Academic teaching-based research 2017 part 2

The recent 13th China Europe Symposium on Software Engineering Education (CEISEE) held in Athens, Greece 24-25th May 2017 provided the Computing Academic team an opportunity to present some their work in teaching computing. In the picture above going left to right Thomas Butler, Liz Coulter-Smith, Suraj Ajit, Scott Turner and Ryan Edwards.

Three papers have been discussed previously:  https://computingnorthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/academic-teaching-based-research-2017.html


Details of a further three of the six papers presented can be found below


1. Seven Deadly Sins of Software Flexibility 
Thomas Butler, Mark Johnson

Abstract. As software development techniques evolve, practices emerge which both help and hinder software development. These practices are often identified first by industry experts who work with large codebases in big teams. There are many software development techniques that have been labelled "bad practice" by these industry experts that aren't formally recognised in academia. This paper briefly describes some of these bad practices.



2. ASSESSMENT OF PROGRAMMING MODULES IN SOFTWARE ENGINEERING EDUCATION 
SURAJ AJIT

ABSTRACT Assessment plays a very important role in how students learn. There has been extensive research done on different modes of assessments in higher education. This paper reports on how that research applies to programming modules in Software Engineering education. In particular, the paper reports on the author’s experience and the student perceptions of several assessment modes in programming modules. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 167 undergraduate computing students to get their perceptions on the preferred mode of assessment for programming modules in Software Engineering education. The paper also investigates the effect automated marking systems could have on programming assessments by gathering student perceptions. Student perceptions sought reveal that they would complete more weekly lab exercises if they were to get instant feedback on their submissions from an automated tool. 


3. An Assessment of the Impact on Student Learning via the Use of Role-Play to Simulate Client Interactions within Software Engineering Assessments 
Mark Johnson , Ryan Edwards, Heydon Hancox
Abstract: Assessment plays a very important role in how students learn. There has been extensive research done on different modes of assessments in higher education. This paper reports on how that research applies to programming modules in Software Engineering education. In particular, the paper reports on the author’s experience and the student perceptions of several assessment modes in programming modules. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 167 undergraduate computing students to get their perceptions on the preferred mode of assessment for programming modules in Software Engineering education. The paper also investigates the effect automated marking systems could have on programming assessments by gathering student perceptions. Student perceptions sought reveal that they would complete more weekly lab exercises if they were to get instant feedback on their submissions from an automated tool. 

All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with. Twitter: @scottturneruon

Student perceptions of different assessment modes in computer programming courses

Student perceptions of different assessment modes in computer programming courses

Suraj Ajit

Assessment in HE Conference, Birmingham, UK, 23-24 June 2015

Abstract

Assessment is a process of measuring the extent to which students have fulfilled the expected learning outcomes for a course/module. There are many assessment strategies adopted by universities across the world for computer programming. They include written examination (closed book, open book), lab examination, multiple-choice/short-answer exams (paper or computer based), course work (or assignments) and oral examination. Again, the format, level and types of questions asked vary across universities. Assessment can take many forms, and it can be argued that the greater the diversity in the methods of assessment, the fairer, assessment is to students (Race 2007). The most effective form of assessment is one that appropriately examines the learning outcomes of the module. Assessment methods are also known to play an important role in how students learn (Brown 2004). The traditional assessment approach, in which one single written examination counts towards a student's total score, no longer meets new demands of programming language education (Wang, Li et al. 2012). Because computer programming is problem-solving oriented and very practical, the assessment of programming learning performance is challenging. The conventional assessment is not easy to be adapted to various new developments in computer programming education. This paper reports on the experience of adopting several assessment methods across programming modules for computing courses at the University of Northampton. In order to evaluate the assessment strategies from the students' perspective, a survey questionnaire was developed and distributed among a selected sample of final year computing course students. The paper discusses the results obtained from this survey. In particular, the paper compares the obtained results with that of other research performed in the same discipline as well as other disciplines. The key research questions the paper attempts to address are as follows:

1. What is the most effective assessment method for programming modules from a students' point of view?

2. How do student perceptions of computing (programming) assessments compare with that of other disciplines? Is programming any different?

