NACCQ Qualifications – A Performance Review and Future Developments

Garry Roberton
Waikato Institute of Technology
garry.roberton@wintec.ac.nz

Janne Ross
Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology
rossj@cpit.ac.nz

Abstract

In 1986 a committee, consisting of  industry and polytechnic computing representatives, was formed to design a new qualification in computing that would replace the outdated New Zealand Certificate in Data Processing (NZCDP). As a result the Certificate in Business Computing (CBC) programme, a radical new approach to computing education incorporating competency-based assessment, was offered nationally in polytechnics for the first time in 1988. The National Advisory Committee on Computing Qualifications (NACCQ), formed to replace the NZCDP review committee, continued with the development of the Advanced Certificate in Business Computing (ACBC), introduced in 1989, and the National Diploma in Business Computing (NDBC), introduced the following year. The organisation has continued to strive to serve its member institutions over the last fifteen years by endevouring to keep up with, and ahead of, developments in the rapidly changing field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

This paper presents the findings from a comprehensive survey of NACCQ sector affiliates (includes Polytechnics and Universities) on which NACCQ qualifications and modules are currently being offered. It focuses on the question of whether the organisation is currently perceived to be addressing the needs of its members, and those of the ICT industry, in terms of the content of the current edition of the New Zealand Qualifications in Information and Communications Technology (the Blue Book).

Keywords

NACCQ, information and communications technology, ICT, APNZ, Blue Book

1. Introduction

Recent publications and public statements, such as those below, challenge the National Advisory Committee on Computing Qualifications (NACCQ) to review its effectiveness in supporting the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the tertiary education sector.

“For the first time ever New Zealand has an explicit, connected, future-focused Tertiary Education Strategy that will directly contribute to broad national, economic and social goals” (The Tertiary Education Strategy 2002/2007).

“The effective emergence of an Information Economy and its sustainability depend on the interplay between [Australian)]public policy, the education and training sectors, and industry” (Morrison, 2001, p. 48).

NACCQ was formed in 1988 to replace the New Zealand Certificate in Data Processing (NZCDP) review committee. The NZCDP review committee, consisting of committed industry and polytechnic representatives, and under control of the Information Technology Education Authority (ITEA), was charged with the responsibility of reviewing the existing NZCDP qualification with a view to developing a new, more relevant computing qualification. The review committee successfully fulfilled their obligations by creating an exciting and revolutionary new qualification called the Certificate in Business Computing (CBC), which was based on a grouping of individual modules and used a competency-based assessment scheme (a modified form of mastery assessment). Within two years NACCQ had developed an intermediate qualification, the Advanced Certificate in Business Computing (ACBC) that built on the introductory level CBC programme, and the National Diploma in Business Computing (NDBC), the purpose of which was to extend student topic knowledge and skills to a higher level. These qualifications were published in the New Zealand Polytechnic Qualifications in Business Computing, colloquially referred to as the ‘Blue Book’ because of its blue cover. 

During this same period the then national government announced a commitment to develop a new national curriculum, a draft of which appeared in late 1991. The foreword by the Minister of Education, Dr Lockwood Smith, drew attention to a perceived need for New Zealand to compete in the modern international economy and achieve educational standards that would produce a workforce capable of raising the nation’s competitiveness in the international marketplace. After allowing a very short time for public response to the draft, The New Zealand Curriculum Framework was published in 1993 (McGee, 1997).

In 1994, a unit standard writing party assembled at the Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki (WITT) under the leadership of New Zealand Qualifications Authority’s  (NZQA’s) Computer Consultant, David Christie, to write the unit standards for computing, levels 5 to 8. This move was in response to an identified need to bridge a gap in student computing and information technology (IT) knowledge between post secondary school and pre-industry, identified at the 1994 NACCQ conference in Christchurch. The elements and performance criteria for each unit standard produced were based on the content of the modules contained in NACCQ’s Blue Book. All of the computing unit standards developed that way were finally registered in August 1996, but it was a further six months before the structure for the computing qualifications, levels 5 to 8, was registered on the NZQA National Qualifications Framework (NQF).

With the infrastructure and the standards of the NACCQ programmes already well established, polytechnics could not see any added value in the NZQA unit standards, so there was no uptake of the NZQA qualifications. Manawatu Polytechnic (now UCOL) in Palmerston North was the exception in developing a NQF level 5 diploma in place of their CBC programme, which they had ceased teaching in 1996. It was abandoned after just one year (Kelly, 1998).

