Andrew Hatch

Multi-Touch Tables and the Relationship with Collaborative Classroom Pedagogies: A Synthetic Review

This article reviews the research and evidence about multi-touch tables to provide an analysis of their key design features and capabilities and how these might relate to their use in educational settings to support collaborative learning. A typology of design features is proposed as a synthesis of the hardware and physical characteristics of the tables so that the longevity of these factors and the associated analysis can be better preserved, particularly in relation to the range of ways in which they may be used collaboratively in classrooms. The variability of features relating to software is also analysed and key pedagogic issues identified. The aim that underpins this review is to relate the design of the technical features with key pedagogic issues concerning the use of digital technologies in classrooms, so as to provide a more robust basis for their integration in classrooms in terms of their potential to support or to improve learning.

Software Architecture Visualization: An Evaluation Framework and Its Application

In order to characterize and improve software architecture visualization practice, the paper derives and constructs a qualitative framework, with seven key areas and 31 features, for the assessment of software architecture visualization tools. The framework is derived by the application of the Goal Question Metric paradigm to information obtained from a literature survey and addresses a number of stakeholder issues. The evaluation is performed from multiple stakeholder perspectives and in various architectural contexts. Stakeholders can apply the framework to determine if a particular software architecture visualization tool is appropriate to a given task. The framework is applied in the evaluation of a collection of six software architecture visualization tools. The framework may also be used as a design template for a comprehensive software architecture visualization tool.

A Framework for Software Architecture Visualisation Assessment

In order to assess software architecture visualisation strategies, we qualitatively characterize then construct an assessment framework with 7 key areas and 31 features. The framework is used for evaluation and comparison of various strategies from multiple stakeholder perspectives. Six existing software architecture visualisation tools and a seventh research tool were evaluated. All tools exhibited shortcomings when evaluated in the framework

Tag based feedback for programming courses

This paper reports the findings of a preliminary investigation into whether feedback generated by annotating source code with tags is considered useful by undergraduate students. These types of annotations facilitate a new approach to presenting assessment feedback to students in the form of a Web 2.0 tagging environment. This paper highlights the benefits and limitations of this approach as well as details of student reaction and behavior. This investigation focuses on assessment and feedback for an undergraduate Software Engineering Group Project. The preliminary results collected encourage further investigation of this approach.

Using Feedback Tags and Sentiment Analysis to Generate Sharable Learning Resources Investigating Automated Sentiment Analysis of Feedback Tags in a Programming Course

This paper demonstrates how sentiment analysis can be used to identify differences in how students and staff perceive the opinions contained in feedback for programming work. The feedback considered in this paper is conceptually different in that it is given in the form of tags that when associated with a fragment of source code can be considered as a sharable learning resource. The research presented investigates the differences in perception of whether feedback is positive, negative or neutral according to students and examiners. This paper also investigates the adequacy of an automated sentiment analysis engine with a view that sentiment information when combined with the feedback tag and source code may create a more informative sharable learning resource. This paper describes the investigatory technique and presents the initial results. Results indicate that there are important differences between the sentiment of feedback perceived by students and examiners. This paper highlights the benefit of including sentiment data along with feedback.

Determining device position through minimal user input.

In many co-located, collaborative systems there is a need for the constituent devices used to be aware of the physical positions of their networked counterparts. This paper addresses this challenge by presenting a novel method of utilising users’ judgement of direction to obtain the location and orientation of a touch interface. The technique requires a user to draw several arrows on an interface which point towards physical landmarks in an environment. This allows for the setup of interface locations in a way which is (i) quick; (ii) inexpensive; (iii) not encumbering; and (iv) capable of being performed despite obstructions in the environment. A user study is presented which investigates what influence a user’s accuracy has on the technique’s resulting calculated location of an interface. The study reveals that the magnitude of a user’s inaccuracies is proportional to the size of the error in the result and that there is no improvement in user accuracy with practice. Finally, we make observations on the future extension and application of this technique.

Investigating shareable feedback tags for programming assignments

This article presents an investigation into the usage of shareable feedback tags as a way of delivering feedback to three different cohorts of programming students. A series of research questions are examined; these include investigating any perceived benefit from students using feedback tags and exploring how students interact with their feedback. Results indicate that students with both the lower and higher marks in a cohort are more likely to opt to share their feedback and programming work than students with mid-ranged marks. A variety of reasons, both for and against sharing, given by students are discussed. Six categories of student behaviour exhibited during interaction with their feedback have been identified in this article. This article has shown that feedback tags can be used successfully as a form of shareable feedback and that a number of future research possibilities exist that can extend this topic.

Building project management communities: exploring the contribution of patterns supported by web 2.0 technologies

This article describes an approach whereby patterns are used to describe management issues and solutions to be used during the project management of team-based software development. The work describes how web 2.0 technologies have been employed to support the use and development of such patterns. To evaluate the success of patterns and the technologies supporting their dissemination the work of 12 software development teams over 2 years is explored. The results of the research describe how students find access to the experiences of their predecessors useful to guide their actions and how they find patterns particularly useful as a way of expressing social issues concerned with the management of student groups.