IIIT Hyderabad Publications |
|||||||||
|
Case Study Oriented Learning Environment for Software EngineeringAuthor: Kirti Garg Date: 2017-08-30 Report no: IIIT/TH/2017/77 Advisor:Vasudeva Varma AbstractCompetent software engineers will produce quality software systems. Lack of such qualified software professionals has far reaching consequences and hence is a major worry for both academia and industry worldwide and especially in India. Educators are trying to create high impact learning environments that can address this specific issue. The general consensus among educators and learners is that there is a gap between theory and practice of Software Engineering (SE), addressable by incorporating more practice oriented instructional approaches in the learning environments, the conceptual embodiments of learning and teaching. The very idea has merit. However, instruction design for SE is not simple due to presence of several impacting factors, situated in the nature of software, Software Engineering, academia and software industry. Sustainability and cultural suitability are other factors to be considered. Since SE learning environments are high impact systems, their design and evaluation should be conscientious exercises, strongly supported by theory and practice, utilizing holistic yet systematic approaches. The primary goal of this work is to develop an effective and sustainable Software Engineering learning environment for Indian conditions. To address this quintessential problem, we followed a Design Based Research (DBR) approach that is suitable for educational research and exhibits many similarities with typical Software Engineering process. We examined the interdisciplinary domain of Software Engineering Education (SEEd) to identify factors impacting SE education in the Indian context. Accordingly, requirements related to learning, and of Differentiating nature were identified. Analysis suggested that the Differentiating requirements such as scalability, administrative usability, practiceorientation, motivation, feedback, pedagogical maturity, resource efficiency etc. exhibit significant interactions and determine the pedagogy design and validation in a learning environment. We could even classify the Differentiating requirements as Systemic and Climatic. We designed a learning model that can effectively and easily bring industrial knowledge and experience to the classroom, thus bridging the industry-academia gap. The proposed Case Oriented learning environment for Software Engineering Education (COSEEd) uses a case based instructional approach, with structured problem solving at its core. Essentially, challenges in well-designed case studies engage students in authentic SE activities for solving authentic, contextualized problems. Students achieve the learning goals through the process of understanding and solving a given SE case study. The assessment activities are in tight integration with the instruction, thus creating an environment conducive for learning. This layered system embeds multiple learning theories and design principles from Educational Technology to support the right set of qualities. To improve the specificity, accuracy and granularity of analysis, we developed a formal validation approach named as Requirement Satisfaction Index (RSI). RSI detects and measures the presence of requisite qualities, including learning at various cognitive levels. RSI is a novel way of thinking towards design and evaluation of learning environments in terms of needed capabilities or requirements of a learning environment. Results exhibit that COSEEd, the case study oriented learning environment is highly suitable for the Indian context. It imparts effective learning, is scalable, mature and flexible to vi accommodate the dynamic nature of SE. Several studies were conducted to examine the effectiveness of COSEEd. Results from these studies indicate the merit of the proposed learning environment on several cognitive measurements of learning, Climatic qualities and Systemic qualities. The model consistently scores high on learning objectives with higher-level cognitive goals. COSEEd’s advantages are visible in the Climatic requirements especially practice-orientation, use of authentic problems, interesting, and motivating. For Systemic requirements, the model was evaluated as scalable, flexible, mature, and administratively usable, though not resource efficient. We developed supporting technology and learning material in form of a set of case studies based on real projects from the Indian software industry. We identified mechanisms to impact learning by manipulating case studies and learning activities. Our approach differs from existing work in many ways. It is India specific, but is generalizable. We take a holistic approach towards the learning environment and consider both learning effectiveness and sustainability. Requirements of the environment are gathered after a thorough examination of Indian academic and industrial scenario as well as nature of the discipline. The design is rooted in several learning theories and design principles from Education Technology. Further, rigorous evaluation has been undertaken in real classrooms. Results of this interdisciplinary work will help SE educators in multiple ways. These include a holistic understanding of possible issues and challenges that can affect the effectiveness of their teaching efforts; provide educators ways to choose instructional strategies suitable to their learning goals and other concerns; have a choice between the proposed customizable, well designed COSEEd model and other means of instructions; and pick appropriate assessment methods that have been systematically validated in actual working environment. All together, the work will illuminate ways to systematically address the concerns of SE educators and learners by establishing a need and path for rigorous evidence based research for development of effective SE learning environments. Full thesis: pdf Centre for Software Engineering Research Lab |
||||||||
Copyright © 2009 - IIIT Hyderabad. All Rights Reserved. |