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opinion_accreditation [2018/06/26 14:08] fabio.massacci@unitn.it |
opinion_accreditation [2021/01/29 10:58] |
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- | ====== Education Reference Frameworks Explained to the Unwashed Masses ====== | ||
- | This is an email I sent at some point to explain to a junior colleague the notion of an education reference framework which was a deliverable of a large research project proposal. | ||
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- | Let X be your favorite government, agency etc. X wants a reference education framework and, typically, has set aside a sizeable budget you want apply for or a certification programme you would. | ||
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- | **Disclaimer:** As you can imagine, if you need to be told, numbers of hours and subjects are //illustrative// [i.e. appropriately invented]. | ||
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- | ==== So What's a Reference Framework? ==== | ||
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- | Something like the [[https://www.acm.org/education/curricula-recommendations|ACM/IEEE recommended Curriculum for Computer Science and Engineering]]. To call yourself Computer Scientist according to the ACM/IEEE your degree program must have : | ||
- | * 30hrs of //Operating Systems//, | ||
- | * 29hrs of //Algorithms//, | ||
- | * 42hrs of //Computer Graphics//, | ||
- | * ... | ||
- | * 20hrs of //KissMyAss// and | ||
- | * 35hrs of //BendYouKnee//. | ||
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- | For each of those subjects the document spell out what is supposed to be done in the 20hrs of //KissMyAss// to be call that way and not //BendYouKnee//. Hours and selection of topics are objectives and never depend on whoever among **The Goods & The Greats** was in that committee (Homework 1). But let's not get drawn into revolutionary thoughts. | ||
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- | Another exampe is the DHS effort which created knowledge areas (aka superset of courses) and said | ||
- | * DHS: "hey do you want to that we hire you graduates as security experts no question asked?" | ||
- | * University: "Yes." | ||
- | * DHS: "Well, you show me that your degree programme has" .... | ||
- | * 20hrs of //InformationAssurance//, | ||
- | * 15hrs of //Cryptography//, | ||
- | * 32hrs of //NetworkForensics//, | ||
- | * [...] | ||
- | * 20hrs of //NoQuestionNoLie// and | ||
- | * 2hrs of //BendYourKnee//. | ||
- | * (//KissMyAss// recommended elective for the government track). | ||
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- | ==== Your Task to Save the World ==== | ||
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- | You have to collect all reasonable areas and extend them to few pages of <del>rant</del> detailed description that extend into a document showing that 20hrs of //BendYouKnee (US)// are more or less the same as 15hrs of //KissMyHand (IE)//. | ||
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- | We [=you and your chums in the project, including a suitable appointed TheG&thG Committe] then show that this 15hrs with 6hrs Lab are equal to 25hrs of //BaciaManinaTestaChina (IT)// and 2liters of //GewurzTraminerHalbTrocken (AT)//. | ||
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- | So we end with an "aligned educational feamework" and X is happy to recommend, make it mandatory, whatever to all its stakeholders. | ||
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- | ==== Potential Impact on the World if You Make a Mistake ==== | ||
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- | You shouldn't be worried of bringing nations to racks and ruins as they will ignore it wholesale **because** | ||
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- | - the 17hrs of //SwirlYouHead// taugth by the chair //Prof.Dr.Eng. J.H. Knowsall// of their **TheG&TheG** Commitee is not included as you didn't know it existed ("Oh My God, how can one graduate without that? I mean, really..."). | ||
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- | Companies will ignore it as well **but** | ||
- | - will set a parallel parrot bogus test that costs a lot of money because it shows that the candidate is an entrepreneurial type and will do whatever to get the job. | ||
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- | ==== Personal Impact ==== | ||
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- | From your personal perspective, dropping few words on it helps securing a cushy academic job if the head of a degree program sitting in the interview panel has an accreditation meeting coming soon (but beware it will severely backfire if accreditation just passed). | ||
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- | ==== Overall Conclusions ==== | ||
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- | So said, around 99.9% of academics think this is a very serious issue improving the quality of education. Some of them even started setting up accreditation bodies (Homework 2). | ||
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- | ==== Homeworks ==== | ||
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- | Homework for the reader | ||
- | - Prove that finding similar topics in "Software and Security Engineering" Syllabi as taught by B. Nuseibeh and by R. Anderson is NP-hard | ||
- | - Prove by DNA sequencing that members of accreditation bodies and shopkeepers selling picks and mules to gold diggers in California belong to the same genetic pool. |