Hi all, Maria, thanks for alerting me to Ben's question!
Ben, please see the article that Maria linked to. Also, you are welcome to look at the Software Factory web site at http://www.softwarefactory.cc/ for further information. We do gather data about software development expertise in the factory, but currently our focus is on process and project -level questions. For instance, we are observing how (student) developers go from technical programming skills to team process skills with "fuzzy" tasks from a customer when using Agile software development. Another thing we have experimented with is how to conduct studies on Lean development of software products, where the (student) team works with a customer to define and then implement a Minimum Viable Product to test a value hypothesis regarding the product. We work with Master's students, and what is trained here is how to take already existing programming skills and knowledge and produce programs that satisfy a non-technical goal (e.g. a "business goal"). Another limitation we have is that our data is not longitudinal across individual students' studies but rather longitudinal across the development projects and the development of the factory itself. Our project cycles are approximately seven weeks long and students come and go over those seven weeks. However, I would like to suggest the following articles from some of my colleagues who are looking more at the undergraduates (reprints are available at http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/en/rage/publications): A.Vihavainen, M.Paksula and M.Luukkainen: Extreme Apprenticeship Method in Teaching Programming for Beginners. In SIGCSE 2011: Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education. ACM Press, 2011. A. Vihavainen, M. Luukkainen and J. Kurhila: Multi-faceted Support for MOOC in Programming. To appear in SIGITE’12: Proceedings of the 13th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education: Calgary, Alberta, Canada on October 11-13. ACM Press, 2012. M. Luukkainen, A. Vihavainen and T. Vikberg: Three Years of Design-based Research to Reform a Software Engineering Curriculum. To appear in SIGITE’12: Proceedings of the 13th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education: Calgary, Alberta, Canada on October 11-13. ACM Press, 2012. They are now following students even before they enter the university, all the way through the Bachelor's degree. Perhaps you could get in touch with them and find out what data they may have available? You could refer to me (and cc me so I can chime in). :) Best regards, Fabian On Thu, 2012-09-27 at 11:01 +0000, Kutar Maria wrote: > Hi Ben, > > > It is possible that data of this type is being gathered at > the software factory - see the article in the last ppig newsletter. > I'm sure that Fabian (cc'd) will be happy to discuss. > > > regards > Maria > > Dr Maria Kutar > Senior Lecturer in Information Systems, Salford Business School > Director of PGT Programmes in International Operations and Information > Management > Web: http://www.salford.ac.uk/business-school/business-academics/maria-kutar > Twitter: @mariakutar > Room 325, Maxwell Building, University of Salford , Salford, M5 4WT, > UK > Tel. ++ 44 (0)161 295 3056 Fax. ++ 44 (0)161 295 5394 > > On 26 Sep 2012, at 16:38, Ben du Boulay wrote: > > > Dear PPIG, > > > > Does anyone know of accessible data on the development of > > programming expertise across the years of an undergraduate degree? > > > > I know about the phenomenographic thesis by Shirley Booth observing > > undergraduates and the longitudinal study by Judy Kay and Richard > > Thomas of the development of expertise in using the SAM editor over > > a number of years, but are there any other authors who have observed > > students over time to map in detail how their understanding of > > programming develops? > > > > Many thanks > > > > Ben > > > > Benedict du Boulay > > Department of Informatics > > University of Sussex > > > > > > > > > > -- > > The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an > > exempt charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in > > Scotland (SC 038302). > > > > > >
