A Gentle Introduction to Learn By Doing Ray Bareiss Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley Campus MS 23-11 Moffett Field, CA 94035 011-650-335-2801
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Todd Sedano Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley Campus MS 23-11 Moffett Field, CA 94035 011-650-335-2812
[email protected] Abstract
We believe Carnegie Mellon University in Silicon Valley’s MS in Software Engineering program to be unique in that it is entirely team-based and project-centered [1]. Students learn by doing as they are coached just in time by faculty in the context of authentic projects, and they are evaluated based on what they produce. Student satisfaction is high: 96% believe that the program has given them a competitive advantage with respect to their professional peers, and their promotion and salary histories bear out this belief. This tutorial introduces the attendees to our learn-by-doing instructional approach through participation in a learn by doing experience, performing a usability analysis of a commercial website, followed by discussion to highlight what we believe to be important principles of teaching.
1. Topic, theme and goals Cognitive Science research on how people think and learn suggests several properties of an effective educational approach: • The approach should center on active problem solving to promote the acquisition of usable knowledge rather than a collection of memorized facts • The approach should situate learning in a realistic context, highly similar to the environment in which students are expected to apply the knowledge, thus promoting transfer • The context for learning should be a simulation of the real world to ensure that targeted knowledge and skills are required for successful problem solving and to enable the appropriate ordering of their acquisition • Instruction should be “just in time,” when the problem solving situation provides a context for processing new information and storing it mentally in a useful form • Knowledge and skills should be taught holistically, as they will be applied, rather than separated into academic silos • The learning experience should equip students with the fundamental skill of self-directed learning. • A key part of effective learning should occur when direct coaching is delivered by experts in the context of authentic problem-related interaction In this tutorial, the attendees will experience these properties as implemented at Carnegie Mellon University’s Silicon Valley campus by performing heuristic usability evaluation of a
well known commercial website. After this experience, we will engage attendees in an interactive discussion of teaching by coaching. As a result of completing this tutorial the attendees will be able to: • Organize and/or perform a heuristic evaluation as a member of a team • Apply learn-by-doing principles to their own teaching In 2010, we presented this tutorial at CSEET 2010 where it was well attended and well received. We propose to present an updated version of the tutorial at CSEET 2012 to reach a new audience. Note also that all of our software engineering and software management master’s students participate in this workshop as part of a comprehensive orientation to studying at Carneige Mellon University in Silicon Valley (CMU-SV) and report that they value the perspective on teaching and learning that it provides.
2. The presenters Ray Bareiss has been director of educational programs at Carnegie Mellon University’s Silicon Valley Campus since its founding in 2002. He is one of the primary architects of its unique learn-by-doing style of instruction. He frequently works with faculty, especially new faculty, to improve their teaching styles, and he also orients all new students to learning by doing. Before joining Carnegie Mellon, Dr. Bareiss was assistant director of Northwestern University’s Institute for the Learning Sciences (ILS), as well as a research associate professor of computer science and education; at ILS he studied the use of rich eLearning simulations to provide learn-by-doing experiences for a wide range of learners. The work of ILS led to the founding of Cognitive Arts Corporation, a leading developer of high-end eLearning solutions; Dr. Bareiss was a co-founder and served as an executive vice president for four years before he left to take a position at Carnegie Mellon. Dr. Bareiss has a PhD in computer sciences from the University of Texas at Austin and has published extensively in the areas of educational technology, organizational memory and performance support, and learning-by-doing software engineering education. Todd Sedano is the Director of the Software Engineering Program for Carnegie Mellon University's Silicon Valley campus since 2005. In addition to managing the day-to-day operations of the Software Engineering program, he teaches software engineering, the craft of software development, agile methodologies, and entrepreneurship to his graduate students. He has been using the learn-by-doing techniques since the campus started in 2002. He facilitates teams in crisis by bringing them through a structured, mediated sessions. He runs "Improv for Engineers" tutorials that allow engineers to develop skills in public speaking, active listening, idea building, confidence, and team formation. He earned both his M.S. in software engineering and his undergraduate degree in mathematics and computer science from Carnegie Mellon University.
3. Intended audience and the preparation required of them The intended audience is software engineering educators at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Previous experience with usability analysis is not required. Attendees are asked to read nine pages of material on the web in preparation for this tutorial. [2,3]
Attendees need to bring their laptops (so they can access the website to be evaluated, and to create final presentations of their results).
4. Activities and format This tutorial is choreographed as shown in Table 1. Table 1. Learn-by-doing tutorial choreography Presenters
Attendees Read material in advance
Introduce tutorial goals and agenda Briefly describe CMU-SV pedagogy, why it is unique and how it works Assigns the task (a heuristic evaluation of a commercial website) that each team is to complete
Attendees self-organize in teams and complete the task
Coach the attendees as they perform their task
Teams present their findings
Facilitate a post-task reflection session on heuristic evaluation
Participate in discussion
Facilitate a post-task reflection session on the learnby-doing experience
Participate in discussion
Facilitate a discussion of techniques of teaching-bycoaching and of implementing learning-by-doing tasks in a course.
Participate in discussion
After providing appropriate motivation and context, attendees are divided into teams and begin the task of a heuristic evaluation of the Singapore Airlines website while the presenters coach each team, providing input through help and advice, just in time. (Note: while the Singapore Airlines website does look good, it has significant usability problems when one probes beneath the surface.) From: Director of Software Engineering To:
Usability Team
Subject: Conduct heuristic evaluation for important client Team, Singapore Airlines is concerned about the usability of their website. In particular, they are concerned that their website does not seem to be “considerate” to their customers. As a first step towards improving it, they have hired us to conduct a
heuristic evaluation to identify potential usability problems and to document them in a report. Focus on the most important task to Singapore Airlines and its US customers: booking flights to and from Asia... During a debrief of the task, the presenters will lead the attendees through a discussion of learn-by-doing pedagogy illustrating how this technique can be used in their own courses. After debriefing the task, the presenters will discuss the role of the coach and what characterizes an “ideal” coach, focusing on the following points [4]: • Adjust to use different teaching methods based on their assessment of a student team’s specific situation and needs • Allow students to diverge from course planned content if/as warranted • Balance use of the various techniques of Cognitive Apprenticeship, including openended questioning, appropriately given a team’s situation, abilities, and mental state • Have an adequate level of subject-matter knowledge • Ensure that the students develop and use appropriate work processes and apply what they are learning to their work • Are flexible with their scheduling and availability to students • Are willing to engage with the students to address and resolve individual as well as team issues • Are experienced in facilitation • Are able to establish an empathetic relationship with individual students and teams • Are comfortable with virtual teamwork and distance learning.
5. Anticipated time requirements This tutorial is 3 hours long: 2 hours for the learn-by-doing activity, and 1 hour for pedagogical discussion and reflection.
6. Reference [1] R. Bareiss and T. Sedano, “Developing Software Engineering Leaders,” Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Tangible Software Engineering Education (STANS-09 in Tokyo,Japan), October 2009. (http:// repository.cmu.edu/silicon_valley/27/) [2] Nielsen, J., Heurisitc Evaluation (http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_evaluation.html) [3] Atwood, J., Making Considerate Software, (http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2006/03/makingconsiderate-software.html) [4] R. Bareiss and M. Radley, “Coaching Via Cognitive Apprenticeship,” submitted to SIGCSE 2010, Milwaukee, WI, March 2010. (http://repository.cmu.edu/silicon_valley/45/)
