An adaptable model for teaching mobile app development

Abstract

As mobile software development becomes more mainstream, universities recognize a need to integrate mobile platform programming into the curriculum. This integration requires an understanding of mobile software development that defines it not just as a collection of topics but that acknowledges cross-topic areas that serve as the basis for specific interests. This paper presents a platform-agnostic model for teaching mobile software development that identifies established foundational topics, offering an adaptable teaching model aimed at providing enhanced understating of the topics and their integration. The model identifies three core areas of importance to computer science education: asynchronous programming, model view controller, and platform underpinnings. This framework enables mobile-specific topics like location, notifications, sensors, and more that are positioned with respect to the core areas to assist with lecture and assignment planning. Testing this model showed that students exhibited better skills and knowledge of both the core concepts and the specific topics as observed in their integration of features in term projects. This suggests that, through emphasis on core areas and repeated exposure to them in the context of new topics, students exhibit higher quality of integration of various mobile topics and deeper understand of the core-cross topic areas for mobile software development. Next steps are adoption by the education community in project-based mobile development classes of various format, scope, level, and purpose.