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Using Discord in the Classroom

Introduction

The education sector has undergone a tremendous shift during forced remote education during the pandemic. Teachers have learned to adopt technology as an essential role in evolving students’ learning. Communication channels and messaging apps have emerged to meet the needs of educators and their students, and one such platform is Discord. Initially developed as a social platform for gamers, Discord has become an essential tool for teachers looking for a more engaging and efficient communication method with their students. In this post, we will discuss the many features of Discord and how they can be leveraged in the classroom

Discord in the Classroom

Students at my university have already started utilizing various technologies, including Discord, for every course. However, concerns have arisen regarding the potential misuse of these platforms for academic dishonesty, such as coordinating cheating, seeking unauthorized help on assignments, and sharing exam questions. Despite these concerns, it is important to acknowledge the positive aspects of Discord as a tool for facilitating class discussions.

Compared to traditional email, Discord offers greater flexibility in communication. Email is typically one-directional and personal, which may limit its effectiveness in specific scenarios. For instance, if a student wishes to address the entire class or a teacher would like to avoid repeatedly answering the same questions from multiple students, Discord provides a more efficient platform. Additionally, using email as the primary mode of communication can inadvertently perpetuate biases, as teachers may unconsciously form prejudiced views based on students’ language use, which may be influenced by their cultural backgrounds rather than intentional rudeness (Danielewicz-Betz, 2013). Discord allows for anonymous communication, as students can choose nicknames instead of real names.

While the concerns regarding academic integrity on Discord should not be dismissed, it is important to recognize the potential benefits of utilizing such platforms for class discussions. By adopting a proactive approach and establishing clear guidelines and expectations for students, educators can harness the benefits of Discord while mitigating the risks associated with academic dishonesty. Educators should explore strategies to create a collaborative and inclusive digital environment that encourages meaningful interactions and knowledge sharing among students.

Discord Basic Features

Privacy, moderation, and safety are among Discord’s best features. Teachers can set up rules for behaviour, and the platform allows for monitoring and removing inappropriate content. Establishing community norms and guidelines helps create a safe and productive space for learning where students can comfortably share their thoughts and ideas. Many studies have shown that students’ perceptions of learning, satisfaction, student-to-student interactions, student-to-instructor interactions, and grades improve in a remote and anonymous learning environment (Sher, 2009; Mogus et al., 2012; Gray & DiLoreto, 2016).

Additionally, Discord offers an organized messaging system that allows for different channels for various courses, assignments, and discussions. Teachers can create individual channels for different activities or assignments, minimizing confusion and making it easier for students to find and access what they need. The platform also enables students to directly message each other for quick clarifications or reach out to their teachers, thereby improving student-teacher communication.

Discord’s voice and video call features make it easy for students and teachers to collaborate remotely. The screen-sharing feature is convenient during virtual classrooms (sharing screen) or group projects, and the voice chat promotes an engaging and active learning experience. Teachers can use the platform to host study groups, where students can engage in group discussions while working on assignments.

Furthermore, Discord’s customizable interface allows for creative expression, which can stimulate student engagement and participation. Teachers can customize emojis for positive feedback, and students can personalize their profiles according to their interests and personalities. Discord also allows teachers to integrate external web tools, such as Google Docs, links, and intranets, making it easier for students to access external resources.

The Basic Setup of a Classroom Server

To get started, you need to create a server on Discord. This server will serve as the central place to store channels and information. When setting up the server, choosing an appropriate structure is essential. An organized server structure will make it easier for students to navigate through the channels.

Channels in Discord are where discussions are grouped. They allow students to find specific information about a course activity or engage in conversations about a particular subject. I recommend creating a different channel for each assessment, discussion group, or activity in your classroom. For instance, you can have channels like “Assignment 1 Discussion,” “Assignment 2 Discussion,” “Tutorials,” “Group Project Meetup,” and “Office Hour.” It may also be helpful to set up a “General” channel where students can chat and get to know each other.

Roles in Discord group the users within your server. Roles can be used for dedicated communication with specific groups of people, such as teaching assistants in your classroom. Students can send direct messages to each other and those with predefined roles. For instance, a student can ask for clarification on an assignment by tagging the teaching assistants specifically. You can also assign limitations to created roles on the server. For example, you can create a “student-leader” role that has access to create new channels but does not have the ability to ban a specific member.

The Discord support site provides a useful template that sets up channels and roles and enables security features for a typical classroom. This template can be an excellent starting point for beginners on Discord.

Discord Extensibility

Discord bots can greatly enhance the classroom setup for more advanced users by automating administrative tasks, facilitating real-time interaction between students and teachers, providing customized instruction and feedback, and simplifying assignment delivery. They offer an excellent way to maintain engagement, collaboration, and interactive learning, while also keeping students engaged and attentive. Incorporating bots is a prime example of how technology can assist educators in delivering lessons effectively and achieving better student outcomes. Integrating Discord bots is one of the most effective methods for significantly improving the quality of teaching.

Discord bots are capable of efficiently handling various administrative tasks. They can facilitate polling, schedule events and moderate chat rooms. Bots can also help maintain organized and spam-free chat rooms and send students reminders about important dates. By utilizing bots, instructors can free up more time to focus on classroom activities. To invite a Discord bot to your server, use bot hosting sites like top.gg. Once invited, the bot will be installed on your classroom server. The following video demonstrates a basic setup of a classroom and the workflow for integrating Discord bots:

Tips for Encouraging Students to be Active Participants Online

Students are more likely to actively participate in online classes if the platform is safe, user-friendly, and easy to navigate. As a teacher, it’s essential to ensure that students have access to tutorials, guidelines, and support resources to help them navigate the platform easily. Encourage students to ask questions and be prepared to respond to their concerns. Additionally, assigning role colours can provide incentives for students who complete specific tasks. For example, you can create a role called “level-2-XP” and assign it a red colour on the server. This visual recognition can motivate students to engage more frequently.

Providing feedback is crucial in maintaining student engagement and fostering improvement on the platform. Regularly offer constructive feedback to students, highlighting their strengths and areas for improvement. It’s important to provide feedback positively and privately to avoid discouraging students from participating. This approach allows students to take ownership of their learning and motivates them to persist.

Engaging students by asking open-ended questions, facilitating discussions, and creating breakout rooms for group brainstorming is also important. Initiating discussions on topics beyond the scope of the class can help students feel a sense of safety and encourage their participation. Here are some examples of questions I have used in online discussion forums with great success:

  • Is social media more harmful or beneficial to society?
  • Who would win in a hypothetical fight (if they could ever meet), Batman or Spiderman?
  • Is it better to be an only child or have siblings? Why?
  • What is the best video game you’ve ever played?
  • What’s the best software ever written?

Digital Citizenship Warnings and Recommendations

While Discord offers many valuable features for teachers, it is important to prioritize rules for proper digital citizenship. Due to uncertainties regarding data storage, academic assessments should not be conducted on Discord. Additionally, personal conversations about grades should not be discussed. It is essential to treat Discord as a public sandbox where you interact with your students and remain accessible at all times. Furthermore, it is crucial to comply with student privacy laws specific to your institution or country and refrain from exceeding those regulations.

One of the main concerns associated with Discord is the potential for distractions. The platform provides various features, such as chat rooms, voice channels, and direct messaging, which can easily divert students’ focus away from educational activities. Anonymity among users raises privacy and safety concerns, as interactions with unknown individuals can occur on Discord. As an educator, you must establish clear guidelines and expectations regarding appropriate behaviour and usage to address these risks. Posting the rules and regulations in the server’s description, promoting responsible digital citizenship, teaching students about respectful communication, and discouraging the posting of disinformation or rumours are necessary steps. Creating private and moderated channels, educating students about online safety in the classroom, and regularly monitoring the platform are additional measures to ensure a positive and secure learning environment.

References

Danielewicz-Betz, A. (2013). (Mis)Use of Email in Student-Faculty Interaction: Implications for University Instruction in Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Japan. JALT CALL Journal, 9(1), 23–57. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1107960

Sher, A. (2009). Assessing the relationship of student-instructor and student-student interaction to student learning and satisfaction in Web-based Online Learning Environment. Journal of Interactive Online Learning Www.ncolr.org/Jiol, 8(2). https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=7810cfba73c549ffc94437375b9e6e8f84336af5

Mogus, A. M., Djurdjevic, I., & Suvak, N. (2012). The impact of student activity in a virtual learning environment on their final mark. Active Learning in Higher Education, 13(3), 177–189. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787412452985

Gray, J. A., & DiLoreto, M. (2016). The Effects of Student Engagement, Student Satisfaction, and Perceived Learning in Online Learning Environments. International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, 11(1). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1103654

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Competitive Programming Tools in the Classroom

Introduction

For young and upcoming computer scientists, competitive programming can be a powerful tool to hone essential skills. It helps sharpen problem-solving and analytical thinking abilities and provides the creative opportunity to experiment with algorithms in a safe and structured environment. With that said, introducing competitive programming into the classroom curriculum can open exciting opportunities for students of all ages, from elementary school through high school and beyond. In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at what competitive programming is, why educators should consider bringing it into their classrooms and how they can do so successfully.