The primary focus of NACCQ is best described by its motto ‘Fostering Computing Education in New Zealand’. Although very aware of the parallel development of computing unit standards by NZQA, especially at levels 1 to 3, NACCQ turned its attention to fostering the development of other computing and information technology qualifications. Within a relatively short time the Introductory Certificate in Computing (ICC), with threads of numeracy and literacy woven into the whole programme, was developed and introduced into polytechnics in 1990. The Introductory Certificate in Information Technology (ICIT), a programme specifically designed for secondary schools, was subsequently developed. This encouraged cooperation in IT education between secondary schools and the tertiary sector. The Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) IT staff developed a Graduate Diploma in Computing Education (GDICE) to meet the growing demand of computer technology and IT education in the school classroom. This was acquired by NACCQ to provide all polytechnics throughout New Zealand with an opportunity to offer the programme (Young & Joyce, 1998).

NACCQ is an organisation that provides help and support to member institutions in the development, teaching and quality assurance of courses and programmes, from certificate to degree level, in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). But is it meeting the expectations of member institutions?

A comprehensive survey of polytechnics and their equivalents (‘institutes’) was conducted towards the end of 2002 and the beginning of 2003. Respondents from the member institutions surveyed were asked to indicate the NACCQ programmes that their institutes offered from 1995 to 2002, qualifications to be offered in 2003 and qualifications planned for offering in 2005. They were also asked about the modules offered across the various programmes and several questions relating to the performance of NACCQ, in terms of its quality assurance and leadership roles.

Twenty of the 22 institutions responded and this paper offers a ‘snapshot’ of the organisation NACCQ’s performance, derived from the responses. It takes a critical look at whether NACCQ is meeting the needs of its sector affiliates, in terms of quality assurance and educational leadership, and discusses its possible future role, in terms of what is on the ICT horizon, especially in light of our Prime Minister’s statements identifying ICT as a key sector in the Government’s “Growth and Innovation Framework” (ICT Taskforce Report, 2002).   

2. NACCQ’s Philosophies

“The second biggest constraint to growth of the ICT sector is the supply of appropriately educated graduates.”

(ICT Taskforce Report, 2002, p. 20)

NACCQ, as a subject forum of the Association of Polytechnics of New Zealand (APNZ) and, as the only national ICT advisory body recognised by the NZQA, has occupied a unique position in the New Zealand computing education scene for fifteen years. At its inception, NACCQ identified a set of philosophies to underpin the development and maintenance of its business computing programmes and its quality assurance processes. Selections of those relevant to this study follow:

·         Programmes must be capable of rapid response to significant industry changes.

·         Programmes must offer the possibility of in-depth study of chosen areas, reflecting the increasing diversity of knowledge requirements and career options.

·         Programmes must be capable of satisfying the differing regional needs throughout New Zealand.

·         Programmes must be the outcome of continuous close liaison between the New Zealand computing profession and New Zealand sector affiliate educators.

·         Programmes must be maintained as national courses with consistent nationwide standards, producing portable and recognised qualifications.

(New Zealand Qualifications in Information and Communications Technology, 2002, p. 9)

This research helps identify how well NACCQ has lived up to these philosophical statements and how has it endeavoured to provide focus and direction for sixteen years in the field of ICT education in New Zealand.

3. Findings

3.1 Designated roles

Respondents to this survey had titles or designations as listed in Table 1.

 

3.2 NACCQ Programmes Offered

All 20 institutes who responded indicated that they offered NACCQ programmes over the period illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1. NACCQ Programmes offered

* No longer available as a national programme due to the introduction of the National Qualifications Framework National Certificate in Computing Level 3 qualification and a sunset clause imposed by the NZQA. Now offered as a local programme.

# The ACBC was renamed the Diploma in Business Computing in 1999 to align the programme name with NZQA qualifications nomenclature.

Figure 1 indicates that the CBC and the DipBC programmes have remained the dominant computing and IT qualifications offered by a majority of the responding institutes. In spite of the rapid introduction of degree programmes into polytechnics from 1996 onwards, the number of institutes offering the NDBC programme remained relatively stable until 1999. It was still offered in 2002 by almost a third of the institutes who responded.

