Providing new graduate opportunities: experiences with a UK master's level computing conversion course
Abstract The forces that operate within the software industry are outlined and the case is made for postgraduate software engineering education that is flexible in terms of attendance patterns and responsive to the market in terms of curricula. The developments within a postgraduate “conversion” course at the University of Sunderland over a 9 year period with regard to both patterns of delivery/attendance and curricula are then described (including the origins of the course and the development of five different delivery modes). The profile of graduates at entry to the course is illustrated, and thumbnail sketches of several graduates from the course are drawn to reflect the diversity of their subsequent careers. The content of the original and revised versions of the course are outlined, and comparison is made of the approaches adopted towards the treatment of Software Engineering (SE) in the two versions. Finally, a critical appraisal is presented with regard to the changes introduced in the course.