Re: KDE Program for a FLOSS-oriented CS curriculum

On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 8:55 PM, Jeremy Whiting <[email protected]> wrote:
> Not to be negative, but before starting an endeavor like this it may
> be useful to read Jos' chapter in Lydia's "Open Advice" book (pdf can
> be downloaded from the website iirc) I read it recently and it
> discusses exactly this sort of project, and why it didn't end up
> getting anywhere. Maybe some lessons could be learned from that of
> what not to do. ;)

I've just read the Jos' chapter in Open Advice. It's indeed a valuable source of
wisdom regarding efforts like the one I'm proposing here. Taking his
words: "Don't plan, just do ..."
and "keep the plan to yourself" :), I'd be happy in dedicating some work to
come up with a minimal draft and submit it for comments, focusing on a
particular CS subject
I'm more used to, e.g. detailed design or software architecture. Then
we could play with it,
maybe along with a survey, and ask if people would like to see more of
that being produced.

What do you think ?

Cheers,
Sandro

>
> BR,
> Jeremy
>
> On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 5:46 PM, Harold Schreckengost <[email protected]> wrote:
>> If that is the case, it is a good start, but ideally we'd speak to ones who
>> have no vested interest in this project, as well.
>>
>> On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 7:39 PM, Aleix Pol <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>> On Thu, Apr 30, 2015 at 1:31 AM, Harold Schreckengost <[email protected]>
>>> wrote:
>>> > I think it goes beyond just not knowing entirely how to teach the
>>> > material.
>>> > Programs want their students to be prepared for what the world will
>>> > expect
>>> > of them, and if we can't provide material and resources to help them
>>> > prepare
>>> > their students for the real world, we will see very little traction,
>>> > even
>>> > among supporters.
>>> >
>>> > I feel like the best place to start with an initiative like this,
>>> > outside of
>>> > just talking about how great it would be, would be to talk to relevant
>>> > educators and get their input.
>>> >
>>> > On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 6:56 PM, Aleix Pol <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 4:10 AM, Sandro Andrade <[email protected]>
>>> >> wrote:
>>> >> > Hi there,
>>> >> >
>>> >> > I've been thinking about the process by which newcomers start doing
>>> >> > their contributions in KDE. In spite of some minor exceptions, I
>>> >> > guess
>>> >> > undergraduate students are still the majority of such potential
>>> >> > contributors. However, different universities around the world vary
>>> >> > from zero to very intense incentives not only to the adoption but
>>> >> > also
>>> >> > to focus their academic activities towards FLOSS applications.
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Certainly many possible causes for such zero adoption of FLOSS in
>>> >> > universities are out of our immediate control, but I think we have
>>> >> > chances for addressing another ones. What I've seen, at least in
>>> >> > Brazil, is that most CS professors are either not interested in FLOSS
>>> >> > or perhaps interested but completely unaware about how things work
>>> >> > and
>>> >> > how they would correlate FLOSS with the subjects taught in their
>>> >> > courses.
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Cutting right to the chase, I was wondering if the availability of a
>>> >> > high quality and comprehensive "KDE Program for a FLOSS-oriented CS
>>> >> > curriculum" would help in any way the number of CS students doing
>>> >> > their work using KDE software. In practical terms, we initially would
>>> >> > have to agree on a common CS curricula (hopefully that is expected to
>>> >> > be easily identified) and then document, for each curriculum
>>> >> > component, the KDE technologies that would be either inspiring
>>> >> > sources
>>> >> > for analysis or potential cases to apply, as contributions, concepts
>>> >> > related to that curriculum component.
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Some examples:
>>> >> >
>>> >> > - For a "Data Structure" and "Graph Theory" courses: we  would
>>> >> > document possible contributions in Rocs or the main implementation
>>> >> > aspects of Qt container classes.
>>> >> > - For a "Design Patterns" and "Software Architecture" courses: we
>>> >> > would describe how patterns have been used across KDE software and
>>> >> > the
>>> >> > tactics adopted in outstanding architectures of applications like
>>> >> > KDevelop, Qt Creator, Plasma, KF5, and many others.
>>> >> > - For a "Software Quality" and "Project Management" courses: we would
>>> >> > explain the quality assurance process adopted in Qt and KDE
>>> >> > communities, along with the tools, standards, and procedures that
>>> >> > support the process.
>>> >> > - For a "Computer Graphics and Image Processing" course: we would
>>> >> > point out contributions possibilities in kdenlive, krita, and so on.
>>> >> > - For a "Compilers and Programming Paradigms" course: we could
>>> >> > explore
>>> >> > the grantlee parser automata and/or the QML interpreter.
>>> >> >
>>> >> > The ultimate goal would be having a detailed set of guidelines about
>>> >> > how to adopt KDE as a central case study in CS courses. Obviously,
>>> >> > that would require some time investment and the help of those of you
>>> >> > who knows a lot about KDE solutions.
>>> >> >
>>> >> > By now, I would like to hear from you about two initial questions:
>>> >> >
>>> >> > 1) Do you experience this same scenario in your
>>> >> > countries/universities
>>> >> > and consider this problem 'pervasive' enough to demand a global
>>> >> > endeavour from our community ?
>>> >> >
>>> >> > 2) Do you think such a 'KDE Program' is worth and would help in
>>> >> > fostering the adoption of KDE in universities and in alleviating some
>>> >> > initial contribution barriers ?
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Cheers,
>>> >> > --
>>> >> > Sandro
>>> >> >
>>> >> > _______________________________________________
>>> >> > This message is from the kde-promo mailing list.
>>> >> >
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>>> >>
>>> >> Hi!
>>> >> I think it's a good initiative, this could go somewhere, if it's done
>>> >> with
>>> >> love.
>>> >>
>>> >> Personally, I think that narrowing down to Computer Science isn't
>>> >> fundamental. What is really important is to have a common format so
>>> >> that we can work on different things in parallel. THE reason why many
>>> >> schools haven't adopted our software isn't that it isn't good enough
>>> >> or even that the teachers aren't familiar with it. THE reason is that
>>> >> they don't know what to do with it, having to come up with what to
>>> >> teach is enough reason to throw them back, even if they like the
>>> >> software or the project.
>>> >>
>>> >> Now my question is: how can we make it easy to come up with this kind
>>> >> of content?
>>> >>
>>> >> Aleix
>>> >>
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>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
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>>> I might be wrong, but I think that one of the reasons why Sandro
>>> raised the issue, is because he's an educator himself.
>>>
>>> Aleix
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
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