Coding Boot Camps Research Articles

"I WORKED SO HARD, AND I STILL DIDN'T SUCCEED”: CODING BOOTCAMP EXPERIENCES OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Coding bootcamps are intensive training programs that aim to turn adults with no computer programming experience into professional software developers in as little as 12 to 16 weeks. In both the US and the UK, coding bootcamps are positioned as an alternative pathway into the tech “pipeline” for groups who are traditionally excluded from computing careers (Schnell, 2019; UK Digital Strategy, 2022). Framed as a form of “coding equity”, bootcamps are said to provide “transformative access” for participants and have even been characterized as a form of social justice activism (Rea, 2022). However, our ongoing comparative study about coding bootcamps in the US and UK indicates that the benefits of attending a coding bootcamp accrue disproportionately across different groups. Drawing upon ethnographic, interview, and survey data, this work-in-progress paper focuses on the bootcamp experiences of people with disabilities, who were more likely to experience unfair bias and/or exclusion and are less likely to have experienced employment-related benefits than people without disabilities. This paper discusses some of the contributing factors to these outcomes and explores the impact that these experiences have on bootcamp students with disabilities. In doing so, it casts some doubt on the “transformative” possibilities of bootcamps for marginalized groups. Although some bootcamps declare their “support” for “people with disabilities and neurodiversities” (Northcoders, n.d.), our study indicates that even if and when this support exists, it falls short of what people with disabilities need to thrive in a bootcamp setting.

Battle of Bootcamp: Analyzing Factor Affecting Customer Satisfaction and Continuance Intention in Coding Bootcamp Industry Indonesia

Indonesia should be ready to face the technological transformation to become Society 5.0. The technological expansion has fueled concerns traditional institutions will not be able to produce enough graduates with digital skills the economy demands. This has led to the emergence of Education technology (EdTech), particularly a new kind of vocational training namely Coding Bootcamps. This research is intended to explore the determinants of students’ satisfaction in Coding Bootcamp platform in Indonesia. Three independent variables were being analyzed which are User Behavior on Coding Bootcamp Program (UB), User Experience (UE), and User Motivation (UM) to User Satisfaction (SAT). Then, User Satisfaction tested as mediating variable between the three independent variables to Continuance Intention (CI). Single, Multiple Regression along with Sobel test were conducted to analyze 262 questionnaire participants. Research resulted Satisfaction is significantly predicted by UB & UE. Then, Satisfaction have a significant relationship with CI. In accordance to Sobel test result, SAT significantly mediate the relationship between UB & UM to CI. Motivation is not found to be a significant variable in this research. Bootcamp models, however, have the potential to disrupt higher education and fundamentally alter the nature of education and training if they are successful in meeting the customer needs.

Battle of Bootcamp: Analyzing Factor Affecting Customer Satisfaction and Continuance Intention in Coding Bootcamp Industry Indonesia

Battle of Bootcamp: Analyzing Factor Affecting Customer Satisfaction and Continuance Intention in Coding Bootcamp Industry Indonesia

Synergic Coding System: An Online Coding Platform

Abstract: Online education is presently quite popular. The widespread availability of the internet makes information sharing and acquisition simple and affordable. Many schools now offer online courses in all subject areas. More students are turning to online learning due to its simplicity and ease. Online coding boot camps grew by 177% between 2018 and 2019, according to a private organization that assists consumers in finding the most affordable coding boot camps, based on a market analysis of 79 US and Canadian locations. With the increase in online coding classes and boot camps, there is a more significant demand for tools to assist instructors and students in reaping the valuable benefits from the new methods of learning and giving a lecture. The primary issue with this type of learning is the environment in the coding or programming sector. As building up infrastructure and an environment is critical. Another concern is the interaction between the teacher and student because progress tracking is unavailable in the existing systems.

