There is a large market demand for COBOL programmers. Can a single introductory course in COBOL programming provide the students with sufficient professional expertise to qualify them for these job openings? If not, is it feasible to offer a second course in COBOL programming? In this paper the technical capabilities of those who have completed an introductory COBOL programming course and the skills and technical qualifications which are desired by employers of entry level COBOL programmers are analyzed. It is concluded that a single introductory COBOL programming course is not sufficient to produce COBOL programmes with the qualifications and skills expected by employers. Therefore, an advanced structured COBOL programming course is proposed. The goals and the course outline including texts and references of such an advanced course are presented. Several samples of integrated information systems which have been completed by student teams in Advanced Structured COBOL programming will be available for the audience.

Lawrence S. Orilia

Papers

Business data processing systems