Evaluating groupware support for software engineering students

Software engineering tasks, during both development and maintenance, typically involve teamwork using computers. Team members rarely work on isolated computers. An underlying assumption of our research is that software engineering teams will work more effectively if adequately supported by network-based groupware technology. Experience of working with groupware and evaluating groupware systems will also give software engineering students a direct appreciation of the requirements of engineering such systems. This research is investigating the provision of such network-based support for software engineering students and the impact these tools have on their groupwork. We will first describe our experiences gained through the introduction of an asynchronous virtual environment ­ SEGWorld to support groupwork during the Software Engineering Group (SEG) project undertaken by all second year undergraduates within the Department of Computer Science. Secondly we will describe our Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) module which has been introduced into the students' final year of study as a direct result of our experience with SEG, and in particular its role within Software Engineering. Within this CSCW module the students have had the opportunity to evaluate various groupware tools. This has enabled them to take a retrospective view of their experience of SEGWorld and its underlying system, BSCW, one year on. We report our findings for SEG in the form of a discussion of the hypotheses we formulated on how the SEGs would use SEGWorld, and present an initial qualitative assessment of student feedback from the CSCW module

Investigating the Impact of Entry Qualifications on Student Performance in Computing Programmes at Undergraduate Level

Context: This thesis investigates the impact of prior A-level study on students taking degree programmes within the Computing discipline. The focus of this work investigates opportunities to providing more-personalised learning which is based on students’ existing knowledge, for example, by providing additional learning support to those students who had studied a particular topic at A-level. Although other studies have been carried out in this area, these studies have typically focused on outcomes across multiple programmes. Due to the variation of content taught, the researchers carrying out these prior studies have been unable to draw conclusions at the level of specific assignments. Aim: The aim of this work is to investigate the impact of A-level subject selection on the performance of those studying Computing programmes at Durham University. Method: This thesis is a detailed study, tracking Durham students, from entry until the completion of year two, over a particular three year period. This three year period of study was selected as, during these three years, Durham’s entry qualifications and course content remained largely unchanged. Hence, the unintended impact of entry qualification and content change were not factors that needed to be taken into consideration. A statistical analysis framework has been developed to investigate the impact which choosing specific A-levels has on student performance. Particularly, this work considers the impact on student performance, in course work (to the level of specific assignments) and examinations, of Maths, Computing, ICT, and Physics A-levels. The research compares the outcomes for students who have these qualifications against those who have not. Specific combinations of these A-levels are also considered. Results: The results highlight some benefits in year one for students studying specific qualifications: largely Maths. However, the most significant result of this work is that, at the end of year two, any differences are insignificant. Therefore, while students with specific A-levels may gain benefits initially, at the point these student enter the final year of their programme, these differences no longer impact of their ability to study. The curriculum within Durham, therefore, already appears to address the needs of students, specifically by covering knowledge, or promoting individual study, of all topics necessary for successful progression. This research has, thereby, revalidated and added to the current body of knowledge in this research area. While this work has identified students without specific A-levels are not adversely affected, what it points to is that some students with A-levels, for instance, in Computing, perceive their early University education to repeat much of their A-level work. So, although this study was not able to recommend personalisation of learning in support of those who have not studied specific A-levels, this work does highlight that, perhaps, personalised learning for those who have taken specific A-level may be necessary. Conclusions: The outcomes of this research have clear and important consequences for Higher Education Admission Policies for the Computing discipline. As an outcome, it would seem that the requirements placed by many institutions on entrants to have specific A-level is unnecessarily restrictive and may be preventing many students entering a discipline in which they would, otherwise, have been successful

An investigation into computer support for cooperative work in software engineering groups