Competitive Programming and its Benefits for Students

One critical benefit of competitive programming is the development of problem-solving skills. Competitive programming challenges students to solve complex algorithmic and logical problems under pressure. This process helps enhance critical thinking and analytical skills and encourages students to approach problems from multiple angles. These skills are essential not only for programming but also for handling challenging situations. Students participating in competitive programming are exposed to different programming languages, tools, and mathematical methods, which they apply to discover new concepts and techniques. This exposure allows students to identify their strengths and interests in software development and tailor their learning to focus on these areas.

The interactive nature of competitive programming creates an ideal platform for students to develop teamwork and collaboration skills. In a team contest, students can organize themselves into teams during competitions and work together to solve problems. This process fosters a culture of collaboration, mutual respect and helps to build teamwork. Students can learn from each other to improve their coding skills and tackle complex problems requiring the cooperation of different skill sets. The competitions are rigorous and challenging, but successfully solving a difficult problem can increase a student’s confidence, self-esteem, sense of accomplishment, and motivation to participate in more challenges (Macgowan, 2015). This self-confidence can extend beyond the competition to other areas of their lives, whether in the classroom, workplace, or personal lives.

We are, of course, leaving out the most obvious – competitive programming can enhance a student’s career in the tech industry. Competitions can exhibit a student’s talent and abilities to a network of potential recruiters and employers such as Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Apple, to name a few. Participating in competitions can increase networking opportunities, learn about job positions and companies, and prepare for recruitment. Tech giants such as AWS, IBM, and Huawei frequently sponsor international programming competitions such as ACM’s International Collegiate Programming Contest. The skills learned through competitive programming, including problem-solving, teamwork, and collaboration, are highly valued in today’s workplace and in-demand careers such as software development, data analysis, and project management.

Integrating Competitive Programming in the Classroom

Competitive programming can be a powerful learning tool for students, but finding the right resources can be overwhelming. To ensure that your students get the most out of their competitive programming lessons, it’s essential to choose resources that are challenging yet accessible, engaging, and proven to deliver results.

There are several useful resources to consider, such as textbooks, coding challenges, online forums, and programming contests. Seeking advice from experienced professionals and replicating past contests can also be helpful. When selecting resources, it’s important to consider the age appropriateness of the material and adjust the difficulty level to match the students’ skills.

Younger students can benefit from beginner-based coding platforms such as Snap (https://snap.berkeley.edu/) , CodeCombat (https://codecombat.com/) , and Tynker, as well as game-based projects from the Code Olympiad (https://www.codeolympiad.id/). These tools contain less competition and is geared more towards learning.

For middle or high school students, resources like The USACO Guide (https://usaco.guide/general/intro-cp?lang=cpp) and alGIRLithm (https://algirlithm.org/) are gentle introductions to competitive programming.

For even more advanced students, tools like vjudge (https://vjudge.net/) can be used to curate online judges and create custom contests for practice assessments, icebreaker games, or class exercises. With these resources, teachers can engage student participation, foster collaboration, and add an exciting twist to classroom activities. Watch the following video for a simple workflow on how to create a classroom contest:

Textbooks, coding challenges, online forums, and programming contests are some useful resources to consider. Seek advice from professionals in the field who use technical interviews to find the right resources for your classroom. Replicating past contests from experienced colleagues is also useful. To identify resources for competitive programming in the classroom, it is important to look for age-appropriate resources. For example, middle or high school students may benefit from resources like The USACO guide and alGIRLithm, which are gentle introductions to competitive programming. Additionally, it is important to consider the material’s difficulty level

Conclusions and Recommendations:

As we discussed in an earlier post, gamified activities, when properly used in the classroom, create an engaging and enjoyable learning experience by adding elements such as scoring, rewards, and checkpoints. Adding these features within competitive programming can help students enjoy the process of learning new algorithms, data structures, and problem-solving techniques, making it a rewarding and enjoyable experience. There must also be an element of progress in the contest. A strong sense of progress is one of the most significant benefits of gamification. Game elements such as ranks, badges, or community recognition can be incredibly motivating. In a team contest, competitive programming can help encourage collaboration and networking through various social features, such as leaderboards and chat rooms. Discussing strategies and approaches with other coders can help students get support and feedback on their work.

It’s worth noting that, despite its benefits, competitive programming is not suitable for all students. As the competitive programming community is filled with members who prioritize winning over all else and devote excessive amounts of time to these platforms, such people struggle to balance their personal and professional lives. Furthermore, competitive programming does not reflect real-world programming, as the development workflows and responsibilities involved are very different (mehulmpt, 2020). Instead, it serves as a means to an end. If you aren’t enjoying the ride, there’s a chance you won’t enjoy the outcome, either. Thus, it is not advisable to use competitive programming as an assessment tool for assignments or exams, as this would only add stress and increase feelings of competitiveness among students.

References

Macgowan, M. J., & Wong, S. E. (2015). Improving Student Confidence in Using Group Work Standards. Research on Social Work Practice, 27(4), 434–440. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731515587557

‌mehulmpt. (2020, June 27). Mythbusting Competitive Programming – You Don’t Need to Learn It. FreeCodeCamp.org. https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/mythbusting-competitive-programming/

Zhan, Z., He, L., Tong, Y., Liang, X., Guo, S., & Lan, X. (2022). The effectiveness of gamification in programming education: Evidence from a meta-analysis. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 3, 100096. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2022.100096

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Computer Science Curriculum in B.C.

Introduction

As an instructor of computer science at Simon Fraser University, one of my roles involves assessing the level of computer science knowledge possessed by high school graduates and the ease of their transition into higher education. These assessments help the school to evaluate the adequacy of our university’s introductory computer science courses. Unfortunately, we have observed that a considerable number of students are struggling with our first-year programming courses.

In this article, I will explore the recommendations made by the British Columbia government regarding the computer science field in grade schools. Specifically, I will investigate how these recommendations are being implemented in schools across the Lower Mainland and evaluate whether they are effective in preparing students for university-level computer science coursework. By doing this, I hope to shed light on the current state of computer science education in our region and make recommendations for improving the preparation of students for university-level computer science coursework.

Computer Science Curriculum Recommendations in K-12 Schools

There are two ways to incorporate CS concepts into a grade’s curriculum: as an entire course or as an integration of existing materials. A common misconception about computer science is that it has a bi-conditional relationship with coding, that they are one and the same. In fact, a well-designed curriculum must also include critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, communication skills, technical writing skills, and testing methodologies, among other vital skills. Successful implementation of a computer science curriculum not only contains coding but also equips students with other diverse tools for their future careers.

The BC government website (https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/adst) recommends that students from kindergarten to grade 3 are introduced to computer science basics, such as algorithms, sequencing, and problem-solving concepts, through interactive, “non-computer” activities. In grades 4-5, students move on to learn about block-based programming, granting them an entry into coding and the ability to create interactive digital media. In grades 6-7, students now apply their computational thinking skills to solve real-world problems using charts, lists, diagrams, and arrays with an introduction to computer architecture and hardware, responsible computer use, and visual programming. Finally, in grades 8-9, students learn about basic software instructions with algorithms that others can repeat, debugging algorithms, elementary modularization, binary data representation and programming languages, including visual programming.

In Grade 10, students will delve into topics such as security risks, debugging, networking, social implications, digital literacy and citizenship, and planning and writing simple programs (including games). In a separate course, it is recommended that students explore Computer Applications that center on understanding the importance of user experience. computer hardware, peripherals, internal and external components, standards, intermediate features of business applications, including word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations, operating system shortcuts and command line operations.

In addition, the B.C. government recommends a Web Development 10-course covering design opportunities, HTML and CSS, domain and hosting, copyright laws and Creative Commons usage protocols, ethics of cultural appropriation, security and privacy, and database management. While some of these areas may appear outdated, they still offer a solid understanding of web standards and communications.

