Want students who are ready to contribute? Here's what they should know

To contribute to an open source project, students must first learn open source methods, tools, and culture. However, few CS degree programs cover these topics. Gina Likins, Heidi Ellis, and Gregory Hislop outline an NSF-funded effort to advance FOSS learning in undergraduate computing programs and solicit input about the FOSS skills and abilities community members would like to see addressed.

In an ideal world, students would graduate from college ready to contribute to an open source community in some significant way. Unfortunately, few schools teach even basic open source tools such as version control, issue trackers, IRC communication, and more, and almost no schools cover open source culture or communities. How can educators better incorporate these necessary skills and information into undergraduate programs to prepare students for open source? Gina Likins, Heidi Ellis, and Gregory Hislop outline their efforts to advance FOSS learning in undergraduate computing programs. With funding from the National Science Foundation, Gina, Heidi, and Gregory have been working to enable student participation in humanitarian FOSS projects. This effort has included the development and delivery of the Professors’ Open Source Software Experience, a professional development workshop conducted in collaboration with Red Hat, Inc., that has reached over 60 instructors at more than 50 colleges and universities. Gina, Heidi, and Gregory also describe the inventory of learning paths they are building to educate students about open source and define a pathway to becoming contributors. This pathway includes a sequence of activities that prepares students for successful humanitarian FOSS participation. The activities cover a variety of aspects of open source participation including technical, process, and cultural knowledge. Gina, Heidi, and Gregory conclude by soliciting input about the FOSS skills and abilities community members would like to see addressed.