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Education for Industry

The Structure and Practices of

the School of Computing

Dr Bing Wu BSc MSc PhD

Bing.Wu@DIT.IE +353-1-4024819

School of ComputingDublin Institute of Technology

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Presentation Overview• Overview of Ireland

• DIT Structure in Faculties and Schools

• School of Computing

• Industrial Focus of School

• Educational Practices of School

• Masters Program

• Summary

School of Computing

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Nature of DIT

• Long-standing Institution with track record at third

level

• Significant output of graduates to industry and the

professions

• Strong commitment to research, development and

consultancy with a focus on industry

• Multi-level, multi-discipline Institution with extensive

‘Ladders of Opportunity’

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2 YearsCert.

3 YearsDip.

4 YearsBSc

1~2 YearsMSc

Ladders of Opportunity

School of Computing

2 YearsMPhil

3 YearsPhD

PostDoc

Central Administration Office (CAO)

BSc (Honours) 2.1

Transfer

PhD

Advanced Entry

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DIT Structure

• Faculty of Science

• Faculty of Engineering

• Faculty of The Built Environment

• Faculty of Business

• Faculty of Tourism and Food

• Faculty of Applied Arts

School of Computing

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The Faculty of Science

• School of Computing

• School of Biological Sciences

• School of Chemistry

• School of Physics

• School of Mathematical Sciences

School of Computing

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When a Newly Graduated Student of

School of Computing Could Make Money

for His/Her Employer/Company?

Within Weeks!

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The School of Computing

• 40 Full-time and 20 Part-time Academic Staff

• ~700 Students

• 1 MSc (2 years)

• 2 BSc (Honours. 4 years)

• 1 BSc (General, 3 years)

• 1 BSc (Honours, Flexible and P/T)

• Research Degrees (MPhil, PhD) & PostDoc

School of Computing

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School Ethos• Unique among Universities

• Staff Profile

- 20% academic career path

- 80% senior Industrial path

• Staff encouraged to attend specialist courses offered by industry

• Course Committee Structure

• Industrial Attitude

• Quality Standards for Software Development

• Quality Assurance

- Extern Examiners

- Course Documents

- Validation Procedure

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The School StructureSchool of Computing

1 Head of School & 2 Assistant Heads 1 School Secretary

12 Year Mentors

5 Course Chairs

~17 Normal F/T Lecturers

1 Examination QACoordinator

3 Technicians2 Work Placement

Coordinators

~20 External P/T Lecturers

ManagementTeam

AcademicStaff

Administration

TechnicalTeam

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Course Committee Structure within School

• Responsibility with authority

• Chairpersons have major industrial experiences

• Including student representatives

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Responsibilities of Course Committees

• Operation of academic matters

• Monitoring of the course

• Curriculum development

• Staff/student dialogue

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Chairpersons

• MSc – Head of IT Services for National Television

Service (RTE)

• BSc (Honours)– Senior Software engineer (10 Years)

• BSc (Honours P/T) Senior Software Developer for

Largest Bank in Ireland (AIB)

• BSc (Ordinary)– Senior Engineer of National

Electricity Company

School of Computing

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Industrial Attitude and Focus

• Appreciation that graduates will work in the Software

Industry

• Industrial experience of staff

• Staff available to students

• Industrial external examiners

• Guest lecturers from industry

• Staff maintain personal links with industry

– e.g. social, phone calls, lunch

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Educational Practices and Objectives

• CREATIVITY, QUALITY, RESEARCH/LIFELONG-LEARNING

• Provide our graduates with

– seamless progression into industry (e.g. work

placement)

– the necessary skills to function as IT developers and

advance to management positions

– the ability to progress to further study

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CREATIVITY?

Creativity Algorithm

Educational Practices and Objectives

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Educational Practices and Objectives

CREATIVITY = ?Merriam-Webster Dictionary

• 1 : the quality of being creative2 : the ability to create

Encyclopaedia Britannica

• the ability to make or otherwise bring into existence something new, whether a new solution to a problem, a new method or device, or a new artistic object or form

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Achieving Our Objectives

• Academic work with a practical emphasis

• Lectures provide only the essential core of a topic,

students must add to the content

• Industry standards applied continuously

• Guest lecturers from industry

• Continuous assessment

• Work Placement

• Project

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Student Projects

• Ideally student provides his/her own project

• Encourages self-development

• Encourages CREATIVITY

• Student will take ownership of project

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Approach• Identify a project topic and main objectives of the project

• Submit a proposal articulating clearly the aims and objectives of the project

• Research and/or analyse the project area to gain an understanding of the work involved

• Design, implement and test a solution if appropriate

• Write a manual/report which clearly documents the project and how each of the above stages were carried out

• Present the project

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Key Points

• The project is the one area where the student must

work independently under light supervision

• Student has considerable flexibility in the choice of

project topic

• Student gets the opportunity to demonstrate

knowledge gained across the whole course

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Key Points

• A successful project calls for considerable creativity

and independent thought

• The project has value beyond the marks awarded –

employers view it as an important measure of ability

• The project process is vital in creating and

maintaining links with industry

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Masters Degree

• MSc in Information Technology for Strategic

Management

• MBA in Computing

• Seminars

• Students offer papers of their choice as examination

topics

• Dissertation

• Industry/Consultancy focused

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Summary

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Summary

– A Industrial-Oriented Education Ethos/Philosophy

– An Education Team of Highest Quality with

Substantial Industrial Experiences and

Comprehension

– Devoted Lecturers who enjoy Teaching+Learning

– A comprehensive QA mechanism and structure

– An Encouraging Education and Social Environment

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Thanks for

Your Attention

Education for Industry: the structure and practices of the School of Computing

Dr Bing Wu

School of ComputingDublin Institute of Technology

Dublin, Ireland

Go Raibh Maith Agat 谢 谢