Design Implications of Changing Student Demographics

Many non-traditional higher education institutions have built their cyber security and computer science programs {CSCS) to cater to the needs of adult, working learners. Focusing on this demographic has implications for course and program design. Design approaches have therefore focused on strategies aimed at translating knowledge into learning nuggets specific to the adult learner, enabling day one job-readiness upon graduation. Recently, there has been increased focus on CSCS education at the high school level. The computer science for all initiative was announced recently by US President Obama, and there have been increased creativity on the part of higher education institutions to expand CSCS programming to high school learners. Some of these have, and continue to take place through the college credit plus initiative. With the shift to meet the needs of this changing demographic, two of the key questions for success are: (i) what efficient and effective design strategies should be employed by higher education institutions to ensure success for high school learners, without losing existing approaches that prepare adult learners for job readiness? (ii) And to what extent do these strategies influence success for both adult and high school learners?https://fuse.franklin.edu/ss2016/1032/thumbnail.jp