In grades 11-12, students can enroll in Computer Programming 11 and 12, where they will learn various programming skills. These skills include the design cycle, error handling, debugging, problem decomposition, reading and altering code, pair programming, programming constructs such as input/output, conditions, and loops, algorithm design, functions, classes, pre-built libraries and their documentation, inline commenting to document source code, use of test cases to detect logical or semantic errors and software ethics.

In general, the suggested curriculum appears to be quite ambitious, and I have concerns about the extent and practicality of the material taught in the classroom. Several of the topics covered are typically introduced in second-level programming courses at the university level. If the high school curriculum can provide a sufficient depth of understanding, it would establish a strong foundation for many students, enabling them to tackle more advanced computer science courses without difficulty.

CS Curriculum implementations

Code.org (https://studio.code.org/courses?view=teacher) is the leading resource for computer science education, offering an excellent and well-designed curriculum to introduce students to computer science at all grade levels.

For elementary school students (grades K-5), Code.org provides CS Fundamentals. This program includes “unplugged” non-computer activities to teach computational thinking, problem solving, programming concepts, and digital citizenship.

The middle school (grades 6-8) curriculum, known as Computer Science Discoveries, builds upon the elementary school program by introducing students to more advanced concepts at an intermediate level. These include web development, communication, and problem-solving.

For high school students (grades 9-12), Code.org offers more specialized courses in computer science for students who wish to dive deeper into the subject. These include physical computing, big data, privacy, and algorithms, and advanced placement (AP) courses in Java for more advanced students.

Code.org also offers professional development courses for educators to help them effectively teach computer science. The curriculum and courses provided by Code.org are designed to help students develop computational thinking and coding skills while broadening their understanding of computer science.

Out of the 37 public high schools in Burnaby, Surrey, and New Westminster, only 4 schools use code.org as a guide, and these schools are all associated with the Advanced Placement (AP) programs. These numbers suggest that schools are aware of the usefulness of code.org materials but need more staff to implement the courses. There needs to be a standardized curriculum across these schools.

For example, the Burnaby High School website describes Computer Science 10-12 as “an introductory programming course for students with no experience.  Learn to create video games for your phone, tablet, computer, or the web.” This description is very vague and suggests that these courses do not come close to implementing the recommendations set out by the B.C. government. Other schools in Burnaby do not even offer Computer Science 11/12 courses. In contrast, New Westminster Secondary offers Computer Programming 11/12, which fully implements the government’s recommendations and more. These courses should be AP courses, depending on the depth of coverage. The difference in offerings between the two school districts is concerning for students entering higher education computer science studies as it may result in significant differences in programming knowledge.

I attempted to reach out to over 20 Computer Science teachers from different schools in the New Westminster and Burnaby areas, but unfortunately, I did not receive any responses from them. Unfortunately, there is a lack of motivation and interest in enhancing their teaching methods in CS courses. In a recent conversation with Shannon Thissen, the Regional Administrator of Educational Technology and Computer Science in Capital Region ESD 113, she confirmed that this is a common issue in all communities. She suggested that CS mentorship and coaching could alleviate teachers’ fears and uncertainties about teaching the subject.

Conclusion

The BC government’s and code.org’s recommendations for computer science education are ambitious but achievable. Higher education instructors and industry leaders should collaborate with high school teachers to strengthen and standardize the various tools and workflows currently taught in the CS curriculum.

In subsequent posts on this topic, I plan to explore various initiatives and reach out to more teachers throughout BC to gather more specific information on the curriculum and materials being taught in classrooms. Additionally, I aim to investigate the differences in implementing CS 10, 11, and 12 courses in schools across BC. It would also be interesting to compare the needs of schools in the lower mainland, which are primarily middle to upper-middle class, with those in interior communities. By doing so, we can determine if there is a significant discrepancy in the quality of computer science education and explore potential solutions to bridge the gap.

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How Effective are Pair Programming Tools for one-on-one Collaboration with Students and Colleagues?

Introduction

The practice of pair programming is a software development methodology that involves two programmers working jointly on one workstation to accomplish a shared objective. The two programmers involved in the pairing exercise work together to solve a single problem, with one functioning as the driver whose primary task is to write the code, while the other acts as the observer responsible for proposing potential improvements to the code and thinking strategically about the big picture.

The driver and observer’s roles are often rotated at predetermined intervals to keep the pairing exercise productive and engaging. This periodic rotation of roles is intended to prevent one of the programmers from becoming overly exhausted or unfocused during the task. The benefits of pair programming are to generate well-designed and standardized code while improving productivity, knowledge-sharing, and collaboration among team members. It also facilitates rapid problem-solving and reduces the probability of code errors. Moreover, it allows team members to learn from each other, share expertise and knowledge, and develop better communication skills.

The pandemic forced many software developers to transition to remote work, resulting in the need for technological advancements to facilitate remote software engineering workflows. One such innovation was an extension known as “Live Share,” which was developed specifically for remote pair programming. The following video shows the workflow of the “Live Share” extension.  It also highlights several main features:

Live Share Features

Applying LiveShare to Teaching

Since the process and workflows are very similar, I aim to delve into the effectiveness of utilizing this extension for connecting with students on a one-on-one basis as well as collaborating with colleagues on teaching materials. It is worth noting that these use cases are not the primary focus of the extension. Nevertheless, I am interested in exploring the potential benefits of using the “Live Share” extension in the following scenarios:

Scenario 1: Collaborating with Colleagues

A computer science coach is tasked with helping her computer science teachers create materials for their classes. In order to accomplish this, she uses the “Live Share” extension to work remotely with a teacher to develop and refine class materials in real time. Using this strategy, teachers and coaches can more effectively foresee problems and ensure students have the support they need to succeed.

One of the key benefits of using “Live Share” in this context is the ability to work together on specific problems that students may encounter during class. For example, if there is a coding assignment that many students are struggling with, the teacher and coach can collaborate in real-time to find possible solutions and prepare debugging strategies for anticipated student problems. This can be incredibly valuable, as it allows the teacher to work through issues quickly and efficiently, ensuring that students are able to keep up with the pace of the class.

Scenario 2:

A group of five students in a class are working on a programming assignment, and the teacher monitors their progress remotely while giving live feedback. The teacher uses “Live Share” and connects to her each of her student’s IDEs remotely.  During the live session, the teacher can monitor the progress of each of her students while giving feedback using the chat functionality.  She is also able to help students debug by writing hints into their code whenever they’re stuck.  Furthermore, she is able to insert breakpoints for her students remotely to help them with the debugging process.

By examining the potential advantages and limitations of utilizing the “Live Share” extension in these scenarios, we can gain a deeper understanding of its potential as a tool for enhancing remote teaching and learning in the field of computer science. The following video shows a high-level workflow of a teacher connecting remotely with a student as an observer and engaging in a short lesson:

Remote Teaching with LiveShare on Visual Studio Code

General analysis:

During my two-hour experience with “live share,” I was pleasantly surprised by the tool’s exceptional features that aides in code reviews and debugging. The tool allows multiple programmers to work simultaneously on the same codebase, which proved to be immensely helpful, particularly when dealing with intricate problems. It streamlines the process, making it more efficient and allowing for effective team collaboration. Whether you are working on a problem concurrently with a team member, seeking feedback on your code, or looking for debugging help, this tool will certainly prove to be beneficial.

One standout feature that I came across was the capacity to share a command-line terminal. This feature, among other things, enables remote users to access the local database of the driver, which is extremely useful for troubleshooting issues that may arise during pair programming or mob programming. The real-time collaboration aspect of this feature allowed multiple developers to work together on a data model simultaneously.

Limitations and Final Thoughts

It’s worth mentioning that the extension “live share” was initially created for pair programming. As a result, some of the difficulties I have experienced when using it for teaching may be due to the fact that it was not designed for this specific use case. However, some limitations are still worth discussing when using the app for teaching purposes.

The lack of an integrated voice connection feature can be a challenge. While users can rely on external tools like Zoom, having a built-in audio feature for real-time problem-solving during code reviews or debugging would be more convenient. Although many users have requested that this feature be returned on the extension’s website, there are currently no plans.

Secondly, the observer’s IDE cannot access the driver’s debugger. While this limitation makes sense from a pair programming perspective, it poses a challenge when using the app as a teaching tool since debugging is an important part of teaching new programmers an environment or language.

Finally, setting up the extension requires technical knowledge, which can be difficult for students who lack technical proficiency. It is challenging to differentiate between a local and a production server, particularly when teaching languages or frameworks that involve local servers. Therefore, the app is best suited for teaching relatively simple languages like Python to semi-technical students rather than beginners.

