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"Birth of a Discipline" Hot Topic
Hot Topic—Birth
of a Discipline
Before application developers were ‘software
engineers’ they were ‘artists’ practicing a ‘craft,’ and expertise was
recognized as analogous to ‘wizardry.’ Economics, antipathy toward human
beings, and a desire to be ‘just like physics’ pushed those metaphors
aside. A great schism, separating practice from academic theory, emerged.
Theorists were firmly convinced that “all the world is a machine,” that
computer science was the source of all necessary fundamental knowledge,
and that a formally defined process of applying that knowledge—software
engineering—would solve all problems.
Practitioners knew better. The world is not a
machine, it is a complex adaptive system and the problems it poses are not
amenable to solution with computational thinking alone. A vast quantity of
‘practical knowledge’—often tacitly conveyed—has come into existence along
with heuristics, techniques, and alternative ways of thinking about
problems and their solutions.
The Practice, as it’s called, has established a small presence
in higher education but is still hampered by the need to approximate
computer science and software engineering model curricula, leaving most of
their knowledge and craft outside academe.
Call for
Participation
A general definition of a pattern is “the solution to
a problem in context.” At Chili, we will discover and articulate patterns
for solving the myriad problems that arise in the context of creating a
new discipline and domain of enquiry in the context of higher education
and professionalism.
We will spend our days exploring the problem space,
enumerating issues and problems, and seeking. Like Edward Bellamy, we will
first need to envisage a future where such a discipline is established and
‘look backward’ to see what patterned solutions would have been useful and
necessary for that vision to become a reality.
We will hear three “Scouting Reports” from
individuals that have been actively engaged in creating a new discipline
and radically redefining the educational system so that it can support the
vision. Unlike other PLoPs, Chili is an exploratory workshop. All you need to be an active and effective participant is an interest, (hopefully a passion), for the topic, ideas of what a discipline of software development—Reality Construction—might look like, and experiences or awareness of alternative approaches to education and learning. Participants
will also have the opportunity to become involved in implementing the
ideas of the conference – in a working degree program with centers around
the globe.
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