Everything Old Is New Again: A Comparison of Midcentury American EDP Schools and Contemporary Coding Bootcamps

Over the course of the past decade, coding has been positioned as a silver-bullet solution for several key issues in the US tech industry. The coding bootcamps that have sprung up in response to the contemporary coding obsession may appear innovative, but they bear a remarkable resemblance to the electronic data programming (EDP) schools that proliferated during the “software crisis” of the 1960s and 1970s. By comparing the current coding craze and coding bootcamps to the software crisis and EDP schools, this article not only draws attention to the remarkable similarities between the two periods and institutional forms but also identifies specific qualities and problematic practices of EDP schools that threaten to repeat themselves with coding bootcamps. It then concludes with some reflections about why certain “forgotten” histories of computing are more relevant now than ever.

Making coding meaningful: university students’ perceptions of bootcamp pedagogies

ABSTRACT Coding bootcamps targeting diverse learners are increasingly popular. However, little research has focused on the student experience of these courses: what pedagogic practices make learning coding meaningful for them and why. In a previous paper, we proposed a conceptual framework outlining three dimensions of learning opportunities in relation to coding: functional, collaborative, and critical & creative. The aim of the current paper is to characterise the pedagogic practices and learning outcomes highlighted by university coding bootcamp students as beneficial and then explore how they might map on to the dimensions in this framework. This study uses a mixed method design with quantitative and qualitative data from a sample of 36 students attending a Summer School in Coding, Data Analytics and Machine Learning. We use thematic analysis to describe how three main pedagogic approaches – guided hands-on, peer learning and contextualisation – were experienced by learners. The study suggests that mapping pedagogic practices to the dimensions of the framework can be of value to those designing courses to suit the diverse interests of students seeking an introduction to coding.

Applying for, Operating, and Renewing a Research Experience for Undergraduates Site Program in Computational Biology

We reflected on our experience in applying for, operating, and renewing a Research Experience for Undergraduates Site program in computational biology from 2016 to 2021 at a metropolitan public university, funded by the National Science Foundation of the U.S.A. Our mistakes during the application process were avoidable in retrospect. Our Interdisciplinary Computational Biology, iCompBio, REU site was a 10-week summer research program that included R and Python coding bootcamps at the beginning and short workshops on various topics interspersed throughout the program. ICompBio was in-person in 2019 and virtual in 2020 and 2021. ICompBio was fortunate to have a team of faculty mentors that were committed to undergraduate research training and recognized the importance of diversity in computational biology. Many students and faculty mentors turned the challenges in virtual REU programs into learning opportunities and had fulfilling research experiences. ICompBio participants reported learning gains higher than average in a 2020 external evaluation for virtual REU sites, particularly in the aspects of Research Self-Efficacy, Science Identity, and Life Utility. Our lessons and experiences may be helpful to other faculty and researchers that are interested in similar programs at their own institutions.

The Coastal Imaging Research Network (CIRN)

The Coastal Imaging Research Network (CIRN) is an international group of researchers who exploit signatures of phenomena in imagery of coastal, estuarine, and riverine environments. CIRN participants develop and implement new coastal imaging methodologies. The research objective of the group is to use imagery to gain a better fundamental understanding of the processes shaping those environments. Coastal imaging data may also be used to derive inputs for model boundary and initial conditions through assimilation, to validate models, and to make management decisions. CIRN was officially formed in 2016 to provide an integrative, multi-institutional group to collaborate on remotely sensed data techniques. As of 2021, the network is a collaboration between researchers from approximately 16 countries and includes investigators from universities, government laboratories and agencies, non-profits, and private companies. CIRN has a strong emphasis on education, exemplified by hosting annual “boot camps” to teach photogrammetry fundamentals and toolboxes from the CIRN code repository, as well as hosting an annual meeting for its members to present coastal imaging research. In this review article, we provide context for the development of CIRN as well as describe the goals and accomplishments of the CIRN community. We highlight components of CIRN’s resources for researchers worldwide including an open-source GitHub repository and coding boot camps. Finally, we provide CIRN’s perspective on the future of coastal imaging.

