Developing Work-Ready Software Engineers using Real-world Team-based Projects as a Catalyst for Learning

Abstract

Abstract-The National Software Academy in Wales is a recently established collaboration between Cardiff University, Welsh Government, the Alacrity Foundation and the technology industry. The aim is to address the gap in the skills market for work ready software engineers. The Academy runs an industry focused BSc degree in Applied Software Engineering that sees local and national industry partners actively participating in the running of the program and gives students the opportunity to work on real-world team-based projects throughout their degree course. This paper reports on the first year of the program: the success and positive engagement from industry partners, the integrated style of delivery across program modules, and the challenges faced going into year 2. Against this backdrop, the idea of a National Software Academy was implemented through the collaboration of Cardiff University, Welsh Government and the Alacrity Foundation. KeywordsThe National Software Academy [5] was developed in early 2014 with the aim of piloting a number of aspects of the concept in academic year 2014-2015 and releasing an industry-focused Applied Software Engineering (ASE) program in academic year 2015-2016. The key aim of the ASE program is to equip students with the skills, knowledge and hands-on experience required to be immediately effective as a commercial software engineer when they graduate. II. ENGAGEMENT WITH INDUSTRYCardiff University has a strong tradition of research-led degrees so the ASE program has taken a new direction with its strong industry focus. It therefore requires a high-level of engagement with industry. Fortunately, the partnership with the Alacrity Foundation provided an excellent entry point to engage with their existing network of contacts via companies they were already engaged with, and to access their industry-active mentors. Welsh Government have also played an important part in promoting the Academy, both to the larger regionallyimportant companies but also to inward investors, SMEs and to public sector agencies. A. Pilot yearThe pilot year was run with 8 students on a placement year. A key aim was to test the feasibility of running team-based projects and trialing the teaching methods needed to support the delivery of the projects. Students were supported by one fulltime academic staff member and one part-time industry-active tutor. Students worked in an office-based environment that resembled a small start-up company. The pilot year and the pipeline of projects was managed by a dedicated senior member of staff from the Alacrity Foundation and the pilot year's project manager. Alacrity also provided an existing network of industrial contacts who could be introduced to the Academy concept and used to gauge reaction to some of the aims of the Academy. Trialing assessment methods was out of scope of the pilot year as the placement students were being assessed through their placement module. B. Established academySince the Academy has become established in the local area, it has been successful i...

Revitalising Higher Education: Thinking inclusively to enable teaching-focused colleagues to flourish

“…Funding bodies and government initiatives have also played a role in increasing teaching-focused contracts, activities, and offers. Some funding schemes, particularly those orientated towards meeting industry needs, specifically allocate resources to support teaching-focused roles and projects, which in turn has enabled some institutions to create more teaching-focused positions (Cooper et al 2016).…”