Engagement in Practice: The Development of and Lessons Learned from a Community-Focused App Development Course

As the number of jobs for those with development skills grows, the potential pool of applicants remains inadequate. Although many entry-level software developer positions require a Bachelor’s degree, the shortage of workers has encouraged employers to consider hiring and training those with experience and knowledge gained from development bootcamps. This paper, submitted as an Engagement in Practice Paper to the Community Engagement Division describes a first attempt at one such bootcamp. This article describes the partnership, development, design, and outcome of a 12-week community based iOS app development course taught in a partnership between the Computer Science department at University of Florida (the University), a state sponsored workforce development program, and a local technology training company. It details the generalized struggles and successes of the students, the lessons learned, and a second curriculum and class structure based on those findings. Finally it presents unanswered questions and presents recommendations for future courses presented by University/community/business partnerships.