Richard L. Upchurch

In support of student pair-programming

Industry, particularly those following the eXtreme Programming (XP) methodology [2], has popularized the use of pair-programming. The pair-programming model has also been found to be beneficial for student programmers. Initial quantitative and qualitative results, which will be discussed in this paper, demonstrate that the use of pair-programming in the computer science classroom enhances student learning and satisfaction and reduces the frustration common among students. Additionally, the use of pair-programming relieves the burden on the educators because students no longer view the teaching staff as their sole form of technical information. We explore the nature of pair-programming, then examine the ways such a practice may enhance teaching and learning in computer science education.

Extreme programming for software engineering education

The eXtreme Programming (XP) software development methodology, has received considerable attention in recent years. The adherents of XP anecdotally extol its benefits, particularly as a method that is highly responsive to changing customers desires. While XP has acquired numerous vocal advocates, the interactions and dependencies between XP practices have not been adequately studied. Good software engineering practice requires expertise in a complex set of activities that involve the intellectual skills of planning, designing, evaluating, and revising. The authors explore the practices of XP in the context of software engineering education. To do so, one must examine the practices of XP as they influence the acquisition of software engineering skills. The practices of XP, in combination or isolation, may provide critical features to aid or hinder the development of increasingly capable practitioners. This paper evaluates the practices of XP in the context of acquiring these necessary software engineering skills.

Designing process-based software curriculum

Computer science education traditionally has stemmed from its mathematical roots and has been related to practice through instruction of programming languages. Good software engineering practice, in contrast, requires expertise at a complex of activities that involve the intellectual skills of planning, designing, evaluating, and revising. Cognitive research has revealed that developing intellectual skills, such as these, requires: explicit instruction and practice; in the context in which such skills will be applied; in carefully structured ways. We are applying the techniques of cognitive apprenticeship, situated cognition, and reflective practice, based on our earlier successful application of such techniques, to the development of laboratories to accompany two undergraduate classes. The first section of this paper provides the foundations from the computer science/software engineering domain that justify our effort. The second section provides the background in cognitive research we use to structure the learning environment and activities for the students. Section three provides an overview of the goals we have established as part of this development activity. Section four describes the activities we have implemented in the sophomore computer science course. We conclude our remarks with a discussion of problems and intended directions.

Teaching Object‐Oriented Design Without Programming: A Progress Report

This project is demonstrating the feasibility of using the object‐oriented paradigm to teach students software design in a nonprogramming context. The program, developed using principles of user‐based, prototyping design, teaches students to create responsibility‐driven designs of computer games. Investigations with high school students with little or no knowledge of computers and senior computer science majors have demonstrated that students can indeed learn to use Class‐Responsibility‐Collaborator (CRC) cards to produce creditable high‐level designs in a relatively short time whether or not they have programming experience and can generalize what they have learned to a new design. Although the computer science majors created more complete designs and demonstrated a deeper understanding of the design process than the high school students, these students still found the experience valuable. Both sample groups generally found the process interesting and relatively painless.

Course-based assessment: engaging faculty in reflective practice

The College of Engineering (COE) at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth has begun to implement course based assessment as part of their curricular continuous improvement program. The targeted faculty are those who are developing innovative courses supported by the Foundation Coalition (FC), a collaborative project funded by National Science Foundation. We began in Spring 1999, and have since tried five different strategies: taking faculty to a two-day assessment workshop, a general lecture on embedding an assessment based continuous improvement loop into courses, a written set of guidelines, individual meetings with faculty, and an interactive half-day workshop. We discovered that faculty accept and implement assessment based continuous improvement in their classes once they understand that: (a) it is in their control, (b) it can be done in ways that are cost-effective in terms of time, and (c) that it can reduce frustration in teaching because it makes visible aspects of courses that can be improved.

Using assessment to improve teams in engineering education

The growing importance of the use of teams in education and business requires the development of effective and user-friendly assessment and training processes. The objectives of the present study were two fold. The first objective was to design and evaluate a simple and usable assessment and training intervention strategy for improving team functioning. The second objective was to further validate a previously developed self-report measure of team functioning (the team process check) by examining the relation between the measure and objective ratings of the behavior of teams engaged in a design task. The work-in-progress will describe a process for continuous improvement, which includes the systematic assessment of team functioning, and the utilization of that assessment to generate viable improvement plans.

The art of getting students to practice team skills

The ability of students to work in multidisciplinary teams is a recognized goal of engineering education. There are many challenges to teaching team skills to students and ensuring that students practice these skills during their team projects. This panel session is devoted to exploring issues and sharing best practices in these areas. The session utilizes a team-based approach to explore solutions and approaches to challenges in teaching team skills.

Technology supported learning applied to an innovative, integrated curriculum for first-year engineering majors

In September of 1998, the College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth piloted an innovative, integrated, first year curriculum. It dramatically changed 31 credits across two semesters. Preliminary assessment data was very encouraging after the first semester of operation and the college of engineering adopted a modified program for most freshman, engineering students in the Fall of 1999. The paper outlines teaching and learning pedagogy and technology strategies that brought the new curriculum efficiently into being and helped to assure its success. The new program at UMD includes: integrating the introductory sequences in physics, calculus, and engineering; teaching and using teamwork among students and faculty using a specially designed technology oriented studio classroom; using active and cooperative learning methods; encouraging formation of a learning community of students by block-scheduling classes and grouping students in dorms; reducing the cost of delivering courses by making more efficient use of instructional time; using careful assessment to evaluate performance. The paper outlines the curriculum, teaching methodology, innovative technologies used in the new integrated curriculum and program assessment.