Applying Pair Programming Practice in the Improvement of Software Design Skills, in an Undergraduate Course

Quintana-Cruz, Hernan; Grados, Billy

doi:10.1145/3341525.3393985

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 7 publications

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“…Case studies are given to students who work in groups to come up with the design of the system (Chase et al 2015). Active learning techniques like role play, pair programming, and peer learning have also been done in the classroom (Hu 2013;Quintana and Grados 2020). Teaching through games in the classroom is also another popular strategy (Jaramillo 2014; Baker et al 2005).…”

Section: Teaching-learning Of Software Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

VeriSIM: A model-based learning pedagogy for fostering software design evaluation skills in computer science undergraduates

Prasad

Iyer

2022

RPTEL

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Evaluating a software design is an important practice of expert software designers. They spend significant time evaluating their solution, by developing an integrated mental model of the software design and the requirements. However, sufficient emphasis has not been given on teaching and learning of evaluation practices in software design courses, and hence, graduating students find it difficult to critically analyse an existing design and improve upon it. In this paper, we describe a model-based learning pedagogy for teaching–learning of software design evaluation. Model-based learning has been extensively used in science education and entails helping students construct, refine, revise, evaluate, and validate scientific models. We argue that modelling practices in software design evaluation are analogous to these practices. We adapted the model-based learning paradigm and operationalised it into a technology-enhanced learning environment (TELE) for fostering software design evaluation skills in computer science undergraduates. We conducted a research study with 22 undergraduate students to explore how the TELE and its features help students effectively evaluate a given software design. Students attempted a pre-test and post-test which asked them to identify defects in the design. We used the content analysis method to identify categories of defects from student responses in the pre-test and post-test. We also analysed student interaction logs and conducted focus group interviews to identify how features in the TELE contributed towards student learning. Findings from the study showed that students’ understanding of evaluation improved, from merely adding new functionalities and requirements, to a process which involved identifying alternate scenarios in the design which violate the given requirements. Students perceived that pedagogical features of the TELE were useful in helping them effectively evaluate software designs. Findings from the study provide evidence for the model-based learning paradigm as an appropriate pedagogy for software design and also opens the space for researchers to investigate model-based learning in other aspects of software design, such as designs of different types and varying complexities.

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