Ministry of Education

Identified Competency Focus Areas and Core Courses for

Ethiopian Higher Education Institutions’ Exit Examination

Program: - Bachelor of Science in Computer Science

By: - Shumet Tadesse, [email protected], University of Gondar

July, 2022
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
 Revision History
No Revision History Date
1 First Draft July 19, 2022
2 Revised On
3 Validated On
4 Approved On

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 Table of Contents
1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................................1
2. Expected profiles of graduates.............................................................................................................2
2.1. Knowledge...................................................................................................................................3
2.2. Skills............................................................................................................................................3
2.3. Attitudes......................................................................................................................................3
3. Competencies and learning outcomes..................................................................................................2
3.1. Core competencies.......................................................................................................................2
3.2. Mapping between core Competencies and Selected Courses.......................................................4
4. Courses to be included in the exam.....................................................................................................5
5. Categorizing courses into themes........................................................................................................6
6. Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................6
References...................................................................................................................................................7

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 1. Introduction
We live in the digital age, where computers pervade every aspect of our daily lives. It is
believed that the potential of computers and the benefits they can bring to society are only just
beginning to be realized. Computer scientists are at the forefront of figuring this out, with the
goal of improving existing solutions as well as developing entirely new ones. The
development of theories, as well as the design and implementation of software and hardware
solutions, all necessitate the involvement of computer scientists. As a result, universities both
locally and globally teach computer science in an effort to produce the scientists and
engineers of tomorrow.

Most Ethiopian higher education institutions offer computer science as a four-year degree
program, with the goal of contributing to the country's overall growth by producing needed
manpower. In line with this, to avoid irregularities on the graduation profile a harmonized
curriculum is in practice which is implemented across all universities. The curriculum states
that the minimum requirement for graduation is a CGPA of 2.0, which does not measure the
overall learning output of the program but rather individual courses. As a result, a framework
that guarantees the fulfillment of the curriculum's graduate profile, as well as the production
of qualified labor for the local, national and international markets is needed. To this end, the
Ministry of Education (MoE) devised an exit exam as a framework to achieve the
aforementioned and other goals, such as creating a conducive environment for stakeholders’
proper engagement and assessing students’ achievement in their major area.

There are various settings in which an exit exam may be defined. In our case, it is described
as a form of assessment that higher education institutions utilize to examine the basic level of
competency obtained by its students. It is an assessment that is given to students towards the
end of their higher education tenure. Exit exams, according to studies [1], improve student
performance, have a positive impact on the job market, and result in faster economic growth.
As a result, computer scientists who have completed their higher education can use the exit
exam to demonstrate that they have the skills, knowledge, attitudes, and general competencies
required by stakeholders worldwide.

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First and foremost, this competency and exit exam guideline for the BSc degree in computer
science program at higher education institutions in Ethiopia outlines the expected profiles of
graduates, such as knowledge, skills, and attitudes. The core competencies are then identified
and their course mapping is presented. The courses to be included in the exam are then listed
and organized into themes. Finally, concluding remarks are communicated.

2. Expected profiles of graduates

The three profiles of knowledge, skills, and attitudes are universally acknowledged as being
necessary for graduates [2].

 Knowledge ("know-what") is the mastery of fundamental ideas and concepts as well as

the application of learning to new situations
 Skills ("know-how") is the ability to complete tasks with predictable outcomes
 Attitudes ("know-why") are intellectual, social, or moral tendencies

3. Competencies and learning outcomes

3.1. Core competencies

The term competency refers to workplace performance, or what a graduate should bring to a
job. The concept glues together the above mentioned expected graduate profiles, i.e.,
Competency=Knowledge + Skills +Attitudes. The core competencies for computer science
graduates are listed as follows:

 Design a computer system application, process, or protocol to meet the requirements of

users or stakeholders.
 Use a variety of operating systems, programming languages, and software tools
effectively.
 Use formal reasoning to justify the correctness of computer science results
 Manage and administer computing systems and resources
 Identify any risks or safety issues that may be involved in the operation of computing
equipment in a given context.
 Evaluate systems in terms of general quality attributes and potential tradeoffs presented
within the context of the given problem.

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  Create a substantial technical document that describes work and plan of a project.

Specifically, in addition to the above mentioned competency areas the expected graduates of
computer science graduates need to have the following competencies:

3.2. Knowledge

Graduates of computer science are expected to understand both the theoretical and practical
aspects of field, as well as the role of computing systems in general. To this end, the ability to
apply or justify concepts, methods, and computational proficiency in the field is required. It is,
therefore, critical to have comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the following topics:

 The fundamental concepts, principles and theories of computation and the application of
computers.