Coding Boot Camps

College-educated women in the workforce are discovering a latent interest in and aptitude for computing motivated by the prevalence of computing as an integral part of jobs in many fields as well as continued headlines about the number of unfilled, highly paid computing jobs. One of these women's choices for retraining are the so-called coding boot camps that teach programming skills through intensive multi-week courses. This article reports on a qualitative research study focused on the Silicon Valley area of California. We used social cognitive career theory (SCCT) to investigate the larger context surrounding women entering computing professions through boot camp learning sites, including: the environment of a booming technology workforce, boot camps as learning settings , the characteristics of women who attend boot camps, how retraining at a coding boot camp influence women's computing self-efficacy and outcome expectations , and the performance attainments of women at boot camps. Interview data was collected from 14 women who had attended boot camps—first before graduating from the boot camp and again after six months in the workforce. To contextualize the computing ecosystem, we conducted single interviews with 6 boot camp organizers/curriculum developers, 7 industry hiring managers, and 14 university computer science faculty. To provide a contrast with women at boot camps, we interviewed 5 women who majored in computer science at the university and with 17 men who had attended boot camps. Structural data coding and analysis was done focused on the SCCT mechanisms of environment, person inputs, learning experiences, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and performance attainments. Findings here demonstrate that training at a boot camp can be the catalyst for college-educated women to attain computing jobs and careers, although these entry-level jobs may be a compromise to the goal of a software development job and are unlikely to lead to a job at large, well-known, established technology companies.

Women in coding boot camps: an alternative pathway to computing jobs

ABSTRACTBackground and Context: Non-traditional training grounds such as coding boot camps that attract a higher proportion of women are important sites for understanding how to broaden participation in computing.Objective: This work aims to help us better understand the women choosing boot camps and their pathways through these camps and into the computing workforce.Method: This paper reports on a longitudinal, qualitative study investigating female boot camp attendees.Findings: Findings show that women attending boot camps are career changers that develop an interest in software development too late to major in CS, discovering a post-college enjoyment of programming undertaken to support work goals at a current job or an aspirational job.Implications: Women at boot camps illustrate a missed opportunity to diversify postsecondary CS classrooms when not recruited early, not given interdisciplinary options, not exposed to enjoyable programming tasks, and not exposed to the array and number of job prospects.

Qualitative Coding Boot Camp: An Intensive Training and Overview for Clinicians, Educators, and Administrators

Qualitative coding is a tool for analyzing data involving strings of meaningful words. While many schools and universities have staff who can assist faculty with quantitative data analysis, qualitative data analysis is interpretive and requires both content-specific knowledge and research methodology tools. In this qualitative coding boot camp, we introduce clinician-educators, staff, and administrators to a general overview of qualitative coding and analysis. We designed and implemented an in-person training to help researchers who had limited exposure to qualitative research gain a general orientation to it. We provided an overview of qualitative data collection and qualitative coding and developed focused research questions related to sample interviews for participants to use in working together to develop a codebook. We concluded by discussing the iterative process of coding, how to work from codes to themes for a manuscript, and how to present and disseminate results. To examine participants' learning during the boot camp session, we used a series of nonparametric sign tests to compare pre- and postsession responses on our evaluation form. The results of these tests showed significant growth in participant comfort with undertaking qualitative analysis. Qualitative coding is an important skill for clinicians and their research teams to have, as it can help them to understand the experiences of those around them through an empirical lens. With this 2-hour training, we were able to increase participants' comfort level with the set of skills required to analyze qualitative data rigorously.

Could a coding bootcamp experience prepare you for industry?

Coding bootcamps are springing up around the world, purporting to offer a faster or easier route into the software development industry. The author evaluates the factors that potential bootcamp participants should consider in deciding whether a bootcamp experience might be a viable option.