This document outlines an self-study course called INTP-362 where students select a technology topic to learn on their own and create blog posts about. The goals are to learn a new technology, improve self-study skills, and develop online presence. Students choose a topic, write two blog posts (one on content and one demonstrating an assignment), and provide feedback on peers' blogs. The instructor's role is to facilitate learning and evaluate assessments. Students are expected to become experts on their topic and teach others about it through high-quality blog posts and videos. The course aims to help students learn how to effectively learn on their own.

1. INTP-362
EMERGING TRENDS
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2. Why did you choose software
development as your major?
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3. What do you enjoy about software or
technology in general?
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4. Staying Current
• Read technology news
• https://news.ycombinator.com/
• Read technology blogs
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2553654/what-are-good-blogs-
to-read-relating-java-spring-hibernate-maven
• Participate in Stack Overflow
• http://stackoverflow.com/
• Personal side projects
• Freelance / Consult
• Work at a start-up/smaller company
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5. ... "I can see why this topic is interesting to people on
Hacker News, because "self-study" is not just an option
in software development, it's really the only way. Yeah,
a lot of us have CS degrees or degrees in related
fields, but in the end, you have to read, absorb,
prototype, evaluate, adopt, or reject thousands of
pages of dense material every year to stay current."
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10604468
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6. INTP-362 is a self study course
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7. Goals of INTP-362
1. Learn a new technology of your choice
2. Learn how to learn
3. Add extra line items to your resume
4. Learn about other technologies chosen by your peers
5. Improve your presentation skills
6. Improve your writing skills
7. Develop your online presence
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8. Instructor’s Role
• Not a teacher!
• Facilitator
• Support your learning
• Ensure everyone is on track
• Organizer
• Supply you with your peer feedback
• Evaluator
• Grade your assessments
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9. I will help you learn how to learn
(better)!
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10. Your role
• Learn
• Learn how to learn
• Help each other learn
• Evaluate and critique each other
• Teach me
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11. Schedule
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Assessment Deadline Weight
Topic Selection End of week 2 10%
Blog 1 End of week 6 30%
Blog 1 Feedback End of week 8 15%
Blog 2 End of week 12 30%
Blog 2 Feedback End of week 14 15%
Reflection End of week 15 optional

12. TOPIC SELECTION
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13. Topic Selection
Must be:
• related to software development
• current or new or trending
• useful for your future career as a software developer
• appropriate for everyone in the class
All topics must be cleared by the instructor!
See Assignment: Topic Selection for more details
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14. Topic Selection – Finding a Topic
Technique #1
• Use a job search engine to find a job that you might apply
for
• Look at the list of technologies required for that position
• Choose one that you don’t know or only have limited
knowledge
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15. What kind of jobs are you going to
apply for?
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16. Topic Selection – Finding a topic
Technique #2
• Search online for a new software topic
• Avoid choosing a “research” topic, i.e. one that requires
reading scientific journal articles
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17. Topic Selection – Finding a topic
Not planning on being a software developer?
• Talk with your instructor
• https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/alternative-career-
paths/
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18. BLOGS
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19. Blog Posts – 60%
• Blog posts must be public!
• Encouraged to use your real name
• Can be included in your resume or LinkedIn
• Each blog post must be a minimum of 800 words to
achieve a passing grade
• Must include at least 10 minutes of video
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20. Two blogs
Blog 1 – 30%
• Content: The what
and the why
• May include: The how
• May include a demo
Blog 2 – 30%
• Content: The how
• Must include a demo
that you created
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21. Demos
For most topics, one or more demos must be included
Essentially, you are to create your own “assignment”
and demonstrate it.
• e.g. Java method references: a demonstration which shows
how method references work in a real world application that
you programmed
• e.g. MongoDB: take an assignment application from a
programming course (e.g. CPRG-251) and replace the
Oracle database with MongoDB. Demonstrate how the code
differs.
• e.g. REST: create a RESTful backend for a database that the
class is familiar with
• e.g. Implement a machine learning algorithm
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22. FEEDBACK
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23. Feedback – 30%
• You have been assigned a number of other students’
topics to provide feedback for (feedback group)
• Your grade is determined by the quantity and quality of
your feedback for each blog post you’re assigned
• Blog post 1 feedback – 15%
• Blog post 2 feedback – 15%
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24. Blog Post Feedback
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25. EXPECTATIONS
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26. Student Audience Expectations
• Select your topic and tailor your blog posts and videos for
an audience that are your classmates
• Assumes knowledge of 3 semesters of SD at SAIT:
• e.g. If your topic is C#, you would not show how to declare an int
since it is identical to Java. Instead, you would show the
differences of C# from Java such as a nullable ints.
• e.g. If your topic is JavaScript, you would not start with the basics,
since you already learned about JavaScript in second semester.
Instead, you would learn and present advanced JavaScript, e.g.
promises and closures.
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27. Instructor Expectations
• I am expecting you:
• To be an expert on your topic(s)
• To practice the topic material over and over again until you have it
down solid
• To spend about 30 hours preparation per blog
• To teach me something about the topic
• To be super interested in your topic!
• Preparation includes:
• Reading materials
• Coding
• Installing/setting up applications
• Writing your blog posts
• Creating videos
• Creating your own assignment for demonstration in your videos
• Developing your online presence using other tools, e.g. GitHub,
YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter, LinkedIn
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28. LET'S START!
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29. Assignment: Topic Selection
• Start working on Assignment: Topic Selection
• Once you have a topic in mind, clear it with the instructor
This course is what you make of it. Choose a topic that
YOU are excited to learn about.
Good luck!
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