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Experiences of Integrating Learning and Engagement Strategies (LESs) into Software Engineering Courses

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Conference

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Location

Virtual On line

Publication Date

June 22, 2020

Start Date

June 22, 2020

End Date

June 26, 2021

Conference Session

Software Engineering Division Technical Session 2

Tagged Division

Software Engineering Division

Page Count

18

DOI

10.18260/1-2--34630

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/34630

Download Count

483

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Paper Authors

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Peter J. Clarke Florida International University

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Peter J. Clarke received his B.Sc. degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of the West Indies (Cave Hill) in 1987, M.S. degree from SUNY Binghamton University in 1996 and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Clemson University in 2003. His research interests are in the areas of software testing, software metrics, model-driven software development, domain-specific modeling languages, and computer science education. He is currently an associate professor in the School of Computing and Information Sciences at Florida International University. He is a member of the ACM (SIGSOFT, SIGCSE, and SIGAPP); IEEE Computer Society; and a member of the Association for Software Testing (AST).

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Mandayam Thirunarayanan Florida International University

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Mandayam Osuri Thirunarayanan is an associate professor in the School of Education and Human Development (SEHD), in the College of Arts, Sciences, and Education (CASE) at Florida International University, in Miami, Florida. He teaches courses in learning technologies at the undergraduate, masters and doctoral levels. He also supervises doctoral dissertations. His research interests include distance education, cyber-learning, and videogames in education. He has proposed innovative and futuristic educational applications.

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Sai Chaithra Allala Florida International University

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Sai Chaithra Allala received her Master’s degree from Florida International University in Computer Science and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Science. Her research areas of interest include software engineering, Software Testing, and computer science education. Currently, the focus of her research is using model-driven engineering, natural language processing, and machine learning to automate the generation of test cases from user requirements.

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Juan Pablo Sotomayor Florida International University

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Juan Pablo Sotomayor received his Master’s degree from Florida International University currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Science. He is currently focused on the research area of Software Testing including MicroServices architecture.

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Monique S. Ross Florida International University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-6320-636X

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Monique Ross earned a doctoral degree in Engineering Education from Purdue University. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Elizabethtown College, a Master’s degree in Computer Science and Software Engineering from Auburn University, eleven years of experience in industry as a software engineer, and three years as a full-time faculty in the departments of computer science and engineering. Her interests focus on broadening participation in engineering through the exploration of: 1) race, gender, and identity in the engineering workplace; 2) discipline-based education research (with a focus on computer science and computer engineering courses) in order to inform pedagogical practices that garner interest and retain women and minorities in computer-related engineering fields. 

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Abstract

Pedagogy in Software Engineering courses continue to evolve as new evidence-based approaches to teaching becomes more widespread. This evolution is necessary and timely given that the effective development of software applications requires the use of a wide array of skills, including both technical and non-technical skills. Students are required to learn both of these skill sets in the classroom at the same time since most software engineering curricula include at most two software engineering courses. The technical skills needed for effective software engineering include knowledge of the: software process – requirements, design, validation and evolution; and tools and techniques (a) to model various artifacts in the requirements and design phases, (b) support verification and validation, and (c) maintenance activities post software implementation. The non-technical (soft) skills include effective: communication, team management and participation, and time management, among others.

In this paper we present our experiences of integrating learning and engagement strategies (LESs) intp face-to-face (F2F) and online class activities for both software engineering and software testing undergraduate classes. The LESs use in our pedagogical approach include: collaborative learning, gamification, problem-based learning, and social interaction. Our approach is guided by the LES Integration Model (LESIM) and supported by SEP-CyLE (Software Engineering and Programming Cyberlearning Environment). SEP-CyLE (https://stem-cyle.cis.fiu.edu/), an instance of STEM-CyLE, contains vetted learning content in the form of learning objects and tutorials, and can be configured to use various combinations of LESs.

We conducted a quasi-experimental quantitative study to determine the students’ perception of using LESIM in the classroom with respect to student learning and engagement in class activities. The main research question focuses on students’ perception of the impact on student learning and engagement when using LESs in the classroom as compared to other classes previously taken in their program of study. Preliminary studies have indicated an improvement in student learning when there is an increase of class time dedicated to LESs and a reduction in time to traditional lecture style teaching.

The main contributions of this work are as follows: 1. Determine the effectiveness of using LESIM from students’ point of view for both F2F and online class activities, based on the scope of our study. 2. Present our experiences of using LESIM in both software engineering and software testing undergraduate classes. 3. Based on our experiences in the aforementioned classes, propose how LESIM may be more effectively used in future software engineering and testing classes.

Clarke, P. J., & Thirunarayanan, M., & Allala, S. C., & Sotomayor, J. P., & Ross, M. S. (2020, June), Experiences of Integrating Learning and Engagement Strategies (LESs) into Software Engineering Courses Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--34630

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2020 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015