliferation of gadgets such as mobile phones, apps, computers, information systems, web-based systems, etc. (2) Methods: The analysis is based on recent ACM/IEEE curriculum guidelines for IT, a rigorous literature review as well as various viewpoints and their relevance for sustainability-oriented curriculum development; it also includes an assessment of key competencies in sustainability for proposed units in the IT curriculum. (3) Results: Sustainability is a critical subject for prospective IT professionals. Therefore, it is imperative to motivate and raise awareness among students and the faculty community regarding sustainability through its inclusion in the Informatics curriculum. This paper focuses on how sustainability can be included in various courses of the Informatics curriculum. It also considers recent ACM/IEEE curriculum guidelines for IT professionals, which assert that IT students should explore IT strategies required for developing a culture of green and sustainable IT. (4) Conclusions: This paper provides guidelines for IT curriculum development by incorporating sustainable elements in courses, so that future IT professionals can learn and practice sustainability in order to develop a sustainable society. Keywords: curricula; environment; information technology (IT); informatics; sustainability.

Sustainability inclusion in informatics curriculum development