The research of this thesis relates to Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) in the context of software engineering, and in particular software engineering education. Whilst research into group working has tended to be directed towards CSCW, very little research has been undertaken on group working within software engineering. Linked with CSCW is groupware, which is the class of tools that supports and augments groupwork. This thesis represents an attempt to contribute to the understanding of the groupware needs of software engineers, and to identify and trial groupware that supports software engineering activities. An infrastructure has been developed providing virtual environments, for use by both collocated and geographically distributed software engineering students, to support their groupwork. This infrastructure comprises of synchronous and asynchronous groupware, in the form of desktop video conferencing, and a shared information workspace. This shared workspace has been tailored from the groupware tool, Basic Support for Cooperative Work (BSCW).Within this thesis, hypotheses have been formulated as to the student use of these virtual environments. These hypotheses concentrate on the areas of: organisation and coordination of tasks, the level of cooperation that occurs within the phases of the software lifecycle, the usage of the functions within a shared workspace, and what importance is placed on the role of synchronous communication within software engineering student groupwork. Through a series of case studies it was possible to determine the outcome of these hypotheses using various data collection methods. These methods include questionnaires, focus group meetings, observations, and automatic monitoring of workspace activities. The outcomes of this thesis are that the hypotheses regarding organisation and coordination, and, the role of synchronous communication within software engineering, have been proved. Whilst the determination of the level of cooperation during the phases of the software lifecycle has not been proved, the use of functions within the shared workspace has been partly proved

Imagining Social Justice Ministerial Leadership Education

Social justice being included in education for ministerial leaders. &nbsp

The Integrative Seminar Across Seminaries

One of the most important evolutionary shifts in theological education was the move in the 1970s from “field work” to “field education.” Whereas seminary students have, for generations, supplemented their incomes by serving part-time in ministry jobs appropriate for the non-ordained, the choice on the part of seminaries to appropriate such experiences into curriculamarked a change in attitude about the role of experience in formation for ministry. Over the past thirty to forty years, field education programs have become increasingly integral to students’ seminary experiences. In many settings, field education constitutes the core of the curriculum and is reported to be the most memorable and useful component in students’ preparationfor ministry

Online Learning in Secondary Education: A New Frontier

Distance education is not a new concept in the educational arena. In 1892, it was established in the United States with correspondence study at the University of Chicago through the home study department of the Division of Extension

The Well Being of Physician Assistant Students: A Preliminary Look at Quality of Life

Medical students are adversely affected by the rigorous curriculum and high demands of medical school causing them to experience symptoms like burnout.1 Burnout is defined as a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a sense of low personal accomplishment that leads to decreased effectiveness at work.2 What about Physician Assistants (PAs)? There has been minimal research on students going through PA programs. PAs are required to learn a vast amount of knowledge in a compressed 2 year program. Hernandez and his team (2010) examined the different levels of stress, depression and medical symptoms between nursing students, medical students and physician assistant students. Hernandez and his team found that the physician assistant students reported the highest levels of depression and medical symptoms. Further research on the wellness of PA students is necessary to produce the best possible learning environment because PA students are at risk for serious physical, emotional and mental problems

The contribution that empirical studies performed in industry make to the findings of systematic reviews: A tertiary study

Context: Systematic reviews can provide useful knowledge for software engineering practice, by aggregating and synthesising empirical studies related to a specific topic. Objective: We sought to assess how far the findings of systematic reviews addressing practice-oriented topics have been derived from empirical studies that were performed in industry or that used industry data. Method: We drew upon and augmented the data obtained from a tertiary study that performed a systematic review of systematic reviews published in the period up to the end of 2015, seeking to identify those with findings that are relevant for teaching and practice. For the supplementary analysis reported here, we then examined the profiles of the primary studies as reported in each systematic review. Results: We identified 48 systematic reviews as candidates for further analysis. The many differences that arise between systematic reviews, together with the incompleteness of reporting for these, mean that our counts should be treated as indicative rather than definitive. However, even when allowing for problems of classification, the findings from the majority of these systematic reviews were predominantly derived from using primary studies conducted in industry. There was also an emphasis upon the use of case studies, and a number of the systematic reviews also made some use of weaker ‘experience’ or even ‘opinion’ papers. Conclusions: Primary studies from industry play an important role as inputs to systematic reviews. Using more rigorous industry-based primary studies can give greater authority to the findings of the systematic reviews, and should help with the creation of a corpus of sound empirical data to support evidence-informed decisions

Structural and Behavioral Components of Residential Energy Consumption

Housing, Interior Design and Consumer Studie