Apprenticeship-based degree in Software Development
Andrew P Black, Mark P. Jones, and Barton MasseyDepartment of Computer Science
What do we do as instructors?
1. teach book learnin’2. offer learning experiences3. provide motivation4. assess progress towards a credential5. design individual study programs
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What do MOOCs do well?
1. teach book learnin’2. offer learning experiences3. provide motivation4. assess progress towards a credential5. design individual study programs
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What do MOOCs do well?
1. teach book learnin’2. offer learning experiences3. provide motivation4. assess progress towards a credential5. design individual study programs
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What do MOOCs do well?
1. teach book learnin’2. offer learning experiences3. provide motivation4. assess progress towards a credential5. design individual study programs
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Apprenticeship
A learning-model that emphasizes2. learning through experience3. motivation4. obtaining a recognized credential5. individualized curricula
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Apprenticeship
A learning-model that emphasizes2. learning through experience3. motivation4. obtaining a recognized credential5. individualized curricula
Coincidentally, apprenticeship also6. makes education affordable
- apprentices produce value for paying customers
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What we are proposing
An apprenticeship-based degree program• An single “studio” replaces ~20 “courses”• Graduation requires demonstrated competency,
not course completion• Book learnin’ comes from online courses, books,
research papers, the web, …• Tacit learning supplements explicit learning• Apprentices develop real software for real
customers• Apprentices at different levels work together, and
with professional developers
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Why do we think this can work?
Because it has worked!• 2004–2005 academic year • New Mexico Highlands University• Profs Pam Rostal & Dave West
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7Photo courtesy Prof David West
8Photo courtesy Prof David West
9Photo courtesy Prof David West
10Photo courtesy Prof David West
An apprenticeship-based degree in Software Development
Why Software Development?• because we are computer scientists:
- that’s what most of our graduates do
• because existing educational programs are not very effective
• employers will pay - for software and for future top-notch hires
• room for improvement- the gap between the “best” and “ordinary”
practitioners can be 10x
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Competencies
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dozens hundreds
Competency areas include:literature programming languages
communicating with people databases
interaction principles operating systems
interpersonal relations security
Competency Levels
Competency can be at various levels1. concepts and vocabulary 2. application of knowledge under supervision and
direction 3. independent application 4. application in novel situations 5. ability to mentor and direct others in the subject area;6. ability to create materials and tools (curricula) that
can be used by others to teach the competency area; 7. ability to make an original contribution to the
discipline in the area addressed by the competency
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Credit hours replaced by Competency × levels
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1 credit-hour 10 competency-levels
2 3 1 4 3 3 2 2
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SWOT Analysis
• Strong CS Department
• Portland is an industry hub for process improvement
• Connections with local and national companies
• Readiness of PSU to reThink education
• Provost willing to countenance change
• Insufficient investment in personnel
• Institutional structure makes it hard to spend money
• OUS degree requirements
• Credit-hours and courses are institutionalized
• Culture discourages innovation
• Competitors will get there first
• Insufficient paying customers to fund personnel
• Insufficient projects to fund pay apprentices
• Personnel from NM Highlands program are available
• We could be “first to market”• Shortage of high-quality
software developers• Companies will pay for “project
ready” graduates
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Strengths
• Strong CS Department• Portland is an industry hub for process
improvement• Connections with local and national companies• Readiness of PSU to reThink education• Provost willing to countenance change
Weaknesses
• Insufficient investment in personnel• High-stress environment for faculty• Institutional structure makes it hard to spend
money• OUS degree requirements• Credit-hours and courses are institutionalized• Culture does not support innovation
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Opportunities
• Personnel from NM Highlands program are available
• We could be “first to market”• Shortage of high-quality software developers• Companies will pay for “project ready”
graduates
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Threats
• Competitors will get there first• Insufficient paying customers to fund personnel• Insufficient projects to pay apprentices•
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