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Collaborating on Git!

Introduction

Background and Motivation

Git is the industry-leading version control system that streamlines software development and helps teams collaborate more efficiently. It provides a wide range of features to track changes, manage projects, store code, resolve conflicts, create branches/rollbacks and keep an eye on contributions from each team member. Its excellent performance, security, scalability and many implementations make it the standard version control system today. It also has powerful integrations within modern integrated development tools to help coordinate tasks such as code reviews merging or scheduling efficiently amongst multiple developers.

To my surprise, I discovered that when it comes to the fundamentals of Git, many second-year software engineering students are completely lost. They lack the collaboration skills needed for a successful project and don’t understand how crucial requesting proper merges is with this online tool. Instead of utilizing proper merge requests for documents through Git’s powerful online tooling capabilities, these same students are emailing their work in and waiting for manual merges from leaders, which disregards best practices and overlooks useful commands available at their disposal.

Overview

This project aims to equip second-year post-secondary computing science students with the basic knowledge and confidence necessary for working on team projects with an introduction to Git. Through specific workflows that reflect real-world situations, students will experience how software developers can use Git efficiently, effectively, and ethically when collaborating in a group setting. As most have no prior exposure upon starting their course in Software Engineering at my school – this proposed lesson provides them with an invaluable opportunity before participating in more extensive collaborations later in the course.

ISTE Standards

The exercise is developed to align with the International Society for Technology in Education standards for students.  These standards promote students taking charge of their learning by giving them a voice and encouraging the process to be led by them. This creates an empowering environment in which they can reach new levels of achievement.

ISTE 2 Digital Citizenship

By exploring the Git-suggested workflows, students will gain a valuable understanding of working and collaborating ethically in teams. We’ll ask them to consider their rights as content producers on this platform while respecting its privacy rules, by making sure they use public/private repositories appropriately and only grant necessary access when needed. This is in alignment with ISTE standard 2a. “Students cultivate and manage their digital identity and reputation and are aware of the permanence of their actions in the digital world.”, 2c. “Students demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the rights and obligations of using and sharing intellectual property.” and 2d “Students manage their personal data to maintain digital privacy and security and are aware of data-collection technology used to track their navigation online.”

ISTE 1 Digital Citizenship

By using Git, students have the ability to interact with one another and merge their efforts on a project. This allows them to share feedback within the team and quickly implement it into their development cycle for greater overall productivity. This is in line with ISTE standard 1b. “Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways,” and 1c, “Students understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations, demonstrate the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot current technologies and are able to transfer their knowledge to explore emerging technologies.”

ISTE 7 Digital Citizenship

Broadly stated, ISTE standard 7 states, “Students use digital tools to broaden their perspectives and enrich their learning by collaborating with others and working effectively in teams locally and globally.” This collaborative exercise will enable students to hone their skills remotely, allowing them to experience working with peers from different backgrounds globally, the exercise centers around this core standard.

Backwards Design

We utilize the backwards design principles to create a successful learning experience (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). This process involves three distinct stages. Firstly, our goals are aligned with accepted content standards and curriculum expectations to identify desired results. Secondly, acceptable evidence is established in order to validate that these objectives have been achieved, emphasizing knowledge over activities or covered material alone. Finally, we plan instructional experiences and instruction based on what learners need to achieve their goals.

Stage 1 Identify Desired Results

Establish Goals:

There are two main departmental learning outcomes based on this exercise:

  1. (LO1a) Students will be introduced to team processes and cooperative programming and understand their pros and cons.
    • Students will understand the use and workflows of using Git as a collaboration tool.
    • Students will collaborate on a document.
  2. (LO2a) Students will understand how to communicate effectively within a team.
    • Students will decide on a workflow for conflict resolution.

Essential Questions:

The provocative questions that foster student inquiry, understanding and transfer of learning:

  • How can you resolve conflicts or disagreements with a spouse or significant other?
  • Why is it important to communicate in any relationship?
  • Why is it essential to collaborate instead of working alone in a software development setting?

Understandings:

Students will understand

  • The general workflow of Git.
  • Why it is essential to use a collaboration tool in software development.

Knowledge:

Students will know the following:

  • What a Git repository is, and what it’s used for
  • The basics of collaborative development
  • The Git conflict resolution process

Skills:

Students will be able to:

  • Fork a project
  • Push updates to branches
  • Merge branches
  • Create merge requests
  • Communicate with teammates over git

Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence

The following are acceptable evidence of learning. We will assess the following via the six facets of understanding outlined by Wiggins (Ch4). To demonstrate mature understanding, students: can explain, can interpret, can apply, can empathize, have perspective, and have self-knowledge of the concepts.

Performance Tasks: what would be sufficient and revealing evidence of understanding?

  • Students can create a branch for their own work (can apply)
  • Students can create a pull request and communicate via the Git interface with the team. (can apply)
  • Students can fork a project from a Git repository (can apply)
  • Students can add text to a document and push it to a repo on Git (can apply)
  • Students can create a merge request and communicate with others in a team. (perspective)
  • Students can resolve conflicts in a file to make a finalized merged document (perspective, can apply)
  • Students can remove a committed document and erase history (can apply)

Other Evidence Required: What are the types of evidence required by Stage 1 desired results?

Academic Prompts:

  • A merged finalized document on the main development branch: Students will add a short profile about themselves and their development background on a pre-existing document.  They will request to merge their part into the main document and deal with any conflicts. The result is a text document that contains background profiles about each of the members of the team. 
  • Properly merged commit tree on a new Git repository after the assignment. The commit tree on the newly created repository should resemble standard merge practices on Git and have evidence of proper communication between teammates.
  • Students can write proper Git messages to communicate a commit or a merge appropriately (empathy)

Quiz and Test Items:

  • Explain the Git conflict resolution process (can explain)
  • Explain Git branches and when to use them (can explain)
  • Describe forking, merging, rebase, revert, and reset (can explain)

Student Self-assessment

  • Students will reflect on improvements to adopt within their groups for a more complex document (self-knowledge).
  • Justify the current workflow and explain other workflows students could have taken to arrive at the same results (self-knowledge).

Stage 3 – Learning Experiences

These exercises are designed to get creative juices flowing and facilitate collaboration between team members. They provide specific workflows and reflections so students can see the bigger picture. They are assessed through the WHERETO standard (Wiggins, 2005):

  • Where is it going?
  • Hook the students
  • Explorer and Equip
  • Rethink and revise
  • E2xhibit and evaluate
  • Tailor to specific needs
  • Organize for maximum engagement and effectiveness

In the classroom (Optional)

Provide each group with a poster board and have students write a brief paragraph on the poster board highlighting their common interests. Each student should write their programming experience and name on individual pieces of paper. Then, manually combine the individual papers with the poster board to create a single poster representing the group. (W,H,O)

Reflect on the following question: What difficulties might arise if we attempt to concurrently write on the poster board? (R)

Setup

Read 1.3-1.8 in the Pro Git Book (W)

  1. The students will complete a survey about their previous exposure to Git, command line tools, and teamwork. The exercise will begin at a different stage depending on their past experience. (W)
    • Students who lack prior experience will be required to install Git. (T)
    • Students who have some familiarity will need to configure Git. (T)
  2. An experienced student will serve as the repository owner. They will fork (or download) a markdown file for a pre-existing project description template from a repository and transfer it to a new repository accessible by the entire team. (E, T)
  3. Reflect on the following question: What are other ways that step 2 could have been accomplished? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? (R, E2, O)

Experience 1: Git Basics as an individual developer

Read 2.1-2.5 in the Pro Git Book (W)

  1. Students will create a new markdown file that includes their answers to the self-assessment survey. (H, E, T)
    • They will view the changes that they have not committed yet.
    • They will commit their changes. (E)
  2. Students will practice un-staging a commit and re-staging it. (E, E2)
  3. Students will examine their remote and push their work to the main branch. They will check the main branch on the repo and see the results. (H, O)
  4. Reflect on the following question: What will I do if I have staged a change but want to amend it? What if I have committed a change but want to amend it? (R)
Figure 1: Results of Experience 1 on Git

Experience 2: Git Branching

Read 3.1-3.4 in the Pro Git Book (W)

  1. The students will generate a new working branch and switch to it. (E)
  2. In the shared markdown file, students will insert a section introducing themselves. This section should highlight their strengths, developer background, interests, and sociocultural background. (E, T)
  3. They will then commit and push these changes to their branch. (E, O)
  4. Reflect on the following question: With respect to the classroom exercise, what issues may arise during this phase? What is the definition of “stashing”? (R)
Figure 2: Results of Experience 2 on Git

Experience 3: Merge Request

  1. Students will initiate a merge request. (E)
  2. They will then wait for feedback from other group members, with every member expected to participate. (E)
  3. Finally, they will merge their branch into the main branch. (H, O)
  4. Reflect on the following question: What should you look for when a group member creates a merge request? What type of feedback would be constructive and supportive to the group member? (R, E2)
Figure 3: Result of Experience 3 on Git

Reflection

This backwards design process was a great way to carry out this exercise. Evaluating the facets of understanding made it apparent that most assessment evidence centred around application, which makes sense since learning software is fundamental here. Incorporating an empathetic and reflective component into activities could also encourage students to think strategically about how Git can be used in collaboration and why they should use it as part of their software engineering coursework. Ultimately, my hope is that these exercises will promote better comprehension of using Git for future projects.

