[LINK] Australia has ‘skipped a generation’ of software engineering education

[Roger Clarke]

I haven't dug into this, but the one big misgiving I have is that
project-based / 'collaboration and hands-on learning' works when it's of
the nature of a capstone, after a couple of years' (full-time
equivalent) of actually learning stuff and doing small-scale exercises
in a (moderately) planned and gradated sequence.

ANU CS has done it well for 20 years, in two stages (the earlier C18
Brian Molinari version, then TechLauncher).

I used a similar but less techie approach in the 3rd-year ANU
Commerce(IS) unit in Project Management in the '88-'95 era.

I'm sure many, many people, in many, many tertiary institutions have
done the same, as far back as the fabled Caulfield Inst of Tech.
starting in 1965:  http://www.rogerclarke.com/SOS/AISHist.html#FYA2

Commercial organisations (e.g. Holberton, but increasingly of course
Australian universities) are notoriously bad at enforcing pre-requisites.

So the well-prepared will flourish with the Holberton approach.

And there will be a lot of inadequately prepared people going in, and
coming out way behind the promised standard (despite probably being
given a certificate - it's oh-so-easy to hide in such team environments,
and attentive supervision and buddy-rating systems can achieve only so
much insight into team dynamics).

___________________

> On 26/11/21 2:08 pm, Stephen Loosley wrote:
>> ... Tim Biggs November 23, 2021
>> https://www.theage.com.au/technology/holberton-shakes-up-tech-education-with-melbourne-campus-20211122-p59aup.html
>>
>>
>> Silicon Valley’s Holberton School ... Focusing on collaboration and
>> hands-on learning rather than lectures or rapid boot camps, the
>> project-focused university offers a nine-month full-time course,
>> synchronised with its facilities around the world in an online
>> environment. ...


On 30/11/21 9:03 am, Tom Worthington wrote:
> This is an appealing model. I help with ANU's Techaluncher program,
> where computing students have to work in a team on a project for a real
> client. The emphasis is on people and project skills. For any extra
> technical skills the students need, they are pointed to short online
> courses. ANU engineering students do a similar program (originally
> computing and engineering students were mixed in the same teams).
> However, this project towards the end of the students degree, alongside,
> and after, conventional courses. https://cs.anu.edu.au/TechLauncher/
> 
> It is not a new idea, with project based work being traditional for
> students of hands on vocations, the creative arts, as well as
> architecture. In 2002 I was invited to give a seminar to architecture
> students of the German new Bauhaus. The original school opened in 1919
> and showcased an approach of students working on projects.
> 
>> ... students must pass a rigorous entry test ...
> 
> One way such a program can show good results quickly is to be very
> selective. However, there are some equity issues with that.
> 
>> There are no formal teachers or instructors, with lessons delivered by
>> software and projects led by the students themselves ...
> 
> This requires having *some* staff very skilled in education, technology
> and educational technology. It can all go very wrong, very quickly, due
> to people issues, amplified by tech glitches. In effect what the
> Holberton School have done is replace the tutors, who usually do the
> bulk of the teaching.
> 
>> “What we’ve been doing, especially on the TAFE side, has been failing.
>> ...
> 
> Traditional VET techniques used at TAFE have student apprentices who
> mostly work on the job, and only a few formal classes. However, this
> requires employers willing to take on apprentices. Notably the
> Australian Public Service has IT apprentices and cadets (the apprentices
> attend TAFE, while the cadets attend university). The program has been
> running in the APS for decades, under different names.
> https://www.digitalprofession.gov.au/digital-apprenticeship-program
> 
> Unfortunately private enterprise employers are less willing to take on
> apprentices. It should be noted that traditionally an apprentice had to
> pay the master for their training. Holberton School could be seen as a
> return to that approach.
> 
> 


-- 
Roger Clarke                            mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
T: +61 2 6288 6916   http://www.xamax.com.au  http://www.rogerclarke.com

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Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University