The number of institutes offering NACCQ qualifications in 2003 and 2005, including the Certificate in Computing (CIC), is illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2. NACCQ Qualifications Offered in 2003 and 2005

Notes:

1. 2003 is a transition year for phasing out the CBC and DipBC programme names and replacing them with the Diploma in Information and Communications Technology (DipICT) Levels 5 and 6 respectively. The responses have been grouped accordingly.

2. The CIC qualification was available in 1999 as a local programme.

Figure 2 indicates that just over a third of the respondents are offering the CIC programme. Seventy-five percent continue to offer the DipICT L5 (CBC) programme with the DipICT L6 programme indicating a slight upward trend with twelve polytechnics offering it for 2003 and 2005. Figure 2 shows that four institutes offer NDBC, thus continuing the downward trend, as illustrated in Figure 1.

An additional institute is planning to offer the CIC programme in 2005. Interestingly, the NDBC qualification continues to be provided at four institutes. This includes two small polytechnics that are not planning to offer a degree and two polytechnics, one medium sized and one large, which offer a degree programme in parallel with NDBC. 

3.3  Certificate in Computing (CIC) Level 3

The CIC was developed by a working party at the 1999 conference in Dunedin in response to demands from polytechnics for a level 3 programme that was not an NQF unit standards-based qualification. It was then made freely available to polytechnics on a national basis, although it was not included in the Blue Book until the release of the ninth edition at the beginning of 2003.

At the time of writing (May 2003) the CIC was awaiting NZQA approval as a NACCQ qualification under the umbrella of the Blue Book family of ICT qualifications.

The distribution of the twenty-three modules offered, representing a 100% uptake, is influenced by the regulations, as stated in the Blue Book. These require that no more than 30 credits (5 modules) be obtained from any one category and that the programme must include modules from at least 3 of the first 5 categories, shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Module Categories

	Module Category	Subject Area Code
1	Systems Hardware & Software	HS
2	Software Applications	AP
3	Business Skills	BS
4	Software Development	SD
5	Electronic Communication	EC
6	Special Topic	ST

3.5          Other Responses

The responses from the twenty institutes, to the five additional questions relating to various NACCQ quality assurance issues, are tabulated in Table 9.

Table 10. Suggestions and Ideas for NACCQ to Consider

Category	Suggestions and Ideas
Moderation	i) Create assessment sample folders to maintain standards across country ii) At the AGM in Napier’s conference, the degree moderation scheme was discussed and agreed would happen. It did not.  Are we going to relive that again for 2003?
Marketing	i) Encourage industry contacts and advisory committee members to include qualification requirements in job adverts; e.g. “tertiary qualification required: DipICT or similar” or, NACCQ computing qualifications required, such as DipICT” ii) Get more recognition of these qualifications by universities; e.g. Massey, Waikato.  Posters etc. to schools very helpful and worth repeating.  Employer booklet helpful but needs updating.  Equivalence to NCEA? TV advertising –“The nationally recognised qualifications that employers demand” iii) Higher profile advertising/promotion to end-users? Brand awareness beyond the providers? iv) We need to be more competitive. We need to work out how PTEs are gaining so many enrolments and compete at that level and do a better job of gaining students.  vi) Lots of marketing (but the cost would be interesting!).  vii) Profile some successful graduates – from an alumni association of grads. vii) Do employers know the difference between a PTE and a NACCQ qualification; e.g. a pseudo-diploma in web design involving cut and paste as opposed to DipICT?
Industry Qualifications	i) Industry applauds International Certification; e.g. MCP, A+.  I would like to see some modules align to this.  It is important if our focus is on the job market and preparing students for the IT industry. ii) Would like to see a work party established (by NACCQ) that would research the Blue Book modules and link them to the most popular Industry Quals; e.g. CompTIA, MSCA, CISCO, etc – this could be a valuable service to us as it is difficult to fund this type of project ourselves – and we would like to see the industry involved in this.
Comments in support (70% of respondents support the concept) of NACCQ Developing Graduate Diplomas	Subject Areas	Number in Support
	Programming	7
	Multi-media	4
	Data Communications & Networking	4
	Web Design	2
	E-Commerce	2
	Information Management	2
	Linux	2
	Computer Graphics	1
	Databases	1