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Issues with Remote Agile Software Development

Introduction

The Agile methodology is a software development approach that prioritizes flexibility, collaboration, and iterative delivery. It involves breaking down the development process into smaller segments called sprints that typically last 1-4 weeks. The focus is on teamwork, communication, and daily stand-up meetings to keep everyone informed. Agile emphasizes individuals and interactions over processes and tools, making it a popular approach in modern software development (Agile Manifesto, 2001). However, the sudden shift to remote work has impacted the personal nature of this model.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, companies like Google, Tesla, Microsoft, and Twitter implemented remote work policies to protect their employees. As the pandemic subsides, these companies are asking their employees to return partially to in-person work, which has sparked a debate about the advantages and disadvantages of remote versus in-person work arrangements. To investigate the impact of remote work policies on team culture and productivity, several studies have examined various aspects of agile development, including onboarding, client and team dynamics, and work-life balance. Some studies suggest that remote software development can be just as effective as in-person development, while others have found that it can lead to decreased productivity and challenges in communication and collaboration.

In this article, we will discuss these findings in the context of the ISTE standard for students 1.7c: “students contribute constructively to project teams, assuming various roles and responsibilities to work effectively toward a common goal.”

Remote Team Dynamics and Development

Mob (or pair) programming is a collaborative approach to agile software development where a group of developers work together on the same task. One person acts as the driver and writes code on the computer, while the rest of the team acts as navigators and provides input, gives suggestions, and thinks strategically about the future. This approach has many benefits, including improved code quality, increased knowledge sharing, and faster problem-solving. It is considered fundamental to the success of many teams, as it aids in solving complex problems by working together. However, Nolan (2021) found that during the pandemic, there was a significant decrease in pair programming and mob programming activities, which significantly impacted companies with a mob programming culture. Without this collaboration, productivity may remain constant, but it could lead to bug fixes or a more complex redesign of features in a later development stage. This is because mob programming allows a development team to consider the big picture while developing a feature, enabling them to see the forest from the trees.

Scrum is another crucial process in agile software development. It involves short daily meetings held by a team to stay synchronized and on track. While many studies have argued that these meetings have little impact on productivity and meeting deadlines (Miller, 2021; Butler, 2021), other studies have found that distractions during virtual scrum meetings can be problematic. For example, Butt (2021) found that team collaboration decreases as there are fewer discussions about user stories or project complexities, and team members may become distracted by emails during these meetings. This can limit the effectiveness of the agile approach. Additionally, attendance at scrum meetings is decreasing, which can be a significant problem as these meetings are crucial for the team’s synchronicity, development progress, and the long-term success of a project, regardless of progress in other areas.

Team meetings are a valuable learning opportunity, particularly for junior development team members. During these meetings, developers can work together, receive feedback from colleagues, share knowledge and experience, and develop confidence in their abilities (giving them a “seat at the table”). While some aspects of this learning experience can be replicated online, Schwartz et al. (2022) demonstrated that remote meetings result in different cognitive processes than in-person meetings. Specifically, certain brain-behaviour associations arise only during live idea exchanges, indicating that specific neurobiological processes underlie human co-presence and are more beneficial for learning than remote meetings.

A goal of the agile development process is client satisfaction. However, according to a survey by Butt (2021), developers reported a decrease in remote collaboration with customers due to issues such as scheduling conflicts, slow internet speeds, and availability to discuss the project. As a result, most of the feedback from the client was received via email or on story cards. Furthermore, 76% of clients reported dissatisfaction with remote meetings with developers due to delayed project delivery times, increased costs, output not meeting their needs, fewer meetings with developers, and overall lower satisfaction with the work.

Hiring and Onboarding

During the pandemic, tech companies experienced a surge in hiring to meet the demand for developers with work-from-home abilities. To ensure a high-quality candidate experience, the virtual hiring process had to be reworked. To aid in the selection process, companies increased the number of staff involved and added more interviews. The technical interview process, which often involves whiteboarding and other in-person techniques, also had to change to a remote and less desirable setting. Candidates found it challenging to envision the company culture during online interviews, while interviewers struggled to assess non-verbal communication, like body language. Furthermore, candidates with better internet connections tended to be implicitly favoured, as highlighted by Fiechter et al. (2018).

The pandemic has affected how software development teams introduce new hires to their company. Rodeghero et al. (2021) conducted a study on 267 new hires at Microsoft. They found that most were onboarded remotely and never had the chance to meet their colleagues in person, as most meetings were conducted with cameras off. This created a challenge for new hires in building strong social connections with their team and feeling comfortable approaching anyone for help. Additionally, since new developers come from different backgrounds and have different levels of experience, a standard approach to onboarding was found to be ineffective. The researchers suggest that onboarding processes should prioritize team communication, encourage camera use during meetings, assign an onboarding buddy and mentor, support different onboarding speeds, and provide up-to-date documentation on company workflows.

Finally, Team managers can face several challenges when working on new projects with new teams. One such challenge is facilitating effective collaboration and problem-solving among team members. This is particularly true for challenging projects that require creative and innovative solutions. While many remote tools are available for brainstorming and problem-solving, research by Nolan et al. (2021) suggests that initiating new ideas without in-person interaction can be more challenging and may benefit from co-located interaction. When team members are physically located in the same space, it is easier to share ideas, build rapport, and collaborate effectively. They can have unplanned discussions and engage in informal brainstorming sessions.

Work/Life Balance

In a survey conducted by Miller (2021), which included over 2000 software developers, it was found that many developers experienced an increase in scheduled meetings, group member notifications, and ad-hoc meetings, while also experiencing a decrease in the quality of meetings and their ability to collaborate with team members. Despite efforts by numerous teams to use social engagements to support their members, 74% of respondents still reported feeling a lack of social interaction in a work-from-home environment.

According to another study by Bulter et al. (2021) conducted at Microsoft, the impact of remote work varied based on individual roles, characteristics, and sociological factors. Individuals who are visually impaired or communicate through body language face unique challenges with remote communication since it relies heavily on visual cues. Additionally, neurodivergent professionals may prefer to keep their videos off during meetings as specific activities that help them remain stimulated or calm down may be misconstrued or cause distractions for other attendees. The study also found that remote work provided flexibility during the pandemic but blurred the boundary between work and personal life in problematic ways. Non-work distractions increased, while work-related distractions decreased, leading to a sense of social and collaborative isolation for most workers in their study.

Conclusion

Remote agile software development requires different skills and tools than in-person development. Teams must rely on virtual communication tools like video conferencing, instant messaging, and collaborative software platforms to stay connected and productive. This presents several challenges that must be addressed to maintain productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction. Developers and team managers must navigate obstacles such as remote collaboration difficulties, new team onboarding, and the need for social connection and support. Additionally, the impact of remote work on individual workers varies, with factors such as role, characteristics, and sociological factors playing a significant role. Overcoming these challenges requires a multi-faceted approach, including promoting team communication, encouraging social interaction, providing mentorship and support, and adapting the onboarding process to meet individual needs. By addressing these issues, remote agile software development teams can continue to thrive in the face of the ever-evolving challenges of the modern software development environment.