 Software Fundamentals and programming languages

 Systems architecture and infrastructure
 Systems modeling
 Structuring of data and information
 Hardware
 Trends and developments in computer science

3.3. Skills

The following skills are also expected from computer science graduates:

 Remembering emerging technologies

 Understanding computer architecture and operating systems
 Applying programming languages and software tools to address issues in the real world
 Analyzing existing computing infrastructures and architectures
 Evaluating systems in terms of general quality attributes and potential tradeoffs
 Creating computer artifacts to solve societal problems by applying system modeling,
development, and implementation principles

3.4. Attitudes

Graduates of computer science are expected to have a wide range of transferable skills
(attitudes), including

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  Teamwork: Capable of making a valuable contribution to a development team.

 Communication: Briefly explain technical problems and how to solve them to a range of
audiences.

 Handling Ethical Issues in Computer Technology: Recognize and follow the social,
professional, and ethical issues that arise from the use of computer technology.

3.5. Mapping between core Competencies and Selected Courses

The mapping of core competencies to core courses is shown in Table 3-1. Competency, as
previously stated, is expressed in terms of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. The skills are
described using Bloom's levels of skill [3], which are composed of six cumulative degrees of
skills including remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating.

Table 3-1 Mapping of core competencies to courses

Computer organization and architecture

Introduction to Emerging Technologies
Wireless Communication and Mobile

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

Network and System Administration
Data Communication and Computer

Fundamentals of Database Systems

Design and Analysis of Algorithms

Data Structures and Algorithms

Object Oriented Programming

Advanced Database Systems

Competency Vs Courses
Computer Programming

Software Engineering
Web Programming

Computer Security

Operating System
Networking

Computing

Knowledge Element Skills

Programming Languages Understanding, X X X
Applying
Structuring of data and Analyzing X X X
information
Systems Modeling Evaluating, X
Creating
Analyzing, X X X X X X
Systems architecture &
Evaluating
infrastructure

Software development Applying, X X X X

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 Creating
Software Fundamentals Understanding, X X X X X X
Applying
Hardware Understanding, X
Remembering
Concepts, principles X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
and theories of Understanding,
computation and the Remembering
application of
computers
X X
Trends and
developments in
computer science

4. Courses to be included in the exam

No Curse Code Course Name ECTS
1 EmTe1012 Introduction to Emerging Technologies 5
2 CoSc1011 Computer Programming 5
3 CoSc2041 Fundamentals of Database Systems 5
4 CoSc2041 Advanced Database Systems 5
5 CoSc2051 Object Oriented Programming 5
6 CoSc2022 Computer organization and Architecture 5
7 CoSc2032 Data Communication and Computer Networking 5
8 CoSc2092 Data Structures and Algorithms 5
9 CoSc3081 Web programming 7
10 CoSc3034 Wireless Communication and Mobile Computing 5
11 CoSc3023 Operating System 5
12 CoSc3061 Software Engineering 5
13 CoSc3094 Design and Analysis of Algorithms 5
14 CoSc3112 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence 5
15 CoSc4035 Computer Security 5
16 CoSc4036 Network and System Administration 5
Total 0
A computer science graduate should take 52 courses to graduate, according to the current
curriculum. However, including all courses in the competency and exit examination is
unrealistic. To that end, the following courses were chosen from among all available options for
the competency and exit examination.

Table 4-2: List of selected Courses

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 5. Categorizing courses into themes
Table 5-3: Courses organized into themes

Theme Courses
Computer Programming
Programming and Web Development Object Oriented Programming
Web Programming
Data Communication and Computer
Networking
Wireless Communication and Mobile
Computer Networking and Security
Computing
Computer Security
Network and System Administration
Fundamentals of Database Systems
System Development and Database Systems Advanced Database Systems
Software Engineering
Introduction to Emerging Technologies
Emerging Technologies and Intelligent Systems
Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
Design and Analysis of Algorithms
Algorithms
Data Structures and Algorithms
Operating System
Computer Architecture and Operating Systems
Computer organization and architecture

6. Conclusion
Core competency and exit examination courses for the computer science BSc degree program
were presented in this guideline. Sixteen courses were chosen from a pool of more than 52
courses to assess students' competencies. The courses are further categorized into six themes
for comprehension purpose. The courses on the list are fundamental courses that prepare
students to compete in the global marketplace.

The exam that is going to be prepared from these courses should focus on concepts that guide
for long term knowledge and transfer skills instead of detailed assessment. Furthermore, the
courses are subject to change in the event of a curriculum update.

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 References
[1] Woessmann, Ludger. "Central exit exams improve student outcomes." IZA World of
Labor (2018).
[2] Clear, A., A. Parrish, J. Impagliazzo, P. Wang, P. Ciancarini, E. Cuadros-Vargas, S.
Frezza et al. "Computing curricula 2020 (CC2020) paradigms for global computing
education." ACM: New York, NY, USA (2020).
[3] Anderson, L.W. et al., A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of
Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives, abridged edition, (White Plains, NY
Longman, 2001).