Understanding the Software Development Industry's Perspective on Coding Boot Camps versus Traditional 4-year Colleges

Burke, Quinn; Bailey, Cinamon; Lyon, Louise Ann; Green, Emily

doi:10.1145/3159450.3159485

Cited by 16 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…increased critical feedback to prepare students for giving and receiving feedback in the workplace, real world practice from week one in programs, and increased opportunities to be exposed to the industry). This perspective from code camp students is supported by our past research examining industry perspectives on such camps [3].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…While the research here presents student perspectives and past research [3] presented industry perspectives, going forward, we will examine individual instructor perspectives from each learning environment: How do they perceive these soft skills and to what degree do they teach (and think they can, in fact, teach) such skills to post-secondary students? In addition to examining instructors' perceptions, we will explore instructional practices with regards to how soft skills are incorporated into the curriculum, examining select syllabi and assignments across camp and college/ university classroom.…”

Section: Limitations and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2018, initial research examined the software development industry's perspective of coding bootcamps and how they compared with traditional four-year CS programs [3][4]. Through a series of hour-long focus groups and interviews with hiring managers, "soft" skills, such as critical thinking, teamwork, and collaboration, were altogether twice as likely to come up than "hard" skills among participants [3]. However, this research also found that hiring managers nearly unanimously first sorted applicants based on whether they had obtained a four-year degree or not.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, this research also found that hiring managers nearly unanimously first sorted applicants based on whether they had obtained a four-year degree or not. The college degree, however, did not necessarily need to be in CS [3][4]. Despite this overwhelming trend of hiring college graduates, industry representatives noted that while a college degree was usually a requisite credential, they often preferred their boot camp hires based on the fact that these hires were usually older and had more experience with hands-on projects and team building [4], reinforcing prior findings [2][3] that the majority of code camp graduates who secured employment postgraduation also had college degrees.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Camp or College?

Burke

Bailey

2019

Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

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The purpose of this paper is to investigate student perspectives of how college computer science (CS) programs compare to those of coding bootcamps. In particular, the research examines to what degree students report their respective programs instill the necessary interpersonal and intrapersonal skills (i.e., teamwork and resilience) necessary for workforce entry. Prior research from the authors suggests there is a perception among the software industry that college graduates often lack the necessary so-called "soft" skills for successful workforce entry; this research investigates to what degree students from each educational environment mirror this sensibility in the assessment of their own abilities, learning preferences, and educational experiences. Data is based on a series of fifty (50) one-on-one interviews with students, 22 of whom come from a coding bootcamp background and 28 who come from a four-year college. Alongside these interviews, students completed both pre-surveys (50 students) and post-surveys (19 students) on learning preferences and programmatic experience; 12 students also participated in followup interviews further articulating their learning experiences. Results indicate that despite significant differences in age and workforce experience, coding bootcamp students and undergraduates differ little in how they perceive themselves as learners. However, there were notable differences in reasons for application to respective programs as well as exposure to practical learning experiences through coursework. Discussion focuses on the degree to which the aforementioned "soft skills" are perceived as learned expertise versus personal attributes, and to what degree such perception may contribute to higher education's pedagogical and curricular approaches to CS instruction.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Section: Limitations and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Camp or College?

Burke

Bailey

2019

Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

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“…Alongside MOOCs there has also been significant growth in bite-size learning. Such courses can offer some advantages over a traditional university course such enabling graduates to strongly evidence soft skills such as teamwork, independent learning, passion and persistence [41].…”

Section: Impact On Accreditationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a 21st Century Personalised Learning Skills Taxonomy

Ward

Phillips

Bowers

et al. 2021

2021 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON)

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There exists a significant gap between the requirements specified within higher education qualifications and the requirements sought by employers. The former, commonly expressed in terms of learning outcomes, provide a measure of capability, of what skills have been learnt (an input measure); the latter, commonly expressed in terms of role descriptions, provide a measure of competency, of what a learner has become skillful in ( an output measure). Accreditation traditionally provides a way of translating and embedding industry-relevant content into education programmes but current approaches make fully addressing this requirements gap, referred to here as the Capability-Competency Chasm, very difficult. This paper explores current efforts to address this global challenge, primarily through STEM examples that apply within the United Kingdom and European Union, before proposing a way of bridging this chasm through the use of a 21 st Century (C21) skills taxonomy. The concept of C21 Skills Hours as a new input measurement for learning within qualifications is introduced, and an illustrative example is presented to show the C21 skills taxonomy in action. The paper concludes with a discussion of how such a taxonomy can also be used to support a microcredentialing framework that aligns to existing competency frameworks, enabling formal, nonformal and informal learning to all be recognized. A C21 Skills taxonomy can therefore be used to bridge the gap between capability (input) and competency (output), providing a common language both for learning and demonstrating a skill. This approach has profound implications for addressing current and future skills gaps as well as for supporting a transition to more personalised learning within schools, colleges and universities and more lifelong learning both during and outside of employment.

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AI in Industry Today

Kejriwal

2022

Artificial Intelligence for Industries of the Future

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Understanding the Software Development Industry's Perspective on Coding Boot Camps versus Traditional 4-year Colleges

Cited by 16 publications

References 1 publication

Camp or College?

Camp or College?

Towards a 21st Century Personalised Learning Skills Taxonomy

AI in Industry Today

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