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In Information Technology programs, voluntary professional certifications, generally known in the Information Technology field as IT certifications, are used as indicators of professional skill. An investigation of undergraduate CIS/IT student perceptions of IT industry certified instructors at regionally accredited private and public institutions indicates that the presence or absence of IT certification credentials for instructors affected student perceptions of instructor effectiveness, teaching methodology, student engagement in the class, and to a lesser degree, instructor technical qualifications. It was found that undergraduate CIS/IT students are very aware of their instructor´´s professional credentials and may be more motivated and engaged when attending classes taught by instructors they view as more competant and effective.

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Doctor Andersson served as an instructor at the US Army Armor Center, Ft. Knox, KY, and holds the MCSE, CCNA, Cisco Wireless LAN Field Specialist and CIW Security Analyst certifications. He currently works as a consultant for e-commerce and business IT security for public and private organizations and as a Professor of CIS.

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