Towards a Design Model for Interdisciplinary Information Systems curriculum Development, as exemplified by Big Data Analytics Education

The need for interdisciplinary programs for problem-based education increases. However, there is a substantial shortage of skilled boundary-spanning students, as prominently evidenced in the field of big data analytics. To solve this problem, this paper suggests a generic interdisciplinary IS curriculum process design model. The model considers education of students with deep knowledge in more than one discipline who possess the right skills that are needed by their future employers. It is applicable to various disciplines and potential combinations of these disciplines. Based on skills representing the consensus of corresponding communities and professionals, the model allows the definition of university specific constraints which are considered in the curriculum design. Besides the process design model we have implemented a prototype for a curriculum generator which supports the generation of concrete curricula. Through our approach that is based on the design science research paradigm, we formalize the curriculum development process which allows the fast and easy design of interdisciplinary programs.