Board 156: Enriching Communication in Introductory Computer Science Courses: A Retrospective of the Agile Communicators Project

Leo C. Ureel; Charles Wallace

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Conference: 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Publication Date: June 23, 2018
Start Date: June 23, 2018
End Date: July 27, 2018
Conference Session: NSF Grantees Poster Session
Tagged Topic: NSF Grantees Poster Session
Page Count: 6
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--29959
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/29959
Download Count: 581

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Paper Authors

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Leo C. Ureel II Michigan Technological University

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Leo C. Ureel II is a Lecturer in Computer Science at Michigan Technological University. He has worked extensively in the field of educational software development. His research interests include intelligent learning environments, computer science education and software engineering. He currently has primary responsibility for the introductory programming courses at Michigan Tech.

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Charles Wallace Michigan Technological University orcid.org/0000-0002-9712-7694

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Dr. Charles Wallace studied Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California before earning his Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Michigan. He has been on the faculty of the Michigan Tech Computer Science Department since 2000. His experiences as a computer scientist, linguist, and software developer drive his research exploring how humans can better understand, build, and use software. His work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Google, Microsoft Research, and the U.S. Department of Defense.

Dr. Wallace's Agile Communicators project, supported by an NSF IUSE award, seeks to build an enhanced curriculum for computing programs that emphasizes inquiry, critique and reflection, grounded in authentic software development settings. Tools in this project include process oriented guided inquiry learning, automated feedback to students through an intelligent tutoring system, case studies in software communication, and guided reflective exercises on team communication. As part of this research, the Agile Communicators team has investigated communication practices in a variety of student and professional software development environments.

Wallace has been intimately involved with undergraduate Computer Science curriculum development since his arrival in 2000. He cofounded Michigan Tech's Software Engineering degree program in 2003. Wallace currently serves as Director of Undergraduate Programs for the Computer Science Department. In conjunction with his research projects, he has founded local outreach efforts in computer education for middle and high school students and digital literacy for senior citizens.

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Abstract

Among software professionals, the quality of team communication is acknowledged as a key factor in the success or failure of software projects. Successful communication in the workplace is a creative process requiring more than technical mastery of standard genres. Developers must make strategic communication decisions, and they must be agile — flexible, proactive, and creative — in these decisions.  The Agile Communicators project, supported by the NSF IUSE program, seeks to promote creative, strategic communication among Computer Science students through the practices of inquiry, critique and reflection. Our approach constitutes a cognitive apprenticeship that engages students in authentic software settings and articulates processes that are traditionally left implicit. Over two years, we have enriched the communication environment in our early Computer Science courses in two ways: by actively engaging and encouraging students to articulate their questions, ideas, and concerns; and by enhancing the means by which instructors communicate with students. Our preliminary results indicate improvement in student performance and a clearer understanding of the place of communication in the lives of computing professionals.

Student practice and reflection on communication as part of the problem-solving process have been integrated into introductory programming courses. Programming lab assignments include as deliverables not only the final result of functional code but also intermediate guided inquiry exercises where students articulate the steps of their analysis and design. Students complete lab assignments through pair programming and reflect on the progress of their communication skills with their partners over the sequence of assignments. In a later team software project course, students consider more sophisticated communication scenarios. Early in the team software course, we expose the students to real communication challenges that others have faced – the experiences of earlier student teams, and the experiences of professionals. Through a pattern approach, students inquire into the design choices of written and oral communication acts in real software projects. Later, during their project development, we ask them to reflect on the communication challenges they are facing, and to observe the communication choices that fellow teams have made.

Instructor communication to students has been enhanced through automated just-in-time feedback. In the introductory programming courses, the WebTA tool provides tight instructor-tailored commentary on student code, essentially providing a virtual TA experience even when instructors are unavailable. WebTA not only reports on automated test results but also analyzes and critiques style and design, searching for positive patterns and negative antipatterns specified by the instructor. The tool serves not as a substitute for direct student-instructor communication, but rather as an augmentation to that interaction. In a similar vein, the introductory Computer Science course on discrete mathematics now involves lab exercises using the Alloy language and analyzer. The feedback provided by Alloy has the potential to eliminate common misconceptions among students when wrestling with mathematical language constructs in logic and relational algebra. Compared to a traditional approach where students simply submit written answers to homework problems, students working on Alloy problems get immediate critique of the syntactic and semantic quality of their responses.

Citation
Format

Ureel, L. C., & Wallace, C. (2018, June), Board 156: Enriching Communication in Introductory Computer Science Courses: A Retrospective of the Agile Communicators Project Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--29959

TY - CPAPER
AB - Among software professionals, the quality of team communication is acknowledged as a key factor in the success or failure of software projects. Successful communication in the workplace is a creative process requiring more than technical mastery of standard genres. Developers must make strategic communication decisions, and they must be agile — flexible, proactive, and creative — in these decisions. The Agile Communicators project, supported by the NSF IUSE program, seeks to promote creative, strategic communication among Computer Science students through the practices of inquiry, critique and reflection. Our approach constitutes a cognitive apprenticeship that engages students in authentic software settings and articulates processes that are traditionally left implicit. Over two years, we have enriched the communication environment in our early Computer Science courses in two ways: by actively engaging and encouraging students to articulate their questions, ideas, and concerns; and by enhancing the means by which instructors communicate with students. Our preliminary results indicate improvement in student performance and a clearer understanding of the place of communication in the lives of computing professionals.

Student practice and reflection on communication as part of the problem-solving process have been integrated into introductory programming courses. Programming lab assignments include as deliverables not only the final result of functional code but also intermediate guided inquiry exercises where students articulate the steps of their analysis and design. Students complete lab assignments through pair programming and reflect on the progress of their communication skills with their partners over the sequence of assignments. In a later team software project course, students consider more sophisticated communication scenarios. Early in the team software course, we expose the students to real communication challenges that others have faced – the experiences of earlier student teams, and the experiences of professionals. Through a pattern approach, students inquire into the design choices of written and oral communication acts in real software projects. Later, during their project development, we ask them to reflect on the communication challenges they are facing, and to observe the communication choices that fellow teams have made.

Instructor communication to students has been enhanced through automated just-in-time feedback. In the introductory programming courses, the WebTA tool provides tight instructor-tailored commentary on student code, essentially providing a virtual TA experience even when instructors are unavailable. WebTA not only reports on automated test results but also analyzes and critiques style and design, searching for positive patterns and negative antipatterns specified by the instructor. The tool serves not as a substitute for direct student-instructor communication, but rather as an augmentation to that interaction. In a similar vein, the introductory Computer Science course on discrete mathematics now involves lab exercises using the Alloy language and analyzer. The feedback provided by Alloy has the potential to eliminate common misconceptions among students when wrestling with mathematical language constructs in logic and relational algebra. Compared to a traditional approach where students simply submit written answers to homework problems, students working on Alloy problems get immediate critique of the syntactic and semantic quality of their responses.
AU - Leo C. Ureel II
AU - Charles Wallace
CY - Salt Lake City, Utah
DA - 2018/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Board 156: Enriching Communication in Introductory Computer Science Courses: A Retrospective of the Agile Communicators Project
UR - https://peer.asee.org/29959
DO - 10.18260/1-2--29959
ER -