The Problem Statement
The problem is that many college and university Computer Science graduates and Information Technology (IT) graduates are not properly prepared academically to design and develop Enterprise class web applications. Computer Science graduates and IT graduates must be properly trained to build web applications. Web applications have become predominantly used to implement almost all current desktop applications, business applications, mobile applications, and personal applications. The Enterprise Java platform and the Microsoft .NET platform are the major platforms of choice for many companies who need to build these web applications. Research is required to determine how to improve the curriculum, how to improve the hands on programming labs, and better prepare Computer Science and IT graduates for entry into the current workforce for companies looking to hire software developers to design and develop web applications.
The Goal
The goals of this research is to provide recommendations that need to be made to the Computer Science curriculum, including hands on labs, as it relates to maintaing, designing, and developing Enterprise class web applications. The research will identify gaps between the existing curriculum and the industry. Resolving these gaps in College and University Computer Science programs will enable graduates to become better prepared for entry-level programming positions and be more proficient at designing and building simple N-tier Enterprise class web application. After 3 months my research will document the recommendations needed to improve our Computer Science bachelor and graduate programs.
The Results
After implementing the selected solutions and analyzing the research data obtained from research instruments a number of gaps were identified in the Computer Science or Information Technology programs. A summary of the gaps in the program included:
- The C# programming language and the Microsoft .NET platform was not included in the program. A basic Microsoft .NET platform class and also an advanced Microsoft .NET platform class must be added to the program.
- The program only included classes on the basic Java EE platform. An advanced Java EE platform class must be added to the program.
- The program did not include a class to introduce the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) process. A SDLC process class must be added to the program.
- The program did not include a class on software maintenance. A software maintenance class must be added to the program.
- The program did not include a class on general web application design. A general web application design class that includes fundamentals on N-Layered design, Unified Modeling Language (UML), requirements analysis, industry best practices, and industry design patterns must be added to the program.
The Action Research Project Proposal can be downloaded here and the complete Action Research Project paper can be downloaded here.
The supporting papers and class assignments for EDD/569, EDD/577, and EDD/580 can be found here.