This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Agile Buzz by Laurent Bossavit. Original Post: Agile Education in Jeopardy Feed Title: Incipient(thoughts) Feed URL: http://bossavit.com/thoughts/index.rdf Feed Description: You're in a maze of twisty little decisions, all alike. You're in a maze of twisty little decisions, all different. Latest Agile Buzz Posts Latest Agile Buzz Posts by Laurent Bossavit Latest Posts From Incipient(thoughts)

There's one important limiting factor to the level of quality that the software industry can be expected to provide, and that is the quality of education given to people entering the industry.

There exist "traditional" approaches to the instruction of present and future software developers in the skills of their trade. My own degree in "computer science" is from one such traditional institution, but I obtained it through an untraditional process: in recognition for professional experience. I'm largely an autodidact, and I think for a reason - the traditional approach is not very well suited to the nature of software development. That is why I've been interested in "alternative" approaches to teaching software development, such as Richard Gabriel's Master of Fine Arts in software. I also like to keep tabs on individual teachers who have a different "take" on teaching software development, as Eugene does, and I've started an education initiative of my own, the Coder's Dojo.

I have been dismayed lately to hear about the demise, or impending demise, of several such initiatives. Some seem to be due to purely financial causes: apparently the Arizona State University "Software Factory" (unfortunate name, but interesting approach) will be closing its doors for lack of "a business model that provides high enough return to the university".

More alarming, the SDA (Software Development Apprenticeship) program at New Mexico Highlands University seems in danger of being shut down even though, as far as I can tell, it makes sense in both pedagogical and financial terms. NMHU students have few other opportunities like SDA available to them locally; the program has been a critical career opportunity for a number of them. Pam Rostal, a friend and an instructor in the program, characterizes the reasons cited to terminate the program as "unfathomable". She has chronicled some of the events surrounding the termination in her SDA blog.

How can you help ? Writing an email to the President of NMHU (at president_office@nmhu.edu) will provide an indication of support for the SDA program in the industry at large. Writing to the Governor of New Mexico or the university's Board of Regents would also help. If you do, please copy the SDA people (softwareApprentice@nmhu.edu) on your correspondence.