By Daba Coura Mbow
Originally from Farmington Hills, Michigan, Jeffrey Yackley graduated from the University of Michigan in Dearborn with a doctorate in Computer Science. In the new College of Innovation and Technology, Yackley begins an academic career at the University of Michigan Flint with an opportunity to dig more into his passion for computer science and research.
Fascinated by the way his mentor but also advisor, Bruce Maxim, introduced active learning in class to help with soft skills, that students often struggle with, Jeffrey Yackley thought of a way which to improve computer science education to help his students and his community toward better educational outcomes. Dr. Yackley hopes that with his approach he will be able to make sure that students graduating from the University of Michigan Flint in computer science leave with the soft skills necessary for them to be successful in the industry.
His current focus is to put in place active learning that will help students to gain more experience not only with coding and technical skills but also with communication and teamwork skills.
Teamwork is highly collaborative, and students are encouraged to discuss, plan and design systems together as an effective team communicating their ideas. Based on that approach Dr. Yackley thinks it is crucial to introduce active learning early to pre-college and college students. Students are used to the learning environments where they sit and follow instructions, but with “active learning techniques” students will be forced to get out of their comfort zones and also tend to be more engaged. It will give them the confidence to share the different ideas and approaches that they have with their classmates.
So far the College of Innovation and Technology has supported Dr. Yackley’s project by inviting guest speakers, from local community businesses. Developers, software managers, and engineers are invited into the classroom to talk about their experiences in the industry with the students so they can have a better understanding of the importance of soft skills. Once students see the need from a professional viewpoint they recognize the benefit of communication skills and as well working with teammates. That also helps them understand the importance of the “ active learning” teaching method and project-based learning that has been put in place by Jeffrey Yackley students to be able to be more effective in the workplace after earning their degree in computer science.
Students need to learn computer science and coding as the 21st century progresses. Computer science is essential to improve the industry, and the demand for the next generation of software developers, cybersecurity specialists, and artificial intelligence experts is expanding. Nowadays, as the internet and technology underwrite more and more things in our everyday life, according to Dr. Yackley, it is important for every student to have computer science knowledge as they pursue professional life. With the rise of artificial intelligence and automation, it will be a career path that students will have available to them to provide lifelong employment as it will always be needed someone behind the scene can create and code the new technologies.
Dr. Yackley also hopes to benefit the community by bringing more diversity into the computer science workforce. He’s hoping that UM-Flint students while earning a degree will be able to assist the community, developing applications but also bringing specific solutions to the community to solve digital and scientific problems. According to Jeff, it’s tough particularly in computer science to do what’s called “requirement engineering” which is where the requirements gathered from clients are translated into actual technical specifications for the design. Getting more people involved in computer science will the field to be more responsive to community needs as time changes and everything in our world becomes more digital.