Gregory's Server@mhoye Something about agile -- what it is, why it arose, the fact that everyone uses this term but no one uses it the same way. Agile manifesto, some of the 18F/USDS stuff (the healthcare.gov diving save is a great case study but also seeing how government navigates this illuminates real-world constraints). Why, because it's ubiquitous, even if more in the breach than the observance - and it lets you pull on threads of why projects succeed/fail.
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 @mhoye Some kind of excuse to read at least excerpts from *Unlocking the Clubhouse*, look at graphs of women CS majors pre/post mid-80s, and those studies about how (e.g.) women's PRs are relatively unsuccessful if their name/avi are feminine and relatively successful if not. Because it isn't all meritocracy, that book might be PAINFULLY RELATABLE even now to female students, and also maybe we should stop being like that; there's a hell of a good universe next door. (Generalize to other groups.) @mhoye Maybe something about evaluating a dependency for suitability in a project. This means pulling on licensing but also *the community around the project* : number of stars/forks, do issues get closed (& what's the conversation like), are PRs getting merged, etc. Because software is actually an ecosystem and a lot of learning/dev is social. @mhoye Actually before I did this syllabus I would reread *Kill it with Fire* and I would do anything in my power to get an hour of Marianne Bellotti's time for advice on this question. (She is literally an anthropologist who ended up in computing. Possibly likewise with Jennifer Pahlka's book; lots of interesting stories of software playing out in the real world (...beyond SV because omg the whole world is not SV). @mhoye oh and I might find an excuse to read the therac-25 paper even though it may not strictly be within this course's learning objectives because people should just have read that |
@mhoye Something about allied professions. This is what a UX person does and how it contributes to successful product development. Similarly project manager, product manager, technical writer, etc. Maybe have guest speakers, who are often fun in classes. So they know it's a team sport; that dev isn't the only skill required; and maybe they won't be assholes to these people.