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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