An Assessment of the Pedagogical Style of Online Software Courses

Abstract It is projected that software development positions in the US will increase by 21% from 2018 to 2028 an increase from 14% in 2014. Other economies have experienced similar type of growth as well. To meet the challenge of supplying a large number of graduates with the software engineering skills many universities have added on-line courses and degree in this field. In this paper, we will present a survey of approaches that have been used to design and deliver online courses with content that is software centric. We will compare these approaches with respect to each other, with respect to face-to-face courses and, specifically, with respect to our entirely online software program at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. The course dimensions that will be compared include content, assignments, tests and exams and outcomes. A number of pedagogical styles may have been used for each of the course dimensions. All of this information will be gathered for the study