Exploring practice-involvement in high level education : the challenges and opportunities when involving practice in IT education

Abstract: Due to the importance of higher education to jobs and economic growth, integration between research, education, and innovation has been paid more and more attention recently. Therefore, practice-involved programs and courses are being offered by many universities in Europe. In this thesis, a case study was conducted in order to explore the challenges and opportunities when involving practice in IT education. Different perspectives have been taken into account from different stakeholders towards the practice-involved program explored in this study. Examining the knowledge boundaries between stakeholders, several challenges among stakeholders were identified. These boundaries prevent the communication between the theoretical world and the practical world, as well as the communication between the stakeholders. Moreover, several opportunities have emerged from involving practice in IT education.