Anya Tafliovich

Revisiting why students drop CS1

This paper describes a qualitative study of the factors that contribute to a students decision to withdraw from CS1. Individual interviews were held with 18 students in a majors-focused CS1 at a large, research-intensive North American university, and results both validate and extend previous work on the experience of students who struggle in introductory computer science. In particular, our analysis confirms the complexity of the decision to drop, with students citing a combination of interrelated factors that contribute to the decision. Lack of time, combined with ineffective study strategies or with a prioritization of other courses, were the most commonly cited combinations of factors. Interestingly, when compared to the experience of students who chose to complete the course, there is evidence that students encounter a decision point when they realize they are or soon will be behind. Students who drop speak of focusing on other priorities or being unable to catch up, while students who complete speak of understanding the need to use new techniques for learning and increasing their efforts.

Scrum and Agile Methods in Software Engineering Courses

Over the years, a number of agile frameworks, such as Extreme Programming and Scrum, have evolved and matured. The underlying philosophy of Scrum recognizes that the customers often change their mind about the product they want and that the development challenges are unpredictable by their nature. Consequently, Scrum embraces the fact that the problem being solved cannot be fully understood or described from the start. Instead, Scrum focuses on maximizing the ability of the development team to quickly deliver in response to emerging requirements.

Quantum predicative programming

The subject of this work is quantum predicative programming - the development of programs intended for execution on a quantum computer. We look at programming in the context of formal methods of program development, or programming methodology. Our work is based on probabilistic predicative programming, a recent generalisation of the well-established predicative programming. It supports the style of program development in which each programming step is proven correct as it is made. We inherit the advantages of the theory, such as its generality, simple treatment of recursive programs, time and space complexity, and communication. Our theory of quantum programming provides tools to write both classical and quantum specifications, develop quantum programs that implement these specifications, and reason about their comparative time and space complexity all in the same framework.

/spl chi/Chek: A model checker for multi-valued reasoning

This paper describes our multi-valued symbolic model-checker XChek. XChek is a generalization of an existing symbolic model-checking algorithm for a multi-valued extension of the temporal logic CTL. Multi-valued model-checking supports reasoning with values other than just TRUE and FALSE.

An Experience Report: Using Mobile Development To Teach Software Design

We report on our experience with incorporating Android software development in a second-year software design course. Our primary course goals are twofold: (1) teach principles of object-oriented design, and provide students with an opportunity to apply these principles in designing and developing Java programs, and (2) introduce students to the basics of software engineering with a team project that follows a Scrum-like software development process. In this report, we describe a team-based Android application development project that achieves our teaching goals, helps motivate student learning, and increases student satisfaction with the course. We provide an overview of our approach, outcomes, and student feedback. We also describe lessons learnt by the instructors and identify promising directions for improvements.

Bridging the Gap Between Desired and Actual Qualifications of Teaching Assistants: An Experience Report

We report on our experience implementing a Teaching Assistant Training Program for Computer Science Teaching Assistants. The program is rooted in the well-established Instructional Skills Workshops principles and methodologies. We describe the structure of the program, reflect on its successes, and discuss future expansion of, and improvements to the program.

Programming with Quantum Communication

This work develops a formal framework for specifying, implementing, and analysing quantum communication protocols. We provide tools for developing simple proofs and analysing programs which involve communication, both via quantum channels and exhibiting the LOCC (local operations, classical communication) paradigm.

Forming Strong and Effective Student Teams (Abstract Only)

With growing enrolment and ongoing research into best practices for team work, many instructors are rethinking how to form, evaluate, and manage teams. In this BoF, instructors will discuss the strategies they have employed, the effectiveness of those approaches, and the tools that support administering teams. Discussion topics may include self- and peer-evaluation, grading strategies, software support, and conflict resolution.