References

Nolan, A., White, R., Soomro, M., Dopamu, B. C., Yilmaz, M., Solan, D., & Clarke, P. (2021). To Work from Home (WFH) or Not to Work from Home? Lessons Learned by Software Engineers During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Communications in Computer and Information Science, 14–33. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85521-5_2

Schwartz, L., Levy, J., Endevelt-Shapira, Y., Djalovski, A., Hayut, O., Dumas, G., & Feldman, R. (2022). Technologically-assisted communication attenuates inter-brain synchrony. NeuroImage, 264, 119677. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119677

Fiechter, J. L., Fealing, C., Gerrard, R., & Kornell, N. (2018). Audiovisual quality impacts assessments of job candidates in video interviews: Evidence for an AV quality bias. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-018-0139-y

Butt, S. A., Misra, S., Anjum, M. W., & Hassan, S. A. (2021). Agile Project Development Issues During COVID-19. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, 59–70. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67084-9_4

Agile Manifesto. (2001). Manifesto for Agile Software Development. Agilemanifesto.org. https://agilemanifesto.org/

Miller, C., Rodeghero, P., Storey, M.-A., Ford, D., & Zimmermann, T. (2021). “How Was Your Weekend?” Software Development Teams Working From Home During COVID-19. 2021 IEEE/ACM 43rd International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE). https://doi.org/10.1109/icse43902.2021.00064

Butler, J., Czerwinski, M., Iqbal, S., Jaffe, S., Nowak, K., Peloquin, E., & Yang, L. (2021). Personal Productivity and Well-being — Chapter 2 of the 2021 New Future of Work Report. ArXiv:2103.02524 [Cs]. https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.02524

Rodeghero, P., Zimmermann, T., Houck, B., & Ford, D. (2021). Please Turn Your Cameras On: Remote Onboarding of Software Developers during a Pandemic. IEEE Xplore. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICSE-SEIP52600.2021.00013

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Authentic PBL Experience in Software Engineering

Project-based learning (PBL) is a teaching approach that has recently gained popularity. It allows students to develop real-world problem-solving skills by working on a project in a classroom setting over an extended period. In software engineering, project-based learning has become a common approach to teaching students how to develop high-quality software. However, there has been debate over the authenticity of these projects, with some arguing that it does not accurately reflect real-world software development challenges and complexities. In this post, we will analyze the authenticity of a course-based software engineering project and how it can be improved to better prepare students for the challenges of the software development industry.

Software engineering Lifecycle and ISTE

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) contains a set of standards for students to use technology effectively for learning. The 4th ISTE standard for students is:

    This standard highlights the importance of students using digital tools to manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions, as well as the ability to think critically and analyze risks in design, which are essential skills in modern software development.

    The software development lifecycle embodies ISTE standard 4 for students, emphasizing the importance of producing high-quality software. The lifecycle comprises four primary stages: specification, design, implementation, and maintenance. The specification stage involves gathering and documenting the software requirements, while the design stage focuses on planning and structuring the software. The implementation stage is dedicated to developing and testing the software, and the maintenance stage involves monitoring and updating the software to ensure that it remains functional and usable over time. Each stage is an iterative process that produces partial outputs of the final deliverables.

    Teaching the software engineering lifecycle in a classroom can present several challenges. One of the main issues is that software development is a highly dynamic process that is difficult to replicate in a classroom setting. Classroom projects may lack the same complexity or scope as real-world software projects, which can hinder students’ understanding of the software development lifecycle. Additionally, classroom environments may not provide students with the same level of exposure to real-world tools and technologies commonly used in software development (Kay et al., 2000). To address these challenges, the following project design outline is intended to enhance the effectiveness of a PBL software engineering project by integrating real-world elements.

    Project Design

    This project design methodology draws inspiration from the backwards design approach (Wiggins, 2005), and it has been compiled from three PBL projects by Shekar et al. (2014), Abad et al. (2019), and Spichkova et al. (2015) that were effectively carried out.

    Through the project, students will understand the fundamental software lifecycle process and the reality of rapid changes in real-world requirements. They will also learn about the critical role of effective communication in ensuring customer satisfaction and the importance of maintaining quality standards throughout a software development project.

    The software project aims to improve students’ hard and soft skills. Hard skills, which are measurable and specific, consist of software development skills in a particular language or framework, project planning, and written communication. In contrast, soft skills are personal attributes that enable students to collaborate effectively, such as teamwork, decision-making, communication, and organization.

    To demonstrate a student’s understanding, the following evidence is required: appropriately documented changes made to the software at appropriate intervals, effective communication with the customer, including asking relevant questions, and the production of working software at the end of the development cycle that adheres to proper design and testing procedures.

    Shekar et al. (2019) have proposed a set of assessments that should include the following elements:

    • A project proposal that aims to replicate the initial phase of the software development lifecycle, including customer communication.
    • A detailed design that specifies various alternatives and justifies the selection of the chosen design.
    • A demonstration of the final product that establishes the student’s ability to effectively communicate their solution and exhibit a functional end product.
    • The final project report that confirms that the software product was constructed according to the proposed design and testing procedures during the entire software development process.
    • A self-reflection component that involves maintaining a journal that records successes, failures, and evaluations of team members.

    Best Practices

    Software Engineering educators encounter a significant challenge in balancing the provision of a realistic experience and maintaining classroom control when designing a project. The guidelines and best practices presented below are once again derived from successful project designs outlined in Shekar et al. (2014), Abad et al. (2019), and Spichkova et al. (2015).

    1. Provide real-world connections and real industry experience. Providing inadequate project specifications and forcing requirements to change can effectively challenge students and prepare them for real-world scenarios. A vagueness in the problem description from the client will force students to ask questions and shape their requirements-gathering workflow. Furthermore, a requirements change later in the process can force students to adapt and develop explicit change management skills (Abad et al. 2019).
    2. Include flexibility and team-oriented decision-making. In the approach by Abad et al. (2019), students can exercise flexibility in their development process by selecting from various software process models, including Opportunistic, Waterfall, Spiral, Concurrent, or Scrum, and justifying their choice of methodology for their system development. They can also modify their chosen process model as the project advances. Similarly, in Spichkova et al.’s (2015) approach, the design architecture incorporates a team-oriented decision-making component to encourage collaborative decision-making among team members.
    3. Focus on team dynamics. Effective teamwork is a critical factor in the success of a project. It is essential to clarify that everyone has an equal role and that all team members share ownership of the code base (Sepahkar et al., 2014). According to Bates (2022), another crucial aspect is establishing an interactive and asynchronous communication medium which all team members can access and utilize. Examples of such mediums include Facebook messenger, MS teams, and Discord. This fosters a collaborative environment where all team members are accountable to each other and can respond promptly to ensure the success of the project.
    4. Include personal reflections. Shekar et al. (2014) suggest incorporating personal reflection journals at each stage of the development process. This gives students a high-level view of the entire process and allows them to reflect on their progress. In the reflection journal, students should consider what went well during each stage, any unexpected difficulties they encountered, how to improve pacing, engagement, and assessments, and how to align each stage more closely with the primary objectives of the iteration.

    Conclusion

    Providing an authentic project-based learning experience in software engineering can be a challenging but rewarding experience for software engineering educators. By designing projects that simulate real-world scenarios, students can develop both technical and soft skills that are crucial for success in the software development industry. Moreover, incorporating assessment strategies that align with the software development lifecycle and emphasizing effective communication, collaboration, and self-reflection can enhance the learning experience for students. By following the guidelines and best practices proposed, educators can strike a balance between providing students with a realistic experience, maintaining classroom control, and preparing them for the challenges and opportunities in the software engineering industry.

    Reference:

    Kay, J., Barg, M., Fekete, A., Greening, T., Hollands, O., Kingston, J. H., & Crawford, K. (2000). Problem-based learning for foundation computer science courses. Computer Science Education, 10(2), 109-128.

    Sepahkar, M., Hendessi, F., & Nabiollahi, A. (2015). Defining Project Based Learning steps and evaluation method for software engineering students. International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security, 13(10), 48.

    Spichkova, M. (2019, November). Industry-oriented project-based learning of software engineering. In 2019 24th International conference on engineering of complex computer systems (ICECCS) (pp. 51-60). IEEE.

    Shekar, A. (2014, June). Project-based learning in engineering design education: sharing best practices. In 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition (pp. 24-1016).

    Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd ed.). Association For Supervision And Curriculum Development.

    Bates, A. W. (Tony). (2022). 7.5 Broadcast or interactive media? Pressbooks.bccampus.ca. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev3m/chapter/8-3-broadcast-vs-communicative-technologies/

    Abad, Z. S. H., Bano, M., & Zowghi, D. (2019, May). How much authenticity can be achieved in software engineering project based courses?. In 2019 IEEE/ACM 41st International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering Education and Training (ICSE-SEET) (pp. 208-219). IEEE.

