IUSE/PFE:RED: From Programmers to Professional Software Engineers: Revolutionary Curricular Innovation, Inclusive Pedagogy, and Faculty Development Grant uri icon

abstract

  • Overview: Computer Science (CS) is one of the few disciplines that has undergone monumental changes in the last two decades. The software industry has been complaining for long that Computer Science academia at large is not imparting relevant technical and professional skills to students. Rigorous theory grounded in industry practices, encased in innovative curricula and inclusive pedagogy, are critical to improving retention and graduation rates in our department. Although learning research and educa- tional technology offers innovative solutions to effectively engage millennial students, teaching methods and learning environments have not significantly changed in the department. Lackluster diversity and poor participation of underrepresented groups in another area of concern. East Carolina University (ECU) serves predominantly first generation college students coming from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds in eastern North Carolina. The Fall 2016 enrollment in undergraduate computer science program is 387 students. The program has a history of alarmingly low retention and graduation rates. The department has implemented several curricular changes last year. Through the PirateRevolt project, the department intends to embark on a revolutionary journey to achieve several challenging goals including (1) transforming programmers to professional software engi- neers, (2) personalizing teaching and learning for both formal and informal settings, (3) infusing profes- sional skills development into the entire curriculum by leveraging open-source software, (4) dramatically increasing retention and graduation rates, and (5) substantially increasing academic success of underrep- resented groups and community college transfer students. The department is at a critical juncture which is best characterized by an excerpt from Thomas Friedman's writing: Big breakthroughs happen when what is suddenly possible meets what is desperately necessary. Intellectual Merit: PirateRevolt project is both innovative and revolutionary. It takes an unprece- dented, bold, and systemic approach to the professional formation of software engineers. The PirateRe- volt model provides both a strategy and roadmap for its implementation. The project aims to achieve professional formation of software engineers through the non-course-centric innovative curriculum, in- clusive pedagogy, reusable and personalizable teaching and learning content. Professional skills develop- ment is infused through the entire curriculum and is enabled via open-source software and other meth- ods. Our proposed change model reflects local context and constraints, and draws upon proven change models in the literature. The research questions we investigate in the project are driven by our change model. We expect the answers to these questions to reveal the processes and tactics needed to transform programmer-centric CS education to one that is rooted in rigorous professional software engineering practices. Broader Impacts: There are hundreds of computer science departments in the country whose struc- tural and cultural characteristics are similar to the East Carolina University CS department. The body of research that will be produced through the PirateRevolt project will be relevant and equally effective for executing similar revolutions in these departments. To adapt the PirateRevolt model, institutions do not incur costs beyond initial online training and computing resource requirements are minimal. The software is impacting every aspect of our society from self-driving cars, to drones, robotics, weather prediction, precision agriculture, and personalized medicine. Computer Scientists and Software Engineers are expected to play a socio-technical role that extends beyond just developing software-intensive systems. The PirateRevolt project prepares students for this critical role. The project will draw upo

date/time interval

  • July 2018 - September 2023