3. How do the student performances relate to their perceptions of the assessment methods?

Citation:

Ajit, S. (2015) Student perceptions of different assessment modes in computer programming courses. Other presented to:Assessment in HE Conference, Birmingham, UK, 24-25 June 2015.


All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with

ENHANCE STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND FAIR MARKING OF GROUP WORK USING COLLABORATIVE WRITING

A paper has recently been presented by Dr James Xue at The 10th China-Europe International Symposium on Software Engineering Education, Chengdu, China. The presentation is on his and a student's, Gaurav Ravindra, work on looking at Google Docs for student engagement and fair marking in group work.

Enhance student engagement and fair marking of group work using Collaborative Writing

James Xue, Gaurav Ravindra School of Science and Technology University of Northampton, UK James.xue@northampton.ac.uk

Abstract

The second year computing group project in the Department of Computing at the University of Northampton typically involves three or four students on the same course. It consists of two main parts - software development and group report. While version control software (e.g., SVN, GitHub) can be used to monitor individual contribution to software development, current practice lacks an effective way for monitoring individual contribution and fair assessment of the group report. Google Docs is a free collaborative writing tool, and very rich in features. It allows tracking of individual work and real time communication within a team. The proposed project uses Google Docs for group report writing, aiming at better student engagement and fair marking of submitted group work.

Subjective Measurement of Leather Handle

A new paper looking a how experts in the leather industry assess leather quality is to be published in the The Amercian Leather Chemists Association Journal The Subjective Measurement of Leather Handle by Descriptive Sensory Analysis

Y. Wang , G. Attenburrow, P. Picton, S. Turner

Volume: 106      Number: 4    Abstract

Leather handle strongly relates to leather quality, and in the leather industries experts still manually assess it. In this paper a new approach, Descriptive Sensory Analysis, was applied when subjectively measure leather handle and thus a comprehensive handle profile was established. Ten attributes of leather samples were identified and quantified by a trained expert panel according to agreed procedures. Principal Component Analysis was used to reduce data dimensionalities and a conception 3D handle space was proposed and demonstrated to exhibit the handle attributes of leather. RESUMEN El comportamiento organoléptico de cuero está ligado fuertemente a la evaluación de calidad en el cuero, y en las industrias del cuero los expertos subjetivamente las evalúan por toque. En este artículo se presenta un nuevo enfoque, un Análisis de Descripción Sensorial, que se aplicó cuando el toque de cuero fue determinado subjetivamente, y luego un perfil descriptivo comprensivo fue establecido. Diez atributos de las muestras de cueros fueron identificados y cuantificados por un panel de expertos entrenados de acuerdo a los procedimientos previos acordados. Análisis de Componentes Principales se utilizó para reducir la redundancia de datos a una concepción del manejo en espacio 3D fue propuesto y demostrado efectivo para exhibir los atributos requeridos en la descripción del toque de cuero.

A Virtual Environment Training System for Haptic Laparoscopic Surgery

Work from the collaboration between Dr Fengda Zhao  (Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, P.R.China) and Dr Yinghui Zhang (Division of Computing, School of Science and Technology, University of Northampton, UK) is to be presented at  16th International Conference of Automation and Computing, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, 11 September 2010.The work looks at developing a prototype haptics-based surgical training system


Most of the existing laparoscopic simulations which use simple objects are only for the purpose of the training of laparoscopic surgical skills. We have designed and developed an early prototype of a laparoscopic simulation system in which almost all of the soft tissue organs are modeled as deformable models which can be manipulated using a laparoscopic instrument with haptic feedback. Physics-based modeling is applied to realize collision detection, force rendering and elasticity deformation. A new mechanism to analyze and evaluate the injuries to the soft issues is introduced. Preliminary experimental results show that the simulator can meet the requirement of 1 kHz haptic loop update rate under complex virtual scene.


This collaboration was supported by a Leverhulme Fellowship .