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    Crap Detection for Node Package Manager

    Open-source software allows the source code to be freely available to the public, allowing anyone to inspect, modify, use, or distribute the code. It is typically developed and maintained by a community of volunteer developers who collaborate and contribute to the project. According to the Linux Foundation, open-source code is used in 70-90% of every software found today (A Summary of Census II: Open Source Software Application Libraries the World Depends on – Linux Foundation, n.d.). Most of this code is a result of open-source development frameworks.

    Open-source development frameworks are libraries of code and tools that provide a foundation for building software applications efficiently by supplying reusable components. Using open-source development frameworks can help streamline the software development process and reduce the time and effort required to build applications from scratch. Frameworks can be used for creating a wide range of software, including web, mobile, and desktop applications.

    Development frameworks typically rely on package managers.  A package manager is a tool that helps manage the libraries, dependencies, and other components needed for a project. Using a package manager, developers can automate installing, updating, and tracking libraries needed for their projects. Many package managers employ a team of reviewers who review every request to push new updates to the repository. However, some frameworks may include public repositories in which anyone can upload their packages for the community. The Node Package Manager (NPM), which runs on the JavaScript open-source framework NodeJS, is one of the most popular public repositories and thus makes it a target for harmful activity. 

    Types of Malicious Code

    Several types of malicious code can exist on NPM, including:

    1. The most obvious is that some packages themselves may contain malicious code, such as backdoors, trojans, or malware, that can harm the software or compromise the security of the system it is installed on. In other cases, malicious packages may simply lie about what the package does, instead running damaging commands such as modifying system files, altering settings, or collecting and transmitting sensitive data without the user’s consent. For example, a data-stealing package was uncovered in late 2022 after going undetected for over a year (NPM Malware Attack Goes Unnoticed for a Year | TechTarget, n.d.). There has also been an increase in crypto mining malware on NPM in 2022. These malware packages contain code that mines cryptocurrencies on the computer of the person who installs the package, using their system resources without the user’s knowledge.
    2. Supply Chain Attacks. Packages on NPM may have dependencies on other packages that contain vulnerabilities, which can put the developed software at risk if the vulnerabilities are not detected somewhere in the chain. (Ellison et al., 2010)
    3. Malicious code could be hidden in packages that have suspiciously similar names to popular and frequently used packages. These are known as typo-squatting and combo-squatting attacks (Vu et al., 2020). For example, in 2017, a popular package called ‘cross-env’ was typo-squatted and malicious code hosted on a package called ‘crossenv’ preyed on developers who accidentally misspelled the package name. (Npm Blog: ‘Crossenv’ Malware on the Npm Registry, n.d.)
    4. Stealing credentials of legitimate NPM accounts and pushing malicious code onto its repository (Vu et al., 2020)

    Information Literacy on NPM

    The term crap detection is used describe a process of deciding whether something found online is true. To help analyze packages for possible malicious code, several studies have been done on lightweight NPM vulnerability auto-detection tools. They are very effective. In most cases, with over 90% success rate (Sejfia et al., 2022) and able to identify exact types of vulnerability (according to OWASP) with a high degree of accuracy (Brito et al., 2023). They are, however, not perfect, and we, as developers, must do our part to avoid falling into the pit of malicious intent. Here is a summary of recommendations from the studies. I am basing this on the C.R.A.A.P. and S.I.F.T. tests for information literacy, I will call this the F.I.S.T. test for NPM literacy:

    • Package Frequency of download and package updates: The NPM website contains the weekly downloads of every package on the repository. The Frequency of maintenance of a package also gives information about the safety of use, check the last publish date to see how active this project is. Projects that are not actively maintained or have low weekly downloads are a cause for concern.
    • Inspect the code: Before installing a package, review it to ensure it doesn’t contain any malicious code. Go to the package’s Github account and quickly scan the code for malicious behaviour. Look for things like email dependencies, non-consensual sending of HTTP requests, etc. This may be difficult for beginners of a framework.
    • Use Secure sources: Only install packages from trusted sources like NPM or verified package managers like yarn. From the NPM website, verify information about the package’s publisher, such as the publisher’s website and social media accounts. If they have very little information online, it may suggest they are trying to hide something.
    • Use auditing Tools: Use security tools like npm audit, which scans installed packages for known vulnerabilities, to help you identify and mitigate potential security risks. npm audit will look at existing packages in your system, but since you can only run this command after the package has been installed, it may already be too late. Alternatively, there are also many NPM rating tools. Spectralops.io lists the Top 5 NPM audit tools in 2022. Among them are Synk and SpectralOps. Both tools provide reviews and ratings of every NPM package. Search the packages you intend to use to check its rating and to ensure they are not on the known vulnerabilities list. A package with low ratings or negative reviews may indicate potential security issues.

    NPM Improvements

    Other solutions are suggested to improve the existing architecture and workflow of the package managers themselves. This includes:

    • Updating NPM policy to allow automatic updating to the latest version of a package to mitigate technical lag (the time it takes a developer to recognize a malicious package and update it)
    • securing critical accounts on NPM,
    • providing trust scores for developers, and
    • eviction of typo- and combo-squatters.

    (Kaplan et el. 2021)

    Conclusion

    The Node Package Manager (NPM) is a powerful tool that helps software developers manage and share the packages they use in their projects. It provides an array of community packages which can be added to the software while enabling developers to write and share code with the community. However, with its growing popularity and widespread use, knowing how to perform crap detection on NPM effectively is a valuable asset for any modern developer looking to improve their information literacy skills.

    References

    A Summary of Census II: Open Source Software Application Libraries the World Depends On – Linux Foundation. (n.d.). Www.linuxfoundation.org. Retrieved February 5, 2023, from https://www.linuxfoundation.org/blog/blog/a-summary-of-census-ii-open-source-software-application-libraries-the-world-depends-on#:~:text=Introduction

    NPM Blog: ‘crossenv’ malware on the npm registry. (n.d.). Blog.npmjs.org. Retrieved February 4, 2023, from https://blog.npmjs.org/post/163723642530/crossenv-malware-on-the-npm-registry.html

    Vu, D.L., Pashchenko, I., Massacci, F., Plate, H., Sabetta, A. (2020). Typosquatting and combosquatting attacks on the python ecosystem. 2020 IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy Workshops (EuroS&PW), pp. 509–514.  

    Ellison, R. J., Goodenough, J. B., Weinstock, C. B., & Woody, C. (2010). Evaluating and mitigating software supply chain security risks. Carnegie-Mellon Univ Pittsburgh PA Software Engineering Inst.

    Kaplan, B., & Qian, J. (2021). A survey on common threats in npm and pypi registries. Deployable Machine Learning for Security Defense: Second International Workshop, MLHat 2021, Virtual Event, August 15, 2021, Proceedings 2 (pp. 132-156). Springer International Publishing.

    NPM malware attack goes unnoticed for a year | TechTarget. (n.d.). Security. Retrieved February 4, 2023, from https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/news/252525968/NPM-malware-attack-goes-unnoticed-for-a-year#:~:text=The%20researchers%20said%20that%20by

    Brito, T., Ferreira, M., Monteiro, M., Lopes, P., Barros, M., Santos, J. F., & Santos, N. (2023). Study of JavaScript Static Analysis Tools for Vulnerability Detection in Node.js Packages. ArXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.05097

    Sejfia, A., & Schäfer, M. (2022). Practical Automated Detection of Malicious npm Packages. ArXiv. https://doi.org/10.1145/3510003.3510104

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    Are Limitations to Screen Time Necessary?

    According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (2013), it is recommended that parents limit children and teens’ entertainment screen time to no more than two hours daily, stating that an increase in screen time has been linked with eye problems, violence, cyberbullying, obesity, lack of sleep, and academic decline. They quickly note that this is not a significant cause of these problems, and this information should be balanced with educating your kids about these factors. Despite this, I find this to be a gross generalization. Studies have shown that culture and class affect the amount and the type of technology children are exposed to (some are good, and some are not). Benefit from technology is greatly affected by family context (Konca, 2021).

    Fraser Health, the leading health authority in B.C. Canada makes a similar recommendation of 2 hours a day (Screen Time for Children, n.d.), stating that parents should instead “Choose activities such as playing outdoors, reading or crafting over screens.” However, e-readers and tablets offer the storage of thousands of books, and web-enabled devices can give extra information on books at your fingertips. Or is reading not considered entertainment? What if I enjoy reading?  Also, who does crafts without the use of a tablet? Do you have craft ideas off the top of your head?

