Injecting rapid feedback and collaborative reasoning in teaching specifications

ABSTRACT

We describe an approach to teaching formal interface specifications using aspects of the Collaborative Reasoning Paradigm. The module requires students to construct test cases independently and cooperatively based on their understanding of a given set of method specifications. Students are supported by software-based reasoning assistants that guide them through their exercises and provide realtime feedback as they work --- both for the students and the instructor. We describe the design of the course module, the supporting reasoning assistant, and representative reasoning exercises. We conclude with a discussion of evaluation results from a recent pilot study conducted at Clemson University.

REFERENCES

• 1: Kim B. Bruce , Robert L. Scot Drysdale , Charles Kelemen , Allen Tucker, Why math?, Communications of the ACM, v.46 n.9, September 2003 [doi>10.1145/903893.903918]
• 2: J. D. Chase , Edward G. Okie, Combining cooperative learning and peer instruction in introductory computer science, ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, v.32 n.1, p.372-376, Mar. 2000
• 3: David Gries , Bill Marion , Peter Henderson , Diane Schwartz, How mathematical thinking enchances computer science problem solving, ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, v.33 n.1, p.390-391, March 2001
• 4: Peter Henderson, Modern introductory computer science, Proceedings of the eighteenth SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education, p.183-190, February 19-20, 1987, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
• 5: Peter B. Henderson, Mathematical reasoning in software engineering education, Communications of the ACM, v.46 n.9, September 2003 [doi>10.1145/903893.903919]
• 6: Intel Corporation. Statistical analysis of oating point aw (white paper). http://support.intel.com/support/processors/pentium/fdiv/wp/, November 1994.
• 7: A. Kumar. Using online tutors for learning - what do students think? In FIE 34, pages (cd-rom), Piscataway, NJ, USA, October 2004. IEEE.
• 8: Amruth N. Kumar, Results from the evaluation of the effectiveness of an online tutor on expression evaluation, Proceedings of the 36th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education, February 23-27, 2005, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
• 9: N. G. Leveson , C. S. Turner, An Investigation of the Therac-25 Accidents, Computer, v.26 n.7, p.18-41, July 1993 [doi>10.1109/MC.1993.274940]
• 10: J. Lions. Ariane 5: Flight 501 failure, report by the Inquiry Board, European Space Agency. http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/esa-x-1819eng.pdf, April 1996.
• 11: E. Mazur. Peer Instruction: A User's Manual. Series in Educational Innovation. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA, 1997.
• 12: NASA. Mars climate orbiter mishap investigation board phase i report. ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/reports/1999/MCO report.pdf, November 1999.
• 13: Roy P. Pargas , Dhaval M. Shah, Things are clicking in computer science courses, Proceedings of the 37th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education, March 03-05, 2006, Houston, Texas, USA
• 14: Marulli Sitariman , Bruce Weide, Component-based software using RESOLVE, ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes, v.19 n.4, p.21-22, Oct. 1994 [doi>10.1145/190679.199221]
• 15: Murali Sitaraman , Timothy J. Long , Bruce W. Weide , E. James Harpner , Liqing Wang, A formal approach to component-based software engineering: education and evaluation, Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Software Engineering, p.601-609, May 12-19, 2001, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 16: US FDA. FDA seeks injunction against multidata systems intl. http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ NEWS/2003/NEW00903.html, May 2003.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.3 COMPUTERS AND EDUCATION
      K.3.2 Computer and Information Science Education
          Subjects: Computer science education

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.3 COMPUTERS AND EDUCATION
      K.3.2 Computer and Information Science Education
          Subjects: Curriculum

General Terms:
Documentation, Experimentation, Reliability, Verification

Keywords:
collaborative reasoning, contract programming, formal methods, interface specifications, learning tools