Design and evolution of an undergraduate course on web application development

Abstract

Web technologies have become essential in the computing curricula. However, teaching a Web development course to computing students is challenging because of large bodies of knowledge, rapidly changing technologies, demanding support infrastructures and diverse background of audiences. This paper presents the evolution and the experiences we have gained in teaching a Web development course for the past seven years. We incorporate selected leading edge Web technologies as soon as they become mature and stable. The course covers a broad spectrum of Internet technologies to provide a solid conceptual framework. It also includes an in-depth study of a selected technology to provide the necessary depth and knowledge to build realistic Web applications. This paper describes the course design, our choice of topics, programming assignments, course delivery and our experience in coping with the rapidly changing Web technologies.

Web Competencies for IT Students

“…In [14], the author spends 40% of the time on client-side and the rest on three different server-side technologies.…”

“…Various authors, [7], [8], [11] and [14], have noted the difficulty of finding a suitable textbook. This makes the development of purpose-written resources essential.…”

“…Yeu and Ding [14] have tried several approaches over the years, ranging from several small assignments to one large term project, and claim that "no single arrangement is universally better than the other". However, they teach multiple server-side technologies in one course which makes it difficult to cover any single technology in any depth.…”

“…Tabor [11] proposes using real projects with local small businesses, but the logistics involved with large classes mean that this is not feasible for us. Regardless of the approach, the environment that the student is presented with should reflect real life as closely as possible [14].…”

“…EB technologies are an essential component of a computing curriculum because the web has become an integral part of daily life in Western countries [8], [13], [14]. Our proposition is that all IT students should be able to develop web applications.…”