    Personally, I do not limit screen times for my six-year old son, Jacob.  There are days that he spends seven hours in front of a screen, and there are days that he spends less than an hour.  The important thing is that he is learning something from the experience. Screen time can be used to develop digital, creative, problem-solving, communication, social, and goal-setting skills  (Using Screen Time and Digital Technology for Learning: Children and Pre-Teens, n.d.). Currently, Jacob primarily plays two games: Geometry Dash and Mario Maker. On the surface, both games provide no educational value. The former even contains many elements, such as photosensitivity and loud music, that have been known to cause seizures in players (Millichap, 1994). I have found that these games provide benefits from every category listed above, teaching children to collaborate on building levels and giving feedback to peers. Besides learning online etiquette, reading, and typing skills, Jacob has gained extensive practical knowledge about game mechanics like angle rotations, alpha transparencies, z-index, collisions, conditional structures, and counters.  Some of these concepts I am teaching to my university students.

    So to all health authorities: I agree with your other recommendations. Please consider deleting or altering the gross generalization of time limitations (or at least clarify it further). Otherwise, each time Jacob plays a game, I will need to set a timer on my phone, which will cut into my two hours of screen time.

    References

    Konca, A. S. (2021). Digital Technology Usage of Young Children: Screen Time and Families. Early Childhood Education Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-021-01245-7

    American Academy of Pediatrics. (2013). Children, Adolescents, and the Media. PEDIATRICS, 132(5), 958–961. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2013-2656

    Screen time for children. (n.d.). Fraser Health. Retrieved January 22, 2023, from https://www.fraserhealth.ca/health-topics-a-to-z/children-and-youth/physical-activity-for-children/screen-time-for-children#.Y8zGYezMJqs

    Using screen time and digital technology for learning: children and pre-teens. (n.d.). Raising Children Network. Retrieved January 22, 2023, from https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/school-learning/learning-ideas/screen-time-helps-children-learn#:~:text=Screen%20time%20can%20help%20children

    Millichap, J. G. (1994). Video Game-Induced Seizures. Pediatric NeurologyBriefs, 8(9), 68. https://doi.org/10.15844/pedneurbriefs-8-9-5

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    Feedback in Gamification App

    Motivation

    Gamification and Game-based learning are well-studied fields in education, the effects of which generally positively impact learning. From ISTE standard 1.1.c “Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.” (Brooks-Young, 2017), the question that I set out to investigate is: How effective is gamification in a learning tool in terms of feedback to a student? The conclusions in this post will help improve a programming practice web application currently in development. The current iteration of the application has a series of programming challenges that a student can work through.  The student can submit a program to any programming challenge and immediately receive a ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ on the problem.  I aim to determine what game components and digital feedback techniques should be added to improve this online tool.  The long-term use and integration of such a tool into a classroom setting to provide teachers a tools for providing practice problems for students. Under the TPACK model, the pedagogical view would be a game-based learning tool that allows students to level up as they gain more experience, the technology would be the programming platform on the web application, while the content knowledge would be gained by the programming itself.

    Gamification, Game-based Learning, and Serious Game

    In Teaching in a Digital Age, the author distinguishes between the following terms. Serious games are game-like interactive systems and “are referred to as entertaining tools with a purpose of education, where players cultivate their knowledge and practice their skills through overcoming numerous hindrances …” (Zhonggen, 2019, cited in Bates, 2022). Game-based learning is “the pedagogical approach of utilizing games in education.” (Anastasiadis, Lampropoulos and Siakas, 2018, cited in Bates, 2022). Gamification is the “use of game design elements in non-game contexts” (Deterding et al., 2011, cited in Bates, 2022). Game design elements for gamification include player profiles, experience points (XP), levels, badges, leaderboards, team collaboration, quests, social graphs, and certificates.

    According to these definitions, my tactic is the gamification of an existing learning tool using a game-based learning pedagogical approach.  I would not call the current web app a serious game since it does not possess game-like characteristics. It is widely accepted that gamification increases the app’s usability, so we seek to find the types of feedback that would prove most beneficial for the programming app.

    Feedback

    There are primarily two forms of feedback: explanatory and corrective. Both types of feedback inform the player of the correctness of their answer, but explanatory feedback provides the player with an additional principle-based explanation. Currently, my application provides only corrective feedback. A 1993 study using a digital game designed to teach environmental principles found “… that a version incorporating explanatory feedback significantly improved recall performances compared with a version where no feedback was available”. (Leutner, 1993, as cited in Erhel et al., 2013). Another study “… of the Design-A-Plant game showed that the use of explanatory feedback improved learners’ transfer performance more than corrective feedback did.” (Moreno and Mayer, 2004, cited in Erhel et al., 2013).

    It is also essential to distinguish between generic and tailored feedback and negative and positive feedback. Generic feedback is a general statement, whereas tailored feedback is specific to the player.  Negative feedback focuses on improvements that can be made, whereas positive feedback focuses on what the player did well during the last session. It is found that negative feedback is most effective when the player immediately has another turn, and positive feedback is more effective when the turn is delayed or non-existent (Burgers et al., 2015, cited in Welbers et al., 2019). Another study found that generic feedback was more effective than tailored feedback. This contradicts conventional thinking, and the authors quickly noted that it was due to corrective feedback. It is conjectured that tailored explanatory feedback, especially if accompanied by hints tailored to the player, could encourage participation (Welbers et al., 2019).  

    One theme prevalent in these studies is the idea of instant feedback within games. Azumi (2015) highlights the addictiveness of massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG). These games require players to work together to accomplish a goal. Including a gamified collaboration element benefits programming education students in the learning process as they attain immediate feedback from peers (Azumi, 2015). In fact, “feedback in serious games and game-based learning can also take the form of responses from dialogues with non-player characters or instant feedback messages related to game controls and challenges performed.” (Laine & Lindberg, 2020, cited in Krath, 2021). Intuitively, immediate feedback allows players to make instant adjustments to quickly correct failures and set new goals.

    Other Lessons Learned

    Although unrelated to feedback, it is interesting to note that gamification applications in Computer Science have mixed results. A gamification platform that contained game dynamics was used to teach a course in Software Engineering where the students did not feel interested in the gamified environment. It is conjectured that older students and those who have much experience with lecture-based learning is less receptive of game-base learning (Berkling and Thomas 2013, as cited by Nah). On the other hand, a course in Information Systems and Computer Engineering introduced multiple game design elements into the course design itself. This increased student engagement and lecture attendance but did not significantly improve student grades (Barata et al., as cited by Nah). We must ensure that online tools do not replace the programming learning experience which only comes from solving real-world problems.

    Conclusions:

    From the readings and conclusions above, the following actions should be taken to incorporate gamification elements in the programming application. 

    1. Since a student can debug, alter, and resubmit an incorrect program immediately, the application should give immediate negative feedback, displaying elements of the code or test cases that failed in the execution of a program.
    2. Lessons should be drawn from the MMORPG. We should add a collaborative element, allowing students to form teams to solve problems.  Students can gain peer feedback and also benefit from developing a personal learning community.
    3. Welbers et al. (2019) noted that tailored explanatory feedback might encourage player engagement and participation. One way to do this is to give feedback by sending weekly progress reports and questions tailored to the user’s skill level.
    4. Programming challenges beyond a student’s skill level should be hidden until the required experience points are attained. This is a form of positive feedback which is most beneficial when the game play is delayed.

    References

    Erhel, S., & Jamet, E. (2013). Digital game-based learning: Impact of instructions and feedback on motivation and learning effectiveness. Computers & Education, 67, 156–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2013.02.019

    Welbers, K., Konijn, E. A., Burgers, C., de Vaate, A. B., Eden, A., & Brugman, B. C. (2019). Gamification as a tool for engaging student learning: A field experiment with a gamified app. E-Learning and Digital Media, 16(2), 92–109. https://doi.org/10.1177/2042753018818342

    Nah F.F., & Zeng, Q., & Telaprolu, V. R., & Ayyappa, A. P., & Eschenbrenner, B., (2014). Gamification of education: A review of literature. HCI in Business, 401-409. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07293-7_39

    Azumi, S., Iahad, N., & Ahmad, N. (2015). Gamification in online collaborative learning for programming courses: A literature review. ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 10(23).

    Krath, J., Schürmann, L., & von Korflesch, H. F. O. (2021). Revealing the theoretical basis of gamification: A systematic review and analysis of theory in research on gamification, serious games and game-based learning. Computers in Human Behavior, 125, 106963. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106963

    Bates, A. W. (Tony). (2022). Chapter 8: Pedagogical differences between media. Pressbooks.bccampus.ca. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev3m/part/chapter-8-pedagogical-differences-between-media/

    Brooks-Young, S. (2017). ISTE standards for students: a practical guide for learning with technology. International Society For Technology In Education.