Academic Catalog 2021-22

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Applied Computer Science (BS)

*Effective August 1, 2021 the Applied Computer Science program is offered solely through Dominican University of California as the partnership with Make School is no longer in effect.

The Applied Computer Science program in the Make School at Dominican provides innovative, project based curriculum in computer science and software engineering. The program offers a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Computer Science for students who have applied to and enrolled in Make School at Dominican.

Our diverse faculty is composed of individuals with recent, relevant software engineering experience and academic degrees in computer science. The faculty guide students through project-based learning that promotes both skill development and theoretical understanding in software engineering, computer science, and agile product development.

The Bachelor’s degree curriculum is a balance of technical computer science courses, hands on software product development and professional identity courses, and thoughtfully-crafted liberal arts courses. The curriculum is continually evaluated and evolved to remain current with industry standards.

In Technical courses, students learn computer science fundamentals and theory as well as specific software skills. Students may choose from curricular concentrations in Front End Web, Back End Web, Data Science or Mobile.

In Software Product Development courses, students build portfolio projects that combine their technical learning with current industry standards and skills. In addition to the standard courses, students enroll in week long intensives, summer internships and supervised work experience to gain industry experience and connections. Students also develop skills that promote professional success through coursework and coaching that focuses on teamwork, leadership, problem solving, lean startups, self-advocacy, and career development.

This program requires a separate application and admission process through Make School, San Francisco.  Further information is available at https://www.makeschool.com. 

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon graduation, students will have demonstrated mastery of the following program learning outcomes:

  1. Software Engineering - The ability to implement innovative software designs using sound development practices and state-of-the-art software engineering techniques, methods, and tools.
  2. Computer Science - The ability to demonstrate mastery over computer science concepts and the classical patterns in computer hardware, software, and networking.
  3. Agile Product Development - The ability to apply the agile product development process to ideate, design, ship, and iterate on solutions to real-world problems.
  4. Teamwork & Leadership - Develop the skills of a leader and team member by understanding the theory and practice of effective decision making: consensus, compromise, negotiation, delegation, management, communication, and collaboration with people of different backgrounds, cultures and skills.
  5. Problem Solving & Lean Startups - Develop original and critical thinking strategies to find solutions to real-world problems across for- and not-for-profit domains of the economy and society, e.g. Education, Health, Business, Entertainment, Global Trade, Politics, Charity, etc.
  6. Self Advocacy & Career Development - Develop the knowledge and skills of advocating and promoting oneself in the context of developing a professional career in technology.
  7. Liberal Arts integrated with Professional Education - Situate and apply professional knowledge and skills within a broad base of understanding of multiple disciplines.