Introduction
Mission to Mars is an award winning work experience programme. It is designed to provide a realistic experience of being part of a software development team. Working in teams, participants are supported in completing a set of incrementally difficult tasks, each built upon the abilities of the robots. Industry professionals join us throughout the week to coach participants, helping to develop problem-solving skills, write quality software and to share their work experiences and careers.
During the Mission applicants:
- Develop solutions using C++ and Raspberry PI for Arduino based hardware.
- Work as part of a close-knit team.
- Create software using an Agile development process.
- Test solutions before deploying onto the rovers.
- Present their product to potential ‘investors’ and VIPs.
Truro and Penwith College have a comprehensive and well respected tech school, they work with the latest hardware and software to develop computing talent in an increasingly important and growing industry. From games designer to computer technician they teach a vast range of industry courses for people at all stages of their tech learning pathway.
The Mission to Mars programme was incorporated into the Information Technology BTEC and the A level Computer Science course.
Mission to Mars @ Truro College
Mission to Mars was booked to run for the BTEC IT students in February 2022 and the A Level Computer Science students in May 2022. The Missions provided team working experiences for 18 and 22 students respectively. The work experience takes place over 5 days and the students will form a software product development team within an exciting new startup company, starting a new contract.
In these teams, supported by mentors, the groups work on a number of challenges in order to fulfill the contract, learning how to identify, code, test and deliver your solution.
On the final day, there was the opportunity to present the work to local employers and talk to them more about their businesses, jobs, and career opportunities as well as getting advice on the best pathway to working in the software sector in Cornwall.
Both experiences had some remarkable highlights:
- The BTEC experience was cut short by a day as the college had to close due to a dangerous storm approaching. The students only had 15 minutes to quickly finalise their presentations and present them. Using their learning they rose to the challenge and demonstrated that when under pressure they really could produce the work (changing deadlines and conflicting priorities is certainly something they will experience in the world of work).
- The A Level students took the demonstration task to heart and produced highly original work utilising an Amazon Echo for one and remote controls with light in another.
- Curriculum Development Support for FdSc in Software Engineering
We have also supported the team at Truro, by becoming an industry advocate for the course curriculum. It’s essential that the curriculum meets the learning objectives of both education and industry. Curriculum development is an important part of the educational process, as it helps to ensure that students are receiving the best possible education and that they are producing graduates with highly relevant skills that can be applied to the workplace. Thank you Truro and Penwith College for working with us, we look forward to seeing the learners on the programme!
Results
Students understand that there are significant opportunities for them to work in well paid tech jobs here in Cornwall.
Students have a better understanding of the skills required to work, in particular those team working, project management and communication skills. This is in addition to putting their coding skills into practice.
The College has industry work experience firmly embedded in the curriculum and a great reputation with industry.
Business leaders gain a better understanding of the courses on offer at the college and the learners coming through the education system. It’s a great way to network.
Some learners have gone on to additional extra curricular learning in the school holidays – in areas such as AI and chatbot creation. They have made connections with a local employer.
Learners understand mob programming, team working and have gained important relevant skills.
Conclusion
Mission to Mars has a proven track record in connecting academic learning to real life work experience. It is essential that learners coming from academia have the ability to transfer learning into work, by combining the programmes the college are giving students the best opportunities to go on have successful tech careers.
It is a valuable tool to include in curriculums and we will continue to work with Truro and Penwith College and their students to ensure the best possible outcomes for the next generation of tech employees, leaders and CEOS.
Feedback from clients:
The Mission to Mars week provides a fantastic experience for learners where they gain experience of what It is like to be a “real” software developer. We find that Mission to Mars is a great opportunity for learners to gain practical key skills in programming and team working which is invaluable in future practice. Learners thoroughly enjoy the Mission to Mars experience and are incredibly proud of everything they achieve across the week.
Naomi Johns, Curriculum Manager, Truro and Penwith College
Student Feedback:
It not only helps you learn useful skills in the business but can help you to network with businesses in Cornwall surrounding software.
Five full days of quality college lectures that feels like one.
It was enjoyable working together to achieve a final goal, and the visitors helped to put into perspective how what we were doing applied to actual jobs.
Mission to mars was an amazing group experience involving everyone to step up and produce some real solutions to fictional problems.
It was fun, it helped me understand how software developing teams work quickly and efficiently and how other people’s ideas are often better or more logical. It supplies you with a large amount of personal development opportunities.
I was interested by the artificial intelligence and the opportunities for higher paying jobs in Cornwall and not having to travel far away.
If you are Interested in computer science then I would say it is definitely a worthwhile experience to learn how coding as a group works as that is not something you tend to get a chance to practice doing.
They taught me how to do Mob Programming and use a breadboard to test functionality. I like the idea of working with software and hardware in the future and I think the experience was very useful for me in that aspect as any prior experience to something you think you might be interested in is always good.
I learnt a lot about internet of things; I had never previously programmed for a physical system. I also learnt about how to test programs on cheaper pieces of technology before trying it on the real thing. Another aspect was how to work with mob programming as I had only worked in it by myself before.
It was interesting to learn about the different career paths there are to take even down in Cornwall where you wouldn’t expect many jobs in tech.
A fun week of programming with new people while learning about the real world applications of what we were learning
They emphasised that young talent is needed in the local computer science scene so it made me more motivated to